‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’: [Redacted] Mentioned in New Spot, Movie Banned in Egypt and Saudi Arabia
With only ten days to go until the global release of Marvel Studios’ latest epic, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, there is a lot to discuss, including new spots, interviews with actors, and some details on América Chávez.
Minor spoilers ahead.
News surfaced late last week that Egypt and Saudi Arabia had banned the release of the sequel, and even though no reason was given, it was widely assumed that this was because of the inclusion of América Chávez, an openly lesbian character that will be introduced in the movie (played by Xochitl Gómez).
Now, according to The Guardian, we have learned that Saudi Arabia tried to convince Disney to cut 12 seconds in which Chávez talked about her two moms. Officials from that country are apparently denying that the movie is banned. Nawaf Alsabhan, Saudi Arabia’s general supervisor of cinema classification, told The Guardian:
“It’s just her talking about her moms, because she has two moms. And being in the Middle East, it’s very tough to pass something like this.
We sent it to the distributor, and the distributor sent it to Disney, and Disney has told us they are not willing.”
Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez in Marvel Studios’ DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.
He then added that the movie has not been banned, at least not yet:
“It will never be banned. There’s no reason to ban the film. It’s a simple edit … So far they have refused. But we haven’t closed the door. We’re still trying.”
The movie stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character, Benedict Wong as Wong, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda/Scarlet Witch, Xochitl Gómez as América Chávez, Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo. Ejiofor recently spoke to ComicBook.com about the movie, and he couldn’t contain his enthusiasm:
“I think it’s really exciting, and I think that this corner of the MCU is expanding in this really interesting way, it’s just taking on a life of its own. With Sam Raimi as well, it’s a really thrilling way of tying things together. These characters have depth and reach, and all of these skills and their interactions between each other and their interactions out in the world are becoming more complex, involved, and rich. I think it’s going to be exciting.”
He also shared the same feelings with Entertainment Tonight, while promoting his latest series, The Man Who Fell to Earth. Over the past couple of days, some new TV spots have dropped, including one that features Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Mordo explicitly mentioning the Illuminati, a group of Marvel characters that have been teased throughout the marketing, but who weren’t explicitly mentioned in the trailers or TV spots until now:
Finally, Marvel Studios has just shared the movie’s true final poster, which joins an impressive collection of excellent pieces, maybe the studio’s best so far. Check it out below:
The world premiere of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will happen on Monday, May 2nd, with social media reactions going live right after, and reviews dropping the next morning. The movie will hit theaters on Friday, May 6th. According to Box Office Pro, we should be expecting a big opening weekend from the movie in the US, probably around $200M, though it could go higher if reviews are shining.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
