Impact that MARVEL will have on the Parks?

[Drachengeist]

I just heard the news about Disney's newest aquisition and just the way that Pixar eventually wriggled its way in, (I LOVE the new ride) I got to wondering how/when the Marvel Universe of characters would be integrated. My own opinion is that it would detract from the "disney-ness" of the current parks if they were to try and blend them in but the potential for a whole new park would spark the imaginations of the imagineers in that it could have a whole different feel from the current ones. ...not to mention boost sales of the ever increasingly priced tickets. 5 parks = 5 day ticket at least! :mickey:

[szyper]

Even though I hate to take away from the Disney feel that is already there, I could see a Marvel-themed park reaching a demographic they are somewhat lacking in. I sure hope my kids will still love Disney when they are 10 or 12 or 15, but a lot of people I know with older kids shy away from WDW because they think it's all about It's a Small World and the Dumbo ride. Lucky that we all know that's not the case! For $4 billion, I'm sure there is something big planned.

[Drachengeist]

As somebody pointed out on the general thread, they might make a fit over at the studios. Which for an initial roll out might work. Frontier land is as different from Fantasy Land as Spiderman et al are from Indy and Star Wars. But the potential character development goes way beyond one or two themed rides.

[GrumpyFan]

I have a hard time envisioning Marvel characters such as Spiderman, Hulk, and the X-men in Disney parks. There will be some licensing issues on some of those, since Universal already has them. However, that aside, I still can't see how or why they would use them. Yes, I agree that DHS would make the most sense, but as it stands now that park would need some heavy re-theming to incorporate them there on a permanent attraction basis. But, we are talking about Disney here, who has the capability to do whatever they set their minds and pocketbook too.

[medic9016]

There will be some licensing issues on some of those, since Universal already has them.

They will no longer own the rights once the transaction is approved.

[JohnMel]

So what does this mean for universal IOA? retheme it all? That will put a dent in their pocketbook! I havent seen anything yet online on how it will shake out. Maybe disney will purchase universal studios, at least the theme parks... interesting concept!

[medic9016]

US/IOA could either rebrand those rides or lease from Disney. Who knows.

[GrumpyFan]

They will no longer own the rights once the transaction is approved.

I'm not sure this is true. They (Universal) licensed the use of those characters under a contract from Marvel for a set period of time. Disney's purchase of Marvel shouldn't void that contract. However, since Disney is now the owner of Marvel, they do have a say in the future re-licensing of those characters when the license expires. But for now, Universal shouldn't have anything to worry about. Disney parks have similar licensing contracts with George Lucas on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones properties as well as Aerosmith, and I'm sure there are probably others.

[GrumpyFan]

I still hold to the statement, this will have no impact for now. Perhaps in the future, we might start to see some Marvel presence in the parks, but for now, Universal holds many of the licensing rights to publicly display the more popular characters, and until their licenses expire, I'm not a lawyer, and I haven't seen the contract(s) that Universal has with Marvel, but it's highly likely that Disney can't use them in their own parks. Besides, even if they could, wouldn't that be confusing for people visiting Orlando?

According to one source, some of the Marvel characters are tied up in contracts for up to 10 years, which means Disney has to honor those contracts, or pay the licensor heavy fees to break it. Which would be stupid considering the licensor is now paying Disney to use them.

Also, apparently, there have already been some discussions between Disney/Pixar and Marvel regarding movies and comic books. Perhaps Marvel will do some comics based on Pixar characters, and then Pixar would do some movies based on Marvel characters. However, that's all just chit-chat for the moment, nothing's been made official, or probably will be until after the deal is approved by Marvel shareholders.

[MNNHFLTX]

To keep all the discussion about this topic in one place, I'm going to close this thread and direct all responses to the one in the News and Rumours forum:

Disney to acquire Marvel for 4 billion (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=160523)