Marvel Land
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Marvel at WDW
- Thread starter MJ6987
- Start date
Marvel Land
danlb_2000
Premium Member
When Disney acquired Marvel, if you had told me that in 10 years all that we would have world wide would be one new ride based on an old ride system, one re-theme, and a couple M&G's, I wouldn't have believed you either.
danlb_2000
Premium Member
Technically speaking, Disney never had the theme park rights to Marvel, but I digress...
The point I am trying to make is that buying out the contract with Universal is not like acquiring Star Wars or Marvel. The entire ROI for any money given to Universal has to come from new attractions at WDW.
danlb_2000
Premium Member
All of this paints a picture of a company that doesn't want to spend a lot of money on Marvel in the parks. With the exception of the GoTG coaster, all of these things were relatively in-expensive.
Just trying to figure out what you meant by "back".
Really? That's your position? Okay.
danlb_2000
Premium Member
Ok, sorry, "back" is not the right word. "Get the rights from Universal" is that better?
doctornick
Well-Known Member
There are three Marvel things that Disney could get "back" from Comcast:
1. Film distribution rights to Hulk and Namor
2. Use of the Marvel name in North American theme parks
3. Use of Marvel characters in parks east of the Mississippi
IMHO if Disney is going to ever get anything from Comcast - like during some sort of a deal for Sky - it would be the first two things that would be far and away their priority to get and neither would be a big deal for Comcast to give up.
The Hulk/Sub-Mariner rights are doing no one any good since Disney/Marvel own the production rights and they aren't going to make a movie they can't distribute. So, they have little value to Comcast except as a bargaining chip and might very well have a time table when they might revert anyway. I think Disney/Marvel would like to get those rights fully under their control just for flexibility and might make an effort to get them (in general, they seem to be fairly aggressive/eager to get the total film rights to Marvel properties all back in house).
Use of the Marvel name in theme parks would be nice from an advertising standpoint. They like to advertise Marvel movies in the parks as much as possible and this would give them the ability to use the familiar red Marvel logo and slap it all over the place. Plus they could then actually call the planned land in DCA as "Marvel Super Hero Land" or whatever instead of a more generic name without "Marvel". Again, Uni gives up very little with this as long as they can continue to call their existing land at Uni Orlando "Marvel".
The last thing - the thing that always gets talked about here - is the theme park rights. I find it extremely unlikely Uni would ever give those up. It makes little sense for either side especially given the cost involved for Uni to potentially re-theme existing attractions. The most likely thing that WDW could get IMHO is for Uni to allow Disney to also use the rights East of the Mississippi so that both WDW and Uni Florida can have Marvel characters. Again, I don't think this is likely but view it as conceivable. More specifically, I could see a relaxing of the "family" rule from the Uni contract allowing WDW to use characters not in use in IoA -- like Black Panther, Ant-Man/Wasp, Iron Man (though perhaps not depending on Uni's planned attraction), Thor, Vision/Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, maybe some X-Men not in use, etc. -- while still keeping Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, Dr. Doom, Wolverine/Storm/Magneto exclusive to IoA.
1. Film distribution rights to Hulk and Namor
2. Use of the Marvel name in North American theme parks
3. Use of Marvel characters in parks east of the Mississippi
IMHO if Disney is going to ever get anything from Comcast - like during some sort of a deal for Sky - it would be the first two things that would be far and away their priority to get and neither would be a big deal for Comcast to give up.
The Hulk/Sub-Mariner rights are doing no one any good since Disney/Marvel own the production rights and they aren't going to make a movie they can't distribute. So, they have little value to Comcast except as a bargaining chip and might very well have a time table when they might revert anyway. I think Disney/Marvel would like to get those rights fully under their control just for flexibility and might make an effort to get them (in general, they seem to be fairly aggressive/eager to get the total film rights to Marvel properties all back in house).
Use of the Marvel name in theme parks would be nice from an advertising standpoint. They like to advertise Marvel movies in the parks as much as possible and this would give them the ability to use the familiar red Marvel logo and slap it all over the place. Plus they could then actually call the planned land in DCA as "Marvel Super Hero Land" or whatever instead of a more generic name without "Marvel". Again, Uni gives up very little with this as long as they can continue to call their existing land at Uni Orlando "Marvel".
The last thing - the thing that always gets talked about here - is the theme park rights. I find it extremely unlikely Uni would ever give those up. It makes little sense for either side especially given the cost involved for Uni to potentially re-theme existing attractions. The most likely thing that WDW could get IMHO is for Uni to allow Disney to also use the rights East of the Mississippi so that both WDW and Uni Florida can have Marvel characters. Again, I don't think this is likely but view it as conceivable. More specifically, I could see a relaxing of the "family" rule from the Uni contract allowing WDW to use characters not in use in IoA -- like Black Panther, Ant-Man/Wasp, Iron Man (though perhaps not depending on Uni's planned attraction), Thor, Vision/Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, maybe some X-Men not in use, etc. -- while still keeping Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, Dr. Doom, Wolverine/Storm/Magneto exclusive to IoA.
Magenta Panther
Well-Known Member
Sometimes I "marvel" at your patience...
Darkseid
Active Member
From my perspective, it makes little to no sense for Universal to remain in this contract. They are stuck with stale material that doesn't draw in the fans. The MCU has significantly more mass appeal than anything else Marvel is doing. Infinity War has made over $2 billion. That money is not coming in from comic book fans, it is coming in from MCU fans. They have completely redefined the comic book movie industry. They are drawing in hoards of people that have never cared one bit about comics. Universal simply can't provide enough to satisfy this. They know that. They're not going to just give it up, but they're not going to sink any more effort into it than what is necessary.
