Marvel at Disney

Should Disney do this

Should Disney feature marvel in their theme parks

Well, here is the challlenge with Marvel.

To begin with Disney can't use Marvel inside their parks in Florida because of the contract between Universal Studios and Marvel. Which, for example, is why the Avengerail can't be on the Epcot line since it would enter into Epcot. However, that doesn't mean Marvel can't be used outside of the parks. For example, there's a rumor that Cirque du Soleil might be dropping for La Nouba for a Marvel themed show.

Marvel is free game for west coast Disney. However there is a sensitivity to consider. There was resistance to bringing in Pixar to the Disney parks at first because it wasn't Disney. The idea of bringing in Marvel characters that seem so un-Disney like to many people (and unheard of to most people) poses a challenge. Obviously, fitting them into themes is a challenge. MIB maybe could fit in Tomorrowland with a few others, but that's even a stretch. Which leaves DCA. But DCA just got remade sans Marvel. Sooooooo maybe in a few years after the dust from DCA, ( and possibly a new Tomorrowland and a new Oz land) there might be a new Marvel land or park.

I think Disney might plan on making Marvel movies for a while to help build up the characters in the public's eye and then invest on them in the resorts.

One of the funny things from reading the Universal/Marvel contract is that Universal dropped the ball early on. See, if Universal had utilized the Marvel license in Universal Studios Hollywood, they would have had national exclusivity (which would really tie Disney's hands up.) But, they had a 2 year time limit there (ie, 2 years from when the Marvel portion of Islands of Adventure opened), which they never even attempted to hit. They could also have had worldwide exclusivity with another part of the contract, but again, Universal did not attempt to obtain that.

Beyond that, Skipper Adam has it dead on. Disney would have to buy out a contract (for a ton of money) that they have no incentive to buy out. Why should they stop having their competitor sell their merchandise, advertise their characters, and maintain rides based on their characters when that is not negatively affecting them? They can do stuff in other Disney parks, just not in Florida. And Adam is right, in California it's just a tight fit, you could see it but it will probably come with some backlash.

Even that will be tough, as those contracts seem to have no real end date. Eventually the movie rights to characters like the X-Men (and associated characters, like Sabertooth and Deadpool) along with the rights to Spider-Man and Daredevil will go back to Marvel, but not any time soon. If Disney wants them in the near future, they would probably have to buy them out, which might be an expensive venture.

But, and I think this is realistic, Sony will keep on making Spider-Man movies as long as they can make a boat load of cash off of them. If Amazing Spider-Man tanks, then Sony might relent, but it REALLY has to tank (like John Carter kind of tanking.) Same with X-Men and Fox, I would say that after the third X-Men movie and X-Men Origins: Wolverine that Fox started to have discussion about letting the license go back to Marvel, but then they made X-Men First Class, which pretty much insured we would get more X-Men movies from Fox.

So, with those out, I would guess the rest would eventually go back to Marvel (some already have, like Blade.)

What about Marvel at Paris and Tokoyo Disney? I know the contract states something about Marvel can't be used in Disney parks east of the Mississippi river.

It's fine overseas, and in California, just not East of the Mississippi (aka, Florida.) So, yeah, Disney could come up with a Namor ride for Tokyo DisneySea.

Interesting fact about the Marvel Monorail not going into EPCOT. Hmmmmm...

I really think that Universal should give up on the Marvel thing and just give it to Disney. They are in a bit of a rock and a hard place with not being able to expand either. I think there is just this argument because of Spiderman. Make it Transformers and be done with it!

Well, I think one of the real reasons Universal did the Spiderman Redo was to show that they are going to keep using the Marvel characters at their Florida park with no end in sight.

Universal has a good reason to keep Marvel in their parks: to block Disney. Disney probably desires a number of Marvel rides in their parks, but until the contract is settled, they can't.

Now, this is not to say Disney hates this arrangement, quite the contrary, I think they like it. If they can't get the Marvel rides themselves, the next best thing is to have their chief regional competitor PAY them to have the rights for these characters, and sell Marvel merchandise in their park. As Disney sees it, they make money when you go to their parks, and when you decide to go to a Universal park, they STILL make money. And the money they make with Universal comes with none of the risk. They could, concievably, make more if they had Marvel rides on Disney property, but this setup works well.

