Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse will not be screened in the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.
The movie, featuring Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld, has reportedly been prohibited from public theatre showings across these countries due to suggestions that it doesn’t comply with local guidelines.
Enthusiasts have pondered the reasons behind this limitation, with some hypothesizing it could be due to a brief glimpse of a transgender pride flag in a bedroom.
Customers who had bought early tickets to the movie in these territories were simply communicated by sellers that it wouldn’t be released in the UAE and that reimbursements would be given.
In a Reddit thread, one fan expressing their disappointment exclaimed: ‘THIS IS TERRIBLE! I’ve not missed a Spider-Man movie since 2012.
‘I’ve been eagerly anticipating this one. This prohibition breaks my sequence 🙁 IS THIS A CANON EVENT?!’
Another echoed this sentiment, saying: ‘I am heartbroken, I was so excited to see this film.’
A third took to Twitter, saying: ‘The UAE outright banned the new Spider-Man movie because a trans flag was featured for just three seconds. Just cut the scene and carry on. I was really keen to see it.’
Spider-Man: Across the Universe The Spider-Verse is not the only movie to be banned in the United Arab Emirates in recent times.
Lightyear, a Toy Story offshoot with a same-sex kiss, was also excluded from screening in public theatres in 2022 as it contravened the nation’s media content laws.
In 2021, some Middle Eastern countries notably prohibited Pixar’s Onward, a 2020 American computer-animated urban fantasy adventure movie, because of a reference to lesbian parents.