Why Disney World Doesn't Have A Marvel Kingdom
Image Source: CBS News
Disney World is noticeably short of Marvel attractions with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT, being the only ride in Florida. There have been multiple rumors flying around the internet about a ‘Marvel Kingdom’ in the works at Disney World, including one with a realistic looking mock-up of a new land. Disney bought Marvel all the way back in 2009, and it seems strange that the House of Mouse haven’t capitalized on one of their hottest properties.
But there’s actually a very good reason why Disney haven’t built a Marvel Kingdom. They can’t.
Back in 1999, a full ten years before Disney acquired Marvel, The Islands of Adventure Theme Park at Universal Resort, Florida obtained the rights to open a Marvel themed attraction known as Marvel Superhero Island. This includes rides based on Spiderman, Doctor Doom, The Incredible Hulk, and the X-Men. There is also a Captain America/Avengers themed restaurant and a Fantastic Four themed Café.
RELATED:
There are even meet and greets with several of the big named heroes, some of which also star in Disney owned movies, including Spiderman, Wolverine and Captain America. Because of the lack of variation between some of the costumes in the comics and the movies (e.g. Spiderman), it’s literally impossible to tell them apart.
The lines between Universal’s Marvel Superhero Island and Disney’s Marvel are blurred even further, as the stores on the park stock Disney and Sony superhero merchandise. This makes it easier for fans to believe that they are in a park affiliated with the movie versions of these characters without Universal having to breach any copyright laws.
Universal obtained the Marvel theme park rights on a perpetuity basis. As long as this attraction is open, the rights remain. Disney theme parks in the same regional area, not only can’t have any form of attraction based on the characters (whether Universal are using them or not) at their venues, they also can’t touch any in the same family grouping. For example, If Universal are using one X-Men, then all of them are out for Disney World, and this would also include the villains such as Magneto. In addition to Guardians of the Galaxy; Deadpool, Doctor Strange and Wong are not part of any of the Universal ‘families’ so they potentially could be adapted into more rides in Florida.
Although Universal own the rights to the comic book versions rather than the movie incarnations, there are simply too many restrictions for Disney to get a fully-fledged park off the ground. Within the scope of the agreement, anything west of the Mississippi is fair game, and as a result, Disneyland is expanding its Marvel repertoire with two more rides for the Avengers Campus in California. There’s also no issue with the international Disney Worlds, e.g. Paris and Hong Kong. Unfortunately, it’s just Floridians that are missing out.
Disney World is the flagship park, and not having a presence there means that Marvel is never going to get the treatment that Star Wars has received (Galaxy’s Edge, The Halcyon). But that might not mean anything to the fans. The line for the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind never goes down.
If Disney really wanted a Marvel Magic Kingdom, could they make it happen? Rights are bought and sold frequently and challenged in court. But Bob Iger agreed to honor the deal when Disney took over Marvel, so it’s unlikely that the current CEO is going to chase down Universal to alter that. So, for the foreseeable future, Marvel adrenaline junkies either need to stick to the West Coast or check out Universal. They do have a killer Hulk rollercoaster.
READ NEXT:
Source(s): The Street The Direct Wiki
Latest News
Featured