And, yes, both Spidey's and Hulk's rehabs (Hulk got a repaint if I recall correctly) are key to Universal keeping the rights. They absolutely have to keep those rides up or risk losing the license. This is what Disney wants, to get the license back without any litigation. Which is great for us, the current version of Spidey will probably not be the last, it should have more upgrades as time goes by.

Just to clarify, Universal Studios Hollywood did have Marvel characters and even a Marvel street show in the park for many years in the early 2000s, until the contract provision for it expired around the time of the Disney purchase. (Too slammed right now to look up the exact dates.)

Mr Niles is correct. USH was slowly working to remove Marvel from their park, one little piece at a time. I believe first went Spiderman and Green Goblin as walk around characters, followed soon after was his Rockin show which was replaced by the abomination that dare not speak it's name, and lastly, I think Marvel Mania has been rethemed, but I haven't been to USH in a LONG time, so someone else needs to confirm.

Would DisneyQuest be included in that Universal exclusivity clause? If not, virtual interactive gaming would be a fairly intensive way to brand Marvel as Disney. May not be as far-reaching as a theme-park attraction, but would definitely hit the right demographic.

Mark, Marvel is free to enter Disneyquest.

Doing an attraction at DisneyQuest might be some kind of contractual grey area. They could have Marvel arcade machines there, sure. But putting in something made by the Imagineers, well, I think that's a question for lawyers. I honestly think they can't, but I have no knowledge of Florida contractual law. And, unless it is rock solid that Marvel can go into DisneyQuest, I cannot imagine Disney would tempt fate and try to put it something in there.

Since the Earth is round, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Los Angeles can be considered east of the Mississippi river… Just kidding!

Contracts aside, I don’t think that Marvel characters FIT in current Disney’s parks, unless they build a whole land about Marvel movies and its special effects in DHS or Disney Studios Paris. I really wouldn’t like to see a Marvel ride in Tomorowland, Discoveryland, Epcot, DCA or AK.

But I would love to see an entire Marvel thrill ride based theme park, focused not on the average Disney guest, but on teenagers and thrill seekers. It could be some type of second tier brand, to compete with Six Flags, Cedar, Bush Gardens and even with Universal parks worldwide. It should have technologic advanced rides, mixed with “iron thrill rides” and DisneyQuest type attractions. It could have a superior theming compared with its competitors, but not as expensive as Disney’s theming standards. It could also be smaller, less expensive to develop and build, and have 10 to 20 twins parks around the world.

Disneyland Paris Resort president said that they will build a third gate after 2020 and that a Marvel park is an option. I believe that is a better option than mixing Hulk with Mickey Mouse.

^^^^^^^
I think that's a good idea. For many, Marvel attractions wouldn't "fit" in the current Disney landscape, that's not to say it can't be done, but just plopping a marvel based attraction in the middle of the park doesn't sound like it would work.

Why not? I don't see any conflict. The contract with Universal should only be with the characters affected. This means Spiderman and Hulk will never go over to Disney. Disney can truly use Avengers to the fullest extent. Iron Man is just as popular as Spiderman. There is a lot of potential to create a Marvel Universe in a Disney theme park. Certainly Hollywood Studios is a possibility and it is probably the best fit. Why not create a Marvel Universe along side a Star Wars Universe? Two new lands will take the place in the useless Tours lot. Marvel can use the New York skyline as backdrop.

I'm not a huge fan of marvel but i do like spiderman a lot and his attraction. To me keep on selling merchandise don't make a ride out of it. You don't think of marvel and disney in the same sentence. It doesn't make any sense to do that. If Universal already has 3 rides of marvel why would you do the same. Business is competion you need to have the two rival theme parks competing against each other thats how you make money. If you decide to have similar things then park guest aren't gonna want to visit both parks then and just choose the one resort for the vaction then both

I've always felt that the non-Disney properties that have been licensed from outside were an uneasy fit, even when they are long-standing classics like Star Tours and the Indiana Jones Adventure. I grew up with classic Disney, though, so I know my ideas and ideals are somewhat antiquated, and IJA is one of my favorite rides, even if it isn't 'real' Disney.

