Marvel

[Wilt Dasney]

What would happen if Disney completely dissolved Marvel and rolled the company's entire business into Disney?

They would lose decades of loyal Marvel customers and destroy any value they hoped to get from the merger, for starters.

 

[jakeman]

They would lose decades of loyal Marvel customers and destroy any value they hoped to get from the merger, for starters.

Because if there is any fan base more volatile and opinionated than a Disney fan base it's comic books. :lol:

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Only problem is that Iron Man is featured on posters in The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman as an easter egg. Captain America does appear as a walk-around. The Hulk obviously has it's coaser.

I know The Black Panther is supposedly getting a film (currently in development) and I don't recall him appearing at IoA at all...

Universal uses Spiderman, Storm(the X-Men), Dr Doom(Fantastic Four), and Hulk as rides. Walkarounds include:Spiderman, Captain America, Hulk(not currently being used), Cyclops, Rogue, Wolverine, Storm, Dr Doom(not currently being used). Restaurants feature the Fantasic Four and Captain America. Artwork all over the Island features Iron Man, the Avengers, Thor, Spiderman, Fantasic Four, Daredevil, X-Men, etc.

Every good hero or villian is currently used at IOA. There is NOTHING Disney could pull out that would be worthwhile.

Thanks for the rundown, guys. If we're to the point of wondering whether the Black Panther is available for Disney to use, then I'd say Universal covered its bases pretty well. :lol:

 

[wizards8507]

I know this is going to throw a wrench in the engine, but what about Marvel Video Games. I read in an article that Marvel's contracts with Activision, Sega, Gazillion and THQ give them rights to continue putting out Video Games with the Marvel brand.

So besides Disney not having all the rights to Movies, Video Games, and Theme Park Attractions was this transaction a right move? Yea in the long run when these contracts run out they will be making money in a given time span of 10-20 years.

But can you imagine a Disney vs Marvel Video game that would be epic.

Disney isn't "losing out" on these licenses. They're now the ones GRANTING them. The royalties that Activision, etc. were paying to use the Marvel characters are now going to Disney.

If you bought the Boston Red Sox, you don't LOSE the ability to use their Logo just because other companies have licenses to use the logos. Rather, you're now the one who ALLOWS those companies to use the logos and you're the one seeing royalties.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Because if there is any fan base more volatile and opinionated than a Disney fan base it's comic books. :lol:

Hear, hear! I spent some time on the DC fan forums for a while in my internet youth. Those people make us look like amateurs.

 

[slappy magoo]

I remember reading, not long after the merger was made public, that Universal went ahead and pushed a reboot of the film series to avoid delayed negotiations with the original films' stars, which could have delayed the start of filming too long and allowed Disney to regain the rights.

Considering Universal has nothing to do with the movies they have some kind of pull!

 

[Wilt Dasney]

You're right, Disney is a bumbling idiot and Universal is clairvoyant enough to predict ten years ago that Disney would buy out Marvel. So Uni made sure they used all the popular characters in their park to keep Disney from making money...

Or Uni built a park with the most successful portions of a comic book franchise with really no foresight into future other than what would appeal to the general population.

Hard to tell really.

It does seem reasonable to assume that Uni foresaw the possibility of someone (not Disney specifically) poaching off parts of that license in the future, if they didn't contractually tie down all the most valuable Marvel properties.

 

[jakeman]

It does seem reasonable to assume that Uni foresaw the possibility of someone (not Disney specifically) poaching off parts of that license in the future, if they didn't contractually tie down all the most valuable Marvel properties.

I would think that would be Marvel themselves that Uni was more worried about.

I wonder how many people you asked in the late 90's would believe that anyone would have bought Marvel?

When it comes down to what is recognizable to the public, there really isn't that much available from Marvel comics. So filling a land with all the important ones wouldn't be that hard, as you can see.

I just don't think we should attribute Uni wanting to protect their investment, with corporate maneuvering bordering on supernatural intuition. :lol:

 

[Wilt Dasney]

When it comes down to what is recognizable to the public, there really isn't that much available from Marvel comics. So filling a land with all the important ones wouldn't be that hard, as you can see.

I've always preferred DC myself. There's just something almost elemental and yin-yang in the Superman/Batman juxtaposition.

But I did lose many a half hour to the Spidey and X-Men Saturday morning Fox Kids shows as a younger Wilt. :lol:

 

[Wilt Dasney]

I would think that would be Marvel themselves that Uni was more worried about.

Actually, you're not entirely off here.

There's a long section of the contract that goes on about a concept Marvel was kicking around in the '90s that would have basically combined a comics/trading card shop with motion simulators, and defining how any of those would be allowed to set up shop in relation to any Universal parks that were using the characters. It gets into minutiae like permitted acreage and the number of people a simulator could hold at one time.

