Lightning Up the Stars

Don’t look for a China release for Thor: Love and Thunder, the seventh Marvel Cinematic Universe film in a row to be banned in China. While the Taika Waititi-directed film opened to a worldwide $300+ million, it is unlikely to be passed by the Chinese censors presumably because of LGBTQ references - the Valkyrie character coming out as bisexual and Korg fathering a child with another male.

China is positioning itself as a leader of cultural influence, and it learned its lessons from Hollywood, according to Erich Schwartzel in his book “Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy". Schwartzel writes about a meeting in 2008 of Chinese executives and Hollywood leaders in Los Angeles.