‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Won’t Screen in UAE
In an unexplained reversal, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” won’t screen in United Arab Emirates. The film was originally set to hit theaters in the Persian Gulf country on June 22.
Vox Cinemas, a subsidiary of UAE-based retail company Majid Al Futtaim, quietly removed the film from movie listings this week. A spokesperson for the theater chain confirmed to Reuters that “Across the Spider-Verse” won’t be shown in the country.
No explanation for the move has been released. According to Reuters, the UAE National Media Media Council, the country’s censorship authority, said on Monday, “will not allow the circulation or publication of content contrary to the values and principles of the UAE and the standards of media content in force in the country.” It was however not clear if this comment was related to “Across the Spider-Verse.”
Absent any official explanation, speculation has focused on the fact that the film features nods to LGBTQ rights, including a “trans lives matter” poster seen at one point. Same sex relationships and gender nonconforming behavior are illegal and harshly punished in UAE.
Notably, last year Disney/Pixar’s “Lightyear” was banned in the country because it has characters who are in a same sex relationship.
In June 2022 the UAE and 10 other Middle Eastern countries banned Walt Disney-Pixar’s “Lightyear” because it features characters in a same-sex relationship. The youth and culture ministry said it “violated the nation’s media content standard”. UAE’s censorship board said only at the time that the movie contained a “violation of the country’s media content standards.”
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Eternals” and “West Side Story” all experienced similar problems with censors in the regions over LGBTQ+ content or characters.
