JasonMa said:
Did you see the 60(?) mile restriction though? I think that trumps the possible out through heroes not in use at the time of the contract (which is how people believe Disney is getting away with some of the Guardians stuff).
A lawyer friend seems to think the 60-mile restriction ties in with the heroes currently in use, and is not an impediment to introducing other superheroes to the Florida parks. I forget his exact reasoning, but this is why The Mouse retains more lawyers than most law firms.
JasonMa said:
Which would be Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, X-Men , and Avengers. That's almost the whole of the (recognizable) Marvel stable. There's also some question on if it has to be in an attraction or if just the theming they have prevents Disney from using it.
I don't believe Disney is overly concerned with adding Spider-Man to any of the parks yet. They can sit back and rake in the licensing and merchandising money without any significant outlay.
Before Marvel's success at the box office, the number of recognizable superheroes could be counted on one hand -- Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Hulk. That's it. The general public probably couldn't tell you whose stable they belonged to, but they knew the characters. The number of superheroes that are recognizable today are more, but, in Marvel's case, they made them worth recognizing. Or did everybody really care about a talking tree and an angry raccoon four years ago?
That's part of Disney's abilities -- creating a need you didn't know existed, and then supplying you with the thing that fills that need.
Black Panther is going to open all kinds of new avenues, and Disney's going to fill that need. And then those second-tier names are suddenly recognizable.
But before I go on a tangent: The Avengers restriction is particularly curious, because of how fluid the lineup has been over the years. Which incarnation of the team is off limits? All incarnations? Nearly every single character in the Marvel Universe has been an Avenger at one point or another.
I want to see a Moon Knight Netflix series. Who doesn't want to see an mentally unstable Batman on screen?
Joe Brody said:
You've got to explain that one to me. Why would Avenger characters be tied-up by a deal with Universal?
Back in the 90's when the entire comic book industry was on the verge of collapse, Universal scooped up the rights to Marvel's characters during their fire sale. Those rights were limited to theme parks on the East Coast only, and nothing is supposed to appear within 60-miles of Universal Orlando bearing the Marvel brand and aforementioned characters. The sticking point seems to be over which characters are formally iced out.
Joe Brody said:
I wonder what alcohol is available in Pandora?
/
All the
booze.
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