Cover A young woman takes a picture of a poster before watching the movie “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” at a cinema in Shanghai. (Photo: AFP)
A young woman takes a picture of a poster before watching the movie “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” at a cinema in Shanghai. (Photo: AFP)
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Marvel’s superheroes began their return to China’s massive movie market after an apparent ban of nearly four years, with fans streaming into cinemas to watch “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
The Disney-owned studio’s hugely popular franchises have been absent from Chinese screens since 2019. Spider-Man: Far from Home was the last Marvel film released in China, in July that year.
Marvel blockbusters have raked in billions globally, and their return to one of the world’s biggest movie markets means hundreds of millions of dollars in potential earnings for Disney—the first Black Panther film alone took in US$105 million (around HK$824 million) at Chinese cinemas.
“I’m super-excited,” said a woman named Chen, beaming as she lined up to enter a packed theatre in Shanghai for the midnight premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. “I’ve had to use streaming sites to watch the last couple of movies... But I hope this means I’ll watch Marvel movies more often in theatres now.”
Above Martin Freeman, Florence Kasumba, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Ryan Coogler, Lupita Nyong’o and Tenoch Huerta attend the European Premiere of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” at Cineworld Leicester Square on November 3, 2022 in London, England. (Photo: Getty Images)
Martin Freeman, Florence Kasumba, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Ryan Coogler, Lupita Nyong’o and Tenoch Huerta attend the European Premiere of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” at Cineworld Leicester Square on November 3, 2022 in London, England. (Photo: Getty Images)
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The end of the apparent block on Marvel films has coincided with China’s loosening of the strict zero-Covid policies that disrupted its entertainment industry for years.
“Because of Covid, it’s already been a long time since we’ve been to the cinema,” said hospital worker Kun, 25, who came to the Shanghai theatre to watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with his friends. “We still have to work tomorrow, but it’s a rare opportunity so we came here.”
For one mother-and-son duo at the Shanghai cinema, the return of Marvel revived a family tradition. “He’s always been a Marvel fan—during the Avengers movies, we would always watch the midnight screening,” said Lin Fan, with her visibly excited 13-year-old son Jiang Xiaoyi.
Next up for Chinese Marvel fans is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, set for release on February 17.
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