That said, they have always done an excellent job of incorporating these outside attractions into the existing theme park landscape, so I have no doubt they would do as well with Marvel or the upcoming Avatar project. In the case of Marvel, I think that if DisneyQuest is an option, that would be an ideal marriage. A re-themeing of the park to make it a Marvel Universe attraction might be the way to go. Let's face it, nothing has been done to keep DQ relevant for a very long time, and the Marvel characters would be at home in a facility like this. Existing attractions could be themed to the characters, and new attractions could be put in place. The space is dynamic enough that each new film could become a featured attraction.

Anyone else think a Downtown Disney Marvel Universe would be a good idea?

I think the idea that the Avengerail can't enter Epcot is amusing but I question whether its true or not. The overlay is an advertisement and the monorail itself is transportation, not an attraction.

Having Disney Quest re-themed to Marvel would be excellent. Heck, you could even turn Cirque DeSolei into a Marvel show!

Thanks for all the responses I hope there will be many more. Sincerely Karly.

I agree with Anon Mouse: if Disney can add a Marvel area to DHS, they should (along with an expanded Star Wars area). Granted this new Marvel area would not be able to have attractions based on characters already in use at IOA, but the Marvel Universe is loaded with great heroes so that problem is negligible.

I also love what Tim Odom wrote. If Universal is forced to properly maintain the Marvel area because of their current contract, that is a huge bonus for us theme park fans. My only real complaint with Universal in general (other than the short shelf life of most of the USO attractions) is that park maintenance is a bit suspect. Anything that forces them to better maintain IOA is a good thing.

So, yeah, I want to see Marvel attractions at Disney, but I am good with them remaining at Universal as well. I call this situation a win-win.

The thing that disney should do is get the rights of all the marvel characters
Create a whole land for marvel at DHS
Including the avengers ride
A spiderman and venom duel coaster duel coaster
Fantastic four theme coaster
Super hero school with marvel heros

I don't think Disney will be falling over themselves trying to get the rights to use Marvel at Walt Disney World any time soon.

Marvel Super Hero Island over at Islands of Adventure, from my last visit a few days ago, is looking well maintained and the Spider Man refurbishment is excellent.

Why would Disney want to spend so much time and money working out a deal which would stop one of the biggest competitors actively promoting their brand to a high standard?

Even if Disney somehow did get the rights it's hard to see a real incentive to add the brand to Walt Disney World. For the most part it would be an awkward fit in the majority of the parks.

The cost of building a new land would be incredibly high, and even if they did create one of the most spectacular themed environments in the world, the general public would still be asking "Didn't Universal already do that?".

Having just come back from a visit to Disneyland Paris I was very surprised to not see any Marvel related merchandise at either DLP or Walt Disney Studios, especially as many on you on here have speculated that Disney can use Marvel outside of the US.

The only thing I saw was a few posters promoting The Avengers movie in WDS and the Disney Village so it looks like Dsiney are holding off selling anything Marvel related for the moment (this certainly isn't the case in UK Disney Stores which have been selling Marvel related merchandise for some time)

This might be possible now, because Uni may have voided the contract at 3:53 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJFL_FSXorM

Dom, I don't think that voids anything. Universal did release two Hulks films within the last decade.

Plus, since the Hulk has his own ride at IOA, I think Universal's still allowed to use the character, but I'm not 100% sure on this speculation.

Honestly, I don't think Universal would be that stupid to void such a huge contract with a 5 second clip from a Marvel movie. That would be such a monumental error that I cannot imagine that Universal's team of lawyers would look at that and approve.

So, no, I don't believe Universal would have spent millions rehabbing Spider-Man just to toss it all away in with a small, forgettable movie clip.

Disney should just buy the park rights with the money they are getting with The Avengers (650 Million Worldwide!!!!).

I saw The Avengers Friday And it is Awesome The Humor Of hulk And Iron man would Work At disney.