I don't know if anything ever came of that, but the idea of Marvel itself trying to siphon off business from the theme parks was clearly on Universal's mind.

 

[Disday]

What Universal brags about to the media and what the specifics say in the contract may be two different things. Iger hinted that we will see the Marvel characters in the U.S. parks very soon. I've read in one of the Hollywood trade papers that Disney is working on buying back the contract. I've also heard that they want the complete Marvel rights back at the company - all movies, games, etc. From what I understand, Universal cannot add any new Marvel characters or attractions without the permission of Marvel. This means that they will not be allowed to expand or improve on the land in the future. Why would they want to keep a group of characters in their parks with such restrictions and where they have to pay their rival royalties? Have you seen the latest pictures of the Hulk coaster? It's rusted so badly it looks dangerous. This is in direct violation of the contract in terms of quality control.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I would think that would be Marvel themselves that Uni was more worried about.

I wonder how many people you asked in the late 90's would believe that anyone would have bought Marvel?

When it comes down to what is recognizable to the public, there really isn't that much available from Marvel comics. So filling a land with all the important ones wouldn't be that hard, as you can see.

I just don't think we should attribute Uni wanting to protect their investment, with corporate maneuvering bordering on supernatural intuition. :lol:

Universal was probably afraid of Marvel going under (bankruptcy was filed in 1996) and the various characters and properties being sold off. The contract and design protects them from pretty much anything that could happen.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

From what I understand, Universal cannot add any new Marvel characters or attractions without the permission of Marvel. This means that they will not be allowed to expand or improve on the land in the future. Why would they want to keep a group of characters in their parks with such restrictions and where they have to pay their rival royalties?

When was the last time Uni updated the land before Disney entered the picture? I'm skeptical that this restriction is that big a deal, even if it's relevant.

And I say "if" because if you look at the list cheezbat posted, there's really no major characters they would need to add. They're all there now...so the question is how much approval they'd need to use characters they already have the rights to in new ways.

If you look at how Disney is content to let some of its lands sit without updates for decades (quick, name the last time Frontierland got a major new element), I think this might be an overstated concern. It might become relevant in 10 or 20 years.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Oh the old Marvel conundrum getting fan boys frothing at the gash.

Lets face it how could Disney build a Marvel attraction that was suitable for its core 8 year old customers.

 

[UrbanDonovan]

What Universal brags about to the media and what the specifics say in the contract may be two different things. Iger hinted that we will see the Marvel characters in the U.S. parks very soon. I've read in one of the Hollywood trade papers that Disney is working on buying back the contract. I've also heard that they want the complete Marvel rights back at the company - all movies, games, etc. From what I understand, Universal cannot add any new Marvel characters or attractions without the permission of Marvel. This means that they will not be allowed to expand or improve on the land in the future. Why would they want to keep a group of characters in their parks with such restrictions and where they have to pay their rival royalties? Have you seen the latest pictures of the Hulk coaster? It's rusted so badly it looks dangerous. This is in direct violation of the contract in terms of quality control.

My wife and I went to IoA last week and I was really shocked by the horrible state of the whole park (with the obvious exception of the shiny, spiffy new Hogwarts area). When we shot up on the Dr. Doom ride, I looked down and it was just one giant sea of rust. It definitely made me a little uneasy as far as the safety of the rides. Really bad show, in my opinion.

 

[rsoxguy]

Lets face it how could Disney build a Marvel attraction that was suitable for its core 8 year old customers.

With this guy as the theme.....

 

[WereMagicLives]

You're right, Disney is a bumbling idiot and Universal is clairvoyant enough to predict ten years ago that Disney would buy out Marvel. So Uni made sure they used all the popular characters in their park to keep Disney from making money...

Or Uni built a park with the most successful portions of a comic book franchise with really no foresight into future other than what would appeal to the general population.

Hard to tell really.

i still dont think disney is stupid i think they made the right move in buying out Marvel because in years down the road that company could end up being a big money maker

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

With this guy as the theme.....

Disney Fanboy or as hes better known Captain Desperation.

He can slay Potter with a handful of Pixie dust and a cheery song about metal fatigue.

 

[WereMagicLives]

Disney Fanboy or as hes better known Captain Desperation.

He can slay Potter with a handful of Pixie dust and a cheery song about metal fatigue.

 

[rsoxguy]

Disney Fanboy or as hes better known Captain Desperation.

He can slay Potter with a handful of Pixie dust and a cheery song about metal fatigue.

They will save money by paying for his personal appearances with cheap plastic souvenirs and constructing the ride from spare pieces of Space Mountain track.