Marvel Movies are Back in China’s Theaters Since Leaving In 2019

Finally! It’s happening. People have noticed that China’s unofficial ban on Marvel is about to be lifted. Disney/Marvel’s films, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, have secured both release dates in China, ending the three-and-a-half-year period in which Marvel’s character films failed to access the world’s second-largest box office market. Marvel posted the news on their Weibo account.

First released elsewhere in November 2022, Black Panther 2 will hit theatres on February 7th, and Ant-Man 3 will hit theaters in China on February 17th while it will be released in North America. This makes it the first title in China to feature a Marvel character since Sony/Marvel’s release of Spider-Man Far From Home in June 2019 and the first Disney/Marvel movie since The Avengers: Endgame, released in China earlier that same year.

China’s box office fell an estimated 36% last year to $4.35 billion, with only a few Hollywood movies cut. For 20th Century Studios/Disney Avatar: The Way of Water, granted a date and a release date in December, it was the first studio film to grab the top spot in a long time. The movie got off to quite a slow start but has picked up momentum and is now grossing $220 million. However, the film is expected to lose momentum as Chinese New Year is right around the corner on January 22nd.

As mentioned in the article written by Deadline, they have reported “that the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as 2021’s 100th anniversary of the Party, are out of the way, we hear there’s less fear within the government agencies. This was a big issue: No one wanted to make decisions or be seen as doing anything wrong at a time of geopolitical uncertainty and uncertainty within China. The Marvel issue seemed to stem from cultural and political sensitivities.”

Since Far From Home was the last Marvel movie to be released in China, other Marvel movies like Black Widow, Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder are some of the few that missed a spot on being in China’s box office.

Below is the poster for one of the Marvel movies that will be released in China, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.