Due to LGBT messaging, Marvel’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” will likely suffer the “same fate” as the Disney/Pixar “Toy Story” underwhelming spinoff, “Lightyear,” insiders say.
According to sources at The Hollywood Reporter, China’s film regulators have yet to grant a release date for the “Thor” sequel, and likely never will.
“Sources at two major cinema chains in China tell The Hollywood Reporter that they expect Thor 4 will face the same fate as Pixar’s Lightyear: denied censorship approval because of fleeting moments in the movie involving LGBTQ characters,” the report said.
The latest “Thor” sequel has been praised by actress Natalie Portman as Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) “gayest” film to date. A character named Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson, is bisexual and a character called Korg, played by director Taika Waititi, is gay.
Portman earlier this month gushed with film critic Andrew Freund about “how gay” the flick is, too.
“I love that reading of it. Yes, I love that,” the actress said when Freund asked if the sequel was “the gayest movie ever made in the MCU.”
“I mean, you’re flying on rainbows, or am I imagining it?” Freund asked.
“That is the core of the comics,” Portman agreed. “I feel like that’s where it all started. It’s very true to the source material, I think.”
Freund later said he “thought the movie was awesome,” adding, “and I loved how gay it was!”
The addition of the LGBT characters was forced, though, at least according to film critic David Rooney, who said the injection felt like “pandering representation.”
“Even the inclusion of queer characters — Valkyrie pines for the love of her lost warrior sister; Korg reveals that his species mates with other males to make baby rock monsters — seems more like pandering representation than anything vitally grounded in the storytelling,” Rooney wrote in a rather rough review at The Hollywood Reporter.
“Lightyear” reportedly hit roadblocks in China over a same-sex kiss between two female characters. China has largely banned LGBTQ storytelling from its screens, though its censorship procedures remain somewhat under wraps.
While “Thor” is looking at an indefinite block in China, the Marvel film is still unsurprisingly bringing in big numbers. Deadline reported Sunday that “Thor: Love and Thunder” grossed a $143 million opening in North America, and pulled $302 million worldwide.
(Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for kids’ entertainment content.)
Related: ‘I Love That’: Natalie Portman Boasts New ‘Thor’ Film Is The ‘Gayest’ Marvel Movie Yet