Comments made by Shang-Chi star Simu Liu and Eternals director Chloé Zhao may be behind the ban. Per Deadline, it could have started when Black Widow portrayed Communism in a less-than-flattering light. Why are Marvel movies being shut out? People aren’t really sure. So there’s clearly an appetite for Marvel stuff in China, but the Chinese Communist Party has been unhappy with the company for years Black Widow, Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home were all shut out of the territory.
The last Marvel movie movie in Chinese theaters was Avengers: Endgame, which made $629 million there. That said, at this point there’s probably nothing Disney can do to get Marvel movies released in China. China hasn’t allowed a Marvel movie into theaters since 2019 edited out dialogue about the title character’s homosexuality in The Secrets of Dumbledore to appease Chinese censors. Not every studio is so willing for instance, Warner Bros. To its credit, Disney has stuck to its guns and included some (very light) LGBT+ elements in its movies despite the knowledge that they will get the movie banned in parts of the world.