This year promises to be huge for both Star Wars and Marvel. Yesterday in Anaheim, Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams dropped the second teaser trailer for the new Star Wars film, which debuts this Christmas.
Fans the Star Wars Celebration fan convention were wowed to see that the rolling BB8 droid, featured in the first trailer, is a working, practical device, and not simply a computer-generated animation.
Meanwhile, Marvel is about to open its newest Avengers movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron, with Ant-Man and Fantastic Four on deck for release later this year. Lest you dismiss Ant-Man as sounding silly, don't forget that many people thought the same about Guardians of the Galaxy, which went on to become one of the biggest hits of last year.
But what about in the theme parks? Ah, to quote Emperor Palpatine, "I can feel your anger."
As Disney's poised to rack up one blockbuster hit after another with these franchises in movie theaters, theme parks fans are left with... well, we will get to see these franchises at the movies, right?
Sure, we have the relatively new Star Tours rides at Disney theme parks around the world. And there's Star Wars Weekends coming up at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. As for Marvel, well, we can always head over to Universal's Islands of Adventure.
Why do I suddenly feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of Disney fans suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced?
Here's how we got to this point: Disney bought Marvel Studios for $4 billion in 2009. However, in the 1990s, cash-strapped Marvel sold its theme parks rights to Universal in perpetuity. Universal allowed its rights to the Marvel characters on the west coast lapse by not developing any Marvel projects at Universal Studios Hollywood, but Universal retains the Marvel theme park rights in Florida and Japan, effectively locking out Disney from featuring any Marvel characters in its Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disney theme parks. Disney has announced an Iron Man-themed ride for Hong Kong Disneyland, which will open late next year. Disney's created Marvel meet and greets in Walt Disney Studios Paris, but closed its main Marvel meet and greet location in Anaheim's Disneyland with the shuttering of the Innovations pavilion.
As for Star Wars, Disney bought creator Lucasfilm for another $4 billion, in 2012. Disney soon after that greenlit a Star Wars land for Disney's Hollywood Studios, but halted the project during the development of the new Star Wars film. Walt Disney Imagineering has spitballed enough Star Wars Land designs for Hollywood Studios and Disneyland at this point to build its own life-sized Death Star, but fans don't feel any closer to ordering a drink in a theme park version of the Mos Eisley Cantina than they were before Disney bought Lucasfilm.
So where does Disney go from here? Yeah, this is the theme park version of "First World Problems" — which of these wildly successful franchises should Disney work on next? But theme parks fans are growing increasingly frustrated by the thought that the answer will be "none of the above."
Let's consider the creative potential for each franchise in a theme park setting, the size of the potential market for each franchise, and the expense of developing these franchises in Disney's parks. Then let's put the question to a vote:
Let's break it down, in the comments.
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Finally, for once I am in the majority! But I think this boils down to a generational issue. I'm guessing the older among us (I was 13 when Star Wars first tore across the big screen) lean toward the legacy and mythology we lived and breathed in our youths, whereas, today's youngsters are growing up all things Marvel.
But I can't stop dreaming of the day when I can pay Disney my money to step into a truly immersive Star Wars land. Mos Eisley cantina. Death Star. Hoth ice world. The whole nine parsecs.
Wake me for the grand opening and watch this fangirl go into freakin' orbit!
Just for clarification, Fantastic 4 is a Marvel property, but is distributed by 20th Century Fox, just like X-Men. Disney/Marvel had to negotiate a pretty sizable sum with Sony to restore control of the Spiderman brand, and a similar agreement would need to be in place for them to get back Fantastic 4 and X-Men.
Yes, and it involved writing a large check to NBCUniversal. I remain convinced that Disney and Universal were talking about the Marvel rights in a deal that also would have included releasing Steven Spielberg from DreamWorks' contract with Disney so that he could return to Universal, but Spielberg changed his mind and decided to stay put. (I have heard that those discussions were part of the reason why Universal rushed so quickly to build Transformers in USF -- it would have had to close Spider-Man in IOA for a long period to convert it to another theme and didn't want to go for a long time without a motion-base 3D ride at the resort.)
So Disney can have the Orlando theme park rights to Marvel anytime it wishes to write a check big enough that NBCUniversal would choose to relinquish them. But I doubt that Disney really wants to fund its rival's expansion, and I suspect that Universal rather enjoys keeping Marvel out of Disney's hands in Florida.
Still, money talks and successful businesses listen.
And I actually liked Avatar, but it's still just one movie. While good, who knows if the sequels will be good and Disney is investing all this money assuming they will be. But what if they aren't? Why not spend that money on star wars, which they know has a following. It's just never made sense to me.