If Disney were to buy 100%of the rights marvel island becomes dc nation and spiderman becomes batman hulk turns green lantern doom turns joker and storm force becomes flash six flags rip offs

Well, it's been pointed out that Spiderman has the same track layout as Transformers, so possibly the Island might be headed that direction.

DC would make a great replacement for Marvel. If Marvel were to come to WDW, I would make an Avengers ride with a Stark Tower facade at DHS (NY Street).

I honestly can't see DC at Universal. That would require a MAJOR buyout from Six Flags, something that I just don't expect Universal to do.

No. Just... no. Marvel's fine how it is. If it does happen to go to Disney any time soon, replace it with either Transformers or Nintendo.

Two things:

1 - The Marvel theme park license was made MORE valuable by the recent success of the Avengers. Disney is making tons of money off the Avengers, but Universal is too. So, as the franchise gets more successful, the more Universal would charge for Disney to buy it out. In other words, $650 million is probably not enough. And, that is assuming Universal is willing to sell (which, more than likely, they are not.)

And, even if they were, WHY would Disney give it's closest competitor tons of money for this? What is the motivation? Disney makes money off of they competitor, they sell their merchandise at a Universal park with absolutely none of the risk, all while drawing millions to their own parks. Why would they spend this much money on getting to take up more risk and have lesser market saturation? It simply does not make sense. Remember, the main idea of Walt Disney was that the parks were simply ways to get people to buy his merchandise. That is where the money is. If you sell your merchandise at your park AND your competitor's park then you are doing well. Disney likes money, and Marvel is bringing it to them without having to spend a ton for the privilege of spending more money for the rights to spend money to design, create, and upkeep rides.

2 - If (and this is as big of an if as they come) Marvel does go to Disney, then it would take as big of a miracle to get DC to Universal. Why would Six Flags, with multiple theme parks with DC themed areas and rides, be willing to sell the rights to DC? It would, again, take a boatload of money and a lot of convincing. Probably more convincing than money, and let's be honest here, it would probably take enough money that Six Flags would be financed completely for a couple years. As unlikely as I see Marvel going to Disney, I think it is FAR more unlikely that Universal would get the DC rights.

Seriously, unless Disney strikes a deal unlike any we have ever seen, and Universal strikes another such deal, Marvel will stay at Universal until such time that Universal does not want it, which is not gonna happen anytime soon.

That may be because Six Flags has gotten rid of every third-party franchise (Tony Hawk, The Wiggles, etc.) except Looney Tunes and DC Comics. I'm sure they could continue the cost cutting by taking out DC and Bugs, right?

But Jorge, you're missing the consumer standpoint. If Six Flags were to drop Looney Tunes and DC, then there would be no meet and greets and more importantly, no merchandise to cash in on (which Six Flags is in definite need of).

One of these days we will see Howard the Duck signing autographs at Disneyland.

^^Just as long as we keep George Lucas as far away from him as possible.

I agree. The movie was awful.

I guess everything should be taken with a grain of salt as this point, but this was a part of an article discussing the the success of the avenegers.

Iger also said that Disney's parks and resorts planning group, known as the "Imagineers," have been working on ways to incorporate Marvel into the company's theme parks, beyond Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., where Universal Studios holds the rights to the characters.

"We have a number of other opportunities ... at our other parks, notably California and Europe and in Asia -- I guess that pretty much covers the rest of the world," Iger said. "And our Imagineering group has been working over the last year ... to create more opportunities for Marvel in the parks."

I will admit I actually liked Howard the Duck. I used to mind my nephew when he was a tot in the mid-late 80's. My VHS copies of Howard the Duck, and to a larger extent, Ghostbusters and the Blues Brothers made for some very pleasant times with him back then.

A ride based on The Avengers is in the works!!!!!!! Disney will probably be announcing it at D23 Expo.

Got any sources on that one?

James to somewhat back up Dom here is the link to an article currently on Yahoo as a headline. This does state that there will be an Avengers ride at SOME of the Disney Theme Parks.

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/avengers-2-officially-happening-makes-702-million-224900761.html

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