Doctor Strange 2: Saudi Arabia demands cut in LGBTQ scenes, Disney refuses

Will Marvel's latest'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' releasein Saudi Arabia, finally?A few days back, we had reported that the film had not received a distribution certificate in the country ahead of its May 5 release.

An official of the country had clarified to the media that they were open to negotiate with the film's production house- Disney and demanded cuts in the film prior to its release.

According to reports, the country wanted Disney to cut a scene with same-sex relationship references but the studio has refused.

Several media reports state that the film though still holds a chance of a release- as talks are underway.

This is the second time that a Marvel film is facing problems in Saudi Arabia in recent months.

'The Eternals' did not play in Saudi Arabia over its same-gender couple romance and the MCU's first gay superhero.
Quite often movies with LGBTQ content don`t make it past censors in the Gulf, and `Doctor Strange 2` features America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) who is gay in the Marvel comics.

While it was earlier assumed that Saudi Arabia had problems with the particular character, a recent report in The Guardian states that Saudi's hesitation in letting the film release is due to a scene where Chavez is shown to have two mothers.

Nawaf Alsabhan, Saudi Arabia’s general supervisor of cinema classification spoke to The Guardian, "It’s just her talking about her moms because she has two moms. And being in the Middle East, it’s very tough to pass something like this. We sent it to the distributor, and the distributor sent it to Disney, and Disney has told us they are not willing."

The officials in the country are still open to negotiations. Speaking to the news agency AFP, one Saudi official said, “It will never be banned. There’s no reason to ban the film. It’s a simple edit...so far they have refused. But we haven’t closed the door. We’re still trying.”