Is China going to ban 'Thor: Love and Thunder' over LGBTQ scenes?

‘Thor: Love and Thunder' has been released worldwide in theatres and fans are giving marvellous responses to the Chris Hemsworth movie, but amid all this, the MCU filmhasn't gotthe release date in China yet. For the unversed, the country is one of the biggest box office draws for Marvel films, so missing the major market will surely affect the film's worldwidecollection.

But now, many sources have told The Hollywood Reporter that the movie may face censorship as Pixar’s 'Lightyear' over the LGBTQscene. Talking about the Pixar movie, authorities in China asked Disney to cut the same-sex kissscenes from the film, which apparently the studio refused. The LGBTQ scenes in the film prompted many Middle Eastern and Asian countries to ban the film.

As per THR, Taika Waititi's film is believed to be stuck in China’s censorship process as well because of the LGBTQ scenes shown in the film and due to some ''moments, including suggestionsthat the character Valkyrie is bisexual and Korg is gay.''

There is no official comment on this.

Before this, in the year 2017, 'Thor: Ragnarok' earned $112 million at the China box office.

Apart from Thor, 'Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness' was the most recent film that got banned in the country, and for those, who haven't noticed, the last Marvel film which was played at the Chinese theatres was 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' in 2019.

From 'Black Widow', the first major release in the pandemic to the 'Eternals', then 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings', 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' are the few recent MCU films that were not given the release datedue to multiple reasons.

(With inputs from the agency)