Also, when will this be happening, 2025?
I think Marvel is a much better option and I can't fathom why I'm in the minority here.
Now, being a Floridian, this means Marvel won't be coming anywhere near me. However, I still have IOA to give me my Marvel fix and Disney still has 3 seperate parks on 3 seperate continents to work with. And, let's be honest, we don't really need a Star Wars Land. The only thing that's really missing is a restaurant based on the cantina from "A New Hope." Other than that, it's got everything! You want the Battle of Hoth? They're's an entire scene for that in Star Tours! You want lightsabers? They're' an entire show where kids learn how to use them! Heck, you even get to construct your own lightsabers in the gift shop! You want the Death Star? Darth Vader? Yoda? Boba Fett? Wookies? They're all there! And quite frankly, to devote such a large portion of the park to just one franchise would destroy the spirit of the Studios! Unlike Universal, which mainly focuses on whatever movies are still relevant, Hollywood Studios is a loving tribute to both the classic and the contemporary. This park created my love for classic cinema, starting my transformation into the movie buff I am today. Otherwise, the entire park wold just be Universal Studios 2.0! Lastly, the fact that Marvel is multiple franchises rolled into one gives it MUCH more potential than Star Wars could ever hope to have. In addition to blasting through the skies with Iron Man, you could battle Frost Giants with Thor, go on a WWII expedition with Cap, blast some aliens with the Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. Disney has already given us all the Star Wars we could possibly have. Why not explore some possible new territory with Marvel?
PS, only a fraction of the MARVEL movies (or at least the ones Disney owns) take place in NYC.
I would even be okay with Disney changing Animal Kingdom's Avatar-land into an Ewok village. It could be and should be done!
So I guess the answer to your question is, "Disney should focus on Star Wars (DHS) AND Marvel (DLR) AND Avatar (DAK) AND Epcot."
Center the park with the Death Star. Same concept but a little different presentation than Epcot, though the partially constructed star would better fit the glacial Disney development pace.
I would love to see a couple of higher thrill roller coasters that fits with this audience. Picture the pod race with a launch coaster system and 3 tracks representing different pods. The unique part would be that the entire ride would be low to the ground, something not really done with any current coaster. Mid-ride launches and braking becomes an integral part of the story.
The second coaster would be a dark ride coaster hybrid featuring the final attack against the Death Star. Perfect to place right behind the Death Star in the back of the park not visible from the entryway. Slower dark ride start, mid-ride launch into the climax featuring the missile dropping into the star at the peak of a run up the back of the star. Then accelerate back into a dark area for the escape and a triumphant return to the base at the exit. The queues really would be as much part of this ride as the ride itself itself.
As a bean counter, I would suspect that Disney sat on these acquisitions to get some returns on their investments. After all money isn't free. They spent shareholder and bondholder money -- people that expect some returns. Also, before they outlay more cash to develop the properties they need to do strategic planning. They are probably less agile than NBC/Universal due to the size and breadth of operations. Some like to talk about synergy and vertical integration. However, sometimes it's a huge mess that doesn't necessarily work, has competing interests and can't turn on a dime.
I think Star Wars is more popular than Marvel and that is what is mostly responsible for the vote. Everyone's preferences are subjective, but I think there are reasons why Star Wars is more popular. More people were exposed to Star Wars in the 70s and 80s than read comic books. Star Wars may connect more with people because many people in their 30s and 40s were amazed by it as kids and introduced their kids to it. It also has some very classic story arcs that have resonated with people for centuries. Also, I think Star Wars is more popular with women than Marvel comics. In the comic books women are pretty scantily clad and I think there are even some story lines where the super hero women are raped and many times that they get crazy and turn into villains which is really not cool since powerful women in the real world are often portrayed as crazy or at least derided and not trusted ....and even in the modern TV cartoons the women super heroes are portrayed as weaker than the males. I shouldn't have to hear my daughter who loves super heroes ask me why none of the girl superheroes are tough like the boys. There have not been many female led Super Hero movies even though movie like the Hunger Games with a female lead have done well at the box office.---Not that Leia isn't scantily clad at Jabba's palace, but that is the only time and it is because of a gross character that is demeaning her on purpose and she kills him with the chains he kept her in. She is pretty tough throughout the whole movie. Actually now my daughter prefers the Disney fairies to super heroes because she says they are tough and in the latest movie she remarked happily that all the Scout Fairies that protect Pixie Hollow are girls. I think this is the reason that comic books haven't been as popular with women which translates into a smaller female fan base for Marvel.
