“Shan-Chi? Trying to steal money from the Chinese public”: Marvel film angers Beijing

Inside the Middle Kingdom, the shears of censorship are swinging more furiously than ever. And even if a few superhero movies from the Marvel stable were released there, others faced the wrath of the censor office. Avengers: Endgame’s $630 million haul in China seems like a very distant memory…

A questionable background, a more or less direct reference to homosexuality, a remark or an opinion, even an innocuous one, that provokes the anger of the Beijing authorities and is mainly caused by the echo chamber offered by Chinese social networks such as Weibo. It’s all good to ignore. certain works.

“Tasteless attempt to steal money from the Chinese public”

Like other productions (Disney), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was more than calibrated to perform in the Chinese market, especially with its headliner, Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu.

In fact, the Beijing authorities torpedoed Destine Daniel Cretton’s film and blocked its release in the country. It all started on May 11, 2021, when Chinese government channel CCTV6 announced the release dates for all of the Marvel Universe Phase 4 movies… except the movies. Shang-chi and eternal ones.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Long before it was published, it experienced “bad buzz”, with many Chinese commentators writing about it on social media. “The film only shows stereotypes” or what is “A tasteless attempt to steal money from the Chinese public.”

Moreover, the most frequently repeated criticism of Shang-Chi is that the character was created in the 70s to rely on a stereotype: an Asian skilled in martial arts and convey the worst clichés. In addition, the hero’s father in these comics was none other than Fu Manchu. The latter is a very controversial character today, as he stands in the era of the racist concept of the “yellow peril”.

“Third World Country”

Although Kevin Feige stepped up to clear the ground, nothing worked. The final blow came in September 2021. Deadline reports that an old interview with actor Simu Liu has recently surfaced, in which he criticized the regime in which his parents grew up.

He said then that the conditions of life in the communist regime meant that people “They were dying of hunger” and described China as “Third World Countries”. Blessed bread to bring down the ax to the Beijing government…