Movies - TV
China Reportedly Asked Sony To Remove The Statue Of Liberty From Spider-Man: No Way Home
By BJ COLANGELO
China has a long history of censoring Hollywood content when its government disagrees with something, and the government will often ask the U.S.-based studios to edit the films beforehand. While Hollywood will often grant these requests due to its need for overseas profits, Sony reportedly denied the Chinese government’s request to remove all images of the Statue of Liberty from “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
Sony’s denial may not be surprising in light of the fact that no Marvel movie has been released in China since 2019’s "Spider-Man: Far From Home." Their movies still make a ton of money even without Chinese profits, and the cost to edit the Statue of Liberty when it features so prominently in “No Way Home” and other MCU films was probably not worth it.
The Chinese government allegedly then asked Sony if they could at least reduce the statue’s appearance in the film, including the scene where Tom Holland stands on top of its crown, but Sony again declined. While China has never given an official reason for their request, it can be assumed that as the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom and democracy, it conflicted with the regime’s communist ideals.