With a multimillion-dollar haul for “Captain America: Civil War,” Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe has widened its lead as the highest-grossing movie franchise in history.
According to boxofficemojo.com, the franchise has earned nearly $3.8 billion domestically, nearly $1 billion more than the “Star Wars” films and a $1.5 billion more than the Harry Potter series.
Given Disney’s obsession with cross-promoting its properties in its theme parks, why haven’t we seen more of Marvel at Disneyland? “Star Wars” got to take over Tomorrowland and is getting the biggest themed land in Disney history. “Frozen” got multiple shows, meet-and-greets and parade floats.
So where’s Marvel?
Stuck in legal limbo.
When Disney bought Marvel in 2009, one thing it didn’t get as part of that deal was the right to use Marvel’s characters in all of its theme parks around the world. In the 1990s, Marvel sold its theme park rights to Universal Studios, which built an entire land devoted to Marvel in its Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando.
Universal also bought the rights to use the Marvel characters at Universal Studios Hollywood, but the rights expired in 2007.
While that allows Disney to use the Marvel characters at Disneyland, the Universal Orlando deal remains in force in perpetuity, forever barring Disney from using many of the Marvel characters in theme park attractions at Walt Disney World.
For its part, Universal Orlando was there for Marvel in the early years of the 2000s, when the company wasn’t exactly burning up the entertainment business. Fans have long ranked the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride at Islands of Adventure as one of the top theme park rides in the world. And Universal Orlando is spending millions to rebuild its Incredible Hulk roller coaster for a return this summer.
If Disney wants to build a Marvel-themed land on the scale of its “Star Wars” land or Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it can’t split the development and marketing costs between Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Disneyland has to carry the load alone. That makes Marvel a much less attractive franchise for development when compared with “Star Wars,” “Frozen,” or any of the other Disney-owned properties.
Disney is building an Iron Man ride at Hong Kong Disneyland, but that looks to be a simulator ride that will stand in place of Star Tours in Hong Kong’s Tomorrowland. With Star Tours already at all of Disney’s other theme park resorts around the world, it seems unlikely that Disney will rush to duplicate that ride experience with Iron Man.
Is there any hope for a Marvel ride at Disneyland?
Some fan hope Disneyland will switch Star Tours to Iron Man once Star Wars land opens. Online discussion forums have been buzzing that Disney might create a “Guardians of the Galaxy” overlay for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride at Disney California Adventure and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.
How could Disney do that, if Universal owns the Marvel theme park rights in Orlando? The contract gives Universal the rights to certain Marvel characters. But some people read the deal as not extending to the “Guardians of the Galaxy” characters, who were nobodies in the Marvel universe until a few years ago.
So even if Disney cannot create a fully immersive Marvel land on both coasts, it might be able to do something with “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Whether Tower of Terror is the best place to do that is another question.
Robert Niles is the founder and editor of ThemeParkInsider.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThemePark
