Sony rejected China's request to remove footage of the Statue of Liberty for the local release of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
According to Puck, which cites multiple insider sources, Chinese authorities wanted Sony and Marvel Studios to remove the American landmark which predominately features in No Way Home's climax. Sony allegedly refused "immediately," prompting an alteration to the request that would see the Statue of Liberty left in the film but with modifications to its representation. China reportedly wanted less emphasis placed on the structure, requesting that Sony cut the "more patriotic shots of [Tom] Holland standing atop the crown." After considering the changes, the request was ultimately rejected. Ultimately, Spider-Man: No Way Home did not release in China.
Sony's refusal to adjust Spider-Man's latest big-screen adventure is just one of several recent incidents of the Marvel Cinematic Universe refusing to modify a film based on requests to remove certain aspects. Several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kuwait, banned Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness due to its inclusion of an openly gay character. China has reportedly also banned the film after a message criticizing the Chinese Communist Party was observed in one of the trailers.
China's history of banning Marvel Studios' blockbusters goes back further than Spider-Man: No Way Home. In 2021, Eternals was similarly prohibited in the country as the Chinese government took issue with director Chloé Zhao's public criticism of the CCP. Beyond this, Eternals also prominently featured a same-sex couple, Phastos and his husband Ben, who share an on-screen kiss.
Despite not releasing in China, Spider-Man: No Way Home quickly went on to be one of the most successful films of all time. The MCU's third Spidey movie is currently the sixth highest-grossing movie of all time, trailing the likes of Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Titanic, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avengers: Infinity War.
Spider-Man: No Way Home sees Holland's Wall-Crawler embark on a quest to restore his secret identity as he asks Doctor Strange to wipe the memory of the entire world. After interfering with the spell, several multiversal visitors appear in the MCU, including previous cinematic incarnations of Spider-Man played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is available to purchase digitally or on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD.
Source: Puck