Widow stays blacked out for now

Could be the Chinese Communist Party sees competition in the Marvel superhero Black Widow as the movie has yet to be given an opening date in mainland cinemas after premiering elsewhere on July 9, including in Hong Kong.

One school of thought is that mainlanders must wait until mid-August as authorities are reluctant to let Black Widow overshadow propaganda films rolled out for July's centenary of the CCP's founding.

Another school holds the movie goes against Beijing allying with Russia and competing with the United States. Mainland authorities have already blocked US films Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals.

People reckoned that Shang-Chi, the first Asian superhero from Marvel, had an antagonist, played by Hong Kong's Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who symbolized discrimination against Chinese.

And US-based Eternals director Chloe Zhao, responsible for Oscar-winning Nomadland, is haunted by words from 2013 when she said there were "lies everywhere" in China.