As far as the delay goes, it makes sense that they want the new stuff in the park attractions, but due to secrecy reasons there is no way they could build that before the first movie is out so that sounds like a plausible reason for the delay.
The only thing I find odd is that many on here have said that Star Wars predates Marvel and therefore there's a lot more fans. Which is just wrong. Marvel comics started in the early '60's. If you're talking about movies, OK. But Spidey was also on TV long before SW. Many of those shows, especially the live action ones, are pretty forgettable. But, arguably, so are the last three W movies to be released. -Mark Kausch
I think Marvel is a much better option and I can't fathom why I'm in the minority here.
Now, being a Floridian, this means Marvel won't be coming anywhere near me. However, I still have IOA to give me my Marvel fix and Disney still has 3 seperate parks on 3 seperate continents to work with. And, let's be honest, we don't really need a Star Wars Land. The only thing that's really missing is a restaurant based on the cantina from "A New Hope." Other than that, it's got everything! You want the Battle of Hoth? They're's an entire scene for that in Star Tours! You want lightsabers? They're' an entire show where kids learn how to use them! Heck, you even get to construct your own lightsabers in the gift shop! You want the Death Star? Darth Vader? Yoda? Boba Fett? Wookies? They're all there! And quite frankly, to devote such a large portion of the park to just one franchise would destroy the spirit of the Studios! Unlike Universal, which mainly focuses on whatever movies are still relevant, Hollywood Studios is a loving tribute to both the classic and the contemporary. This park created my love for classic cinema, starting my transformation into the movie buff I am today. Otherwise, the entire park wold just be Universal Studios 2.0! Lastly, the fact that Marvel is multiple franchises rolled into one gives it MUCH more potential than Star Wars could ever hope to have. In addition to blasting through the skies with Iron Man, you could battle Frost Giants with Thor, go on a WWII expedition with Cap, blast some aliens with the Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. Disney has already given us all the Star Wars we could possibly have. Why not explore some possible new territory with Marvel?
PS, only a fraction of the MARVEL movies (or at least the ones Disney owns) take place in NYC.
With Star Wars, there's a greater ability to start with a partial core, and expand out later, with nothing direct to compare it to. Star wars would be the better, (I would say logical, but thats the wrong series) decision.
Unfortunately we have to wait for a new CEO who might show the parks some love.
The same thing can be applied to theme parks.
Universal usually takes a year or two to build a new ride. Let's see what the outcome is.
Harry Potter has 5 rides: Forbidden Journey, Dragon Challenge, Hippogriff, Gringotts and Hogwarts Express. Out of those rides, only 2 of them really stand out and bring something new and exciting to the table. Forbidden Journey and Hogwarts Express. Dragon Challenge is basically the same thing as Duelling Dragons but with a different name and Harry Potter Easter eggs in the queue. Same thing with Hippogriff and it's predecessor, the Unicorn ride. Gringotts, while definitely not a retread, still isn't very groundbreaking. It uses all of the same technology we've seen on other motion simulators. These problems aren't just limited to Harry Potter, either. Let us not forget Transformers, and it's biggest criticism of how it is basically Spider-Man but with a Transformers paint job over it. Now, these are all great rides, but imagine how much better they would be if Universal didn't rush to debut them and making them retreads of stuff that Universal has already done previously.
Now let's go over to Disney, who, once again, builds at an extremely slow pace. How could we have possibly benefited from that?
Well, look at their most popular rides: Thunder Mountain, Everest, Mission Space, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Tower of Terror...all of these rides took years to build. And they all introduced something new and innovative. Even today, the lines for these rides are ridiculous! And they have repeated the process with New Fantasyland. The three new attractions there really push the boundaries of practical effects and some of them are even more realistic than any motion simulator!
So, while it is understandable why people would expect a new ride every year, that's not necessarily a good thing.We should be encouraging Disney's sluggish pace, not criticizing it! For it takes real time and effort to create a timeless experience. So before I leave this article for good, I beseech you, fellow theme park enthusiasts, what do you prefer, a great attraction that takes a year or two to build, or an outstanding attraction that will last for generations that takes years to build?
The first Star Wars phase should be an obvious expansion of the area near Star Tours and up toward the front of the park. E-Ticket ride with an outdoor element like Radiator Springs Racers and the Cantina Bar as well.
Note to author: You mentioned The Fantastic Four, but that film and its characters are not part of the Disney Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's owned by 20th Century Fox and unfortunately the recent trailer for the reboot looks bad - definitely not Marvel Studios quality.
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