Disney is focused on Fox currently, but once that is done, they will begin negotiations with Universal. Universal is just sitting pretty until they can make money on the deal.
...or at least this is how I'm hoping it goes because I am a MCU and a Disney fan.
Disney is focused on Fox currently, but once that is done, they will begin negotiations with Universal. Universal is just sitting pretty until they can make money on the deal.
...or at least this is how I'm hoping it goes because I am a MCU and a Disney fan.
sonoma15
Well-Known Member
Universal 100% isn't giving this up, Spider-man and Hulk definitely aren't stale material.
Incorrect. Patronage for the two Es on MSI is very satisfactory.
Which is why they went above and beyond what was required with both refurbs. Joe public doesn’t care what Spiderman is represented. Apparently. They just want a fantastic Spider-Man attraction which is what they get. Apparently. For example.
This fanboi speculation has been ongoing for years now. And still nothing has changed.
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Lensman
Well-Known Member
Interesting. I wonder what the actual benefits are of jamming as much expense into the marketing budget for a film as possible. I've read articles about how studios are reputed to attribute as many expenses as possible onto their films so they don't have to pay as much out to investors.
What would a new win-win contract for theme park rights look like?
First, it would have allow Universal to keep the ability to do what they can do now, maintain and enhance their current Marvel attractions and develop new attractions in the IOA. but clearly Disney would want to develop Avengers-related and X-Men attractions at WDW. So is there anything that would be valuable to Universal other than money, which we know that TDO won't be able to justify?
For example:
1. Rights to develop Marvel attractions at their other Orlando parks.
2. Rights to use the MCU versions of characters. How much is this worth? It seems to me like it might be better to maintain the current product differentiation between the comic version of characters vs the MCU versions of characters.
3. Rights to duplicate their IOA attractions in parks outside of Orlando. This might be a decent win-win as it allows both companies to share many attraction expenses across their parks. Is it that much of a loss for Disney to allow Universal to put Spider-Man in Universal Hollywood?
Disneyhead'71
Well-Known Member
I am under the impression that Disney and Universal had discussions recently that clarified some gray areas, but the contract was not changed. The first sign they talked was an actual sign. The one in Westside Disney Springs. @scorp16 you will be seeing more Marvel at WDW. But it's not going to be Fantastic Four, X-Men, Black Panther, Ant Man, or The Avengers. And Universal isn't giving up the rights.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
This is not an issue of “Hollywood accounting” but how Disney actually operates. Many Disney fans have this idea that there is some small group coordinating and planning everything with each division, and that just isn’t the case. It’s really a lot of different silos that more often then not are operating on their own without much concern about what others are doing. Different groups have different tasks and responsibilities, and for the most part they don’t stray from their assignment. Many of the people who are fans of meet and greets drive themselves batty trying to divine a pattern of why the parks did a meet for Movie A, an elaborate meet for Movie B and nothing for Movie C, but the truth is that they’re looking in the wrong place. It isn’t some park strategy. It’s a decision made individually for each movie based on its individual marketing strategy. It’s the same reason why one movie might have an assault of television ads while another has little viral websites.
This distinction of subsidiaries and divisions and groups is also important because it changes the basic premise that so many get wrong about the Marvel deal with Universal. Universal Orlando Resort is not sending a check to Walt Disney World, or even The Walt Disney Company. The check goes to Marvel, same as always, and it is Marvel who gets to count it as part of their revenue. Look around and there are lots of incidents of Comcast paying Disney and Disney paying Comcast, it’s not really an issue. Like I said earlier, the flagship lands of Universal Orlando Resort, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, is now a deal with AT&T who competes with not just NBCUniversal in movies and television, but also competes with Comcast’s cable television business, cable internet business and has the wireless business Comcast wishes it had.
Haymarket2008
Well-Known Member
I believe @marni1971 and @MansionButler84 have stated that Guardians is the extant of the Marvel presence in WDW theme parks. Have things changed?
BlakeW39
Well-Known Member
Why can't Marvel be at WDW? Love them or leave them, but these are great characters that have captivated generations for decaded upob decaded. If Marvel fits in a place - as an attraction or preferably a land (in DHS) then it should go there. It can be great and can captivate the largest fanbase, the only one that can rival Star Wars. So I hope that they put a Marvel land (exaggerated NYC) in DHS. But them in EPCOT? Idk, it just depends on what they do with it. If they can make a good land that is to Disney standards and fits the theming of its location, then I'm more than okay with it, I want it 
Because they literally can’t place marvel in the parks outside of a few characters. GOTG, Dr Strange and probably that’s it of main characters. Universals owns the rights for all the main charchters.Why can't Marvel be at WDW? Love them or leave them, but these are great characters that have captivated generations for decaded upob decaded. If Marvel fits in a place - as an attraction or preferably a land (in DHS) then it should go there. It can be great and can captivate the largest fanbase, the only one that can rival Star Wars. So I hope that they put a Marvel land (exaggerated NYC) in DHS. But them in EPCOT? Idk, it just depends on what they do with it. If they can make a good land that is to Disney standards and fits the theming of its location, then I'm more than okay with it, I want it
BlakeW39
Well-Known Member
Oh I know that part, I was saying why as in why couldn't artically and for the better of WDW. It's a pointless discussion until Disney can get the rights. Which I want, since Universal is not doing anything with them and will continue not to.