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China promised to block Spider-Man: No Way Home unless Sony changed the movie's ending

According to Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman, the reason Spider-Man: No Way Home didn't make it to the Chinese market was a problem they had with the ending's visuals

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Wed Feb 25 2026

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According to Tom Rothman, CEO of Sony Pictures, the most recent Spider-Man movie should've made even more at the global box office. Heck, Rothman can even point to where he thinks it missed out - that is, in the Chinese market, where the multiversal adventure that united Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire was blocked. And in a recent interview, Rothman revealed exactly why it didn't make the cut.

The interview in question is one Rothman did with The Ringer, specifically as part of The Town series with host Matthew Belloni. Speaking live at the American Film Institute, Rothman talked about what a huge financial success the third MCU Spider-Man movie was.

"It did a billion nine," Rothman bragged, "You'd say, 'A billion nine? What's the matter with two?' Well, it didn't get into China. But in my mind, it's over two because I know what we would have done in China."

Rothman continued to explain that one image from the film's finale was the reason for China's blocking of the film.

"They [the Chinese film market] said, 'No problem,'" the Sony exec said, "Just cut out the Statue of Liberty, That was the request."

This got a big reaction from the interview's host, who pointed out that the final battle between the three Spider-Men and their respective villains, which took place on top of the Statue of Liberty, made up the "last 20 minutes of the movie."

"Yeah, there was that," Rothman said, "And also, I really didn't look forward to standing up in front of Congress telling them why I cut the Statue of Liberty out at the request of the the Chinese Communist Party."

Great movie, Tom. I'd say that was worth the cost of $100M alone.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is streaming now, with the Statue of Liberty intact, on Disney+. Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters July 31.

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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.