- Jun 30, 2010
- 381
- 375
I think any chance of the MCU coming to Universal is dead-in-the-water.
Marvel Studios, after 2 years of starting to split off from Marvel have completed the transition to become a fully operating sister company under the Disney umbrella, and thus now have their own licensing deals & legal team completely separate from Marvel. It's a bit of an internal mess, because Marvel Studios now have full ownership rights to their versions of their characters + original characters from 2015-onward. This means a character created for the movies will not be able to show up on a Marvel TV show or a Marvel Comic without an internal licensing deal between Marvel Studios and Marvel. Previous deals that included master licensing of Marvel (including MCU + Licensed film versions) are grandfathered in and have access to all films & characters. (ex: Hasbro can make toys from Fox's X-Men, Sony's Spider-Man, and Marvel Comics). Theme Park rights operate similarly to exclusive movie rights, so this also doesn't mean that Disney can use their MCU version of the shared characters in parks where Universal has exclusivity, because they're still considered derivative of the Marvel character. Just as Marvel Studios can't put Wolverine in the MCU because Fox holds the rights, they can't have a meet & greet in WDW with Spidey, but you can have a Meet & Greet with Phil Coulson.
Universal's deal is with Marvel themselves. Essentially what this means is MCU != Marvel. Universal's deal doesn't give access to derivative works - so just as Universal has never had access to Fox's version of the X-Men or Sony's Spidey, they do not have access to Marvel Studios' versions of Iron Man, Cap, Guardians, etc. Prior to 2015, they possibly would have.
This has some big impacts elsewhere though. It's the reason why Marvel TV shows have stopped having current tie-ins with the MCU, why the Marvel TV shows don't effect the MCU, why TV characters won't show up in the films, etc. because the TV shows are now made by a different company (Marvel, not Marvel Studios)
Hopefully that gives some confusing clarity. If an Iron Man ride comes, it would likely be animated and they'd probably just hire an impersonator. Unless it's specifically RDJ, or using exact armor from the movies, then they can do it.
Marvel Studios, after 2 years of starting to split off from Marvel have completed the transition to become a fully operating sister company under the Disney umbrella, and thus now have their own licensing deals & legal team completely separate from Marvel. It's a bit of an internal mess, because Marvel Studios now have full ownership rights to their versions of their characters + original characters from 2015-onward. This means a character created for the movies will not be able to show up on a Marvel TV show or a Marvel Comic without an internal licensing deal between Marvel Studios and Marvel. Previous deals that included master licensing of Marvel (including MCU + Licensed film versions) are grandfathered in and have access to all films & characters. (ex: Hasbro can make toys from Fox's X-Men, Sony's Spider-Man, and Marvel Comics). Theme Park rights operate similarly to exclusive movie rights, so this also doesn't mean that Disney can use their MCU version of the shared characters in parks where Universal has exclusivity, because they're still considered derivative of the Marvel character. Just as Marvel Studios can't put Wolverine in the MCU because Fox holds the rights, they can't have a meet & greet in WDW with Spidey, but you can have a Meet & Greet with Phil Coulson.
Universal's deal is with Marvel themselves. Essentially what this means is MCU != Marvel. Universal's deal doesn't give access to derivative works - so just as Universal has never had access to Fox's version of the X-Men or Sony's Spidey, they do not have access to Marvel Studios' versions of Iron Man, Cap, Guardians, etc. Prior to 2015, they possibly would have.
This has some big impacts elsewhere though. It's the reason why Marvel TV shows have stopped having current tie-ins with the MCU, why the Marvel TV shows don't effect the MCU, why TV characters won't show up in the films, etc. because the TV shows are now made by a different company (Marvel, not Marvel Studios)
Hopefully that gives some confusing clarity. If an Iron Man ride comes, it would likely be animated and they'd probably just hire an impersonator. Unless it's specifically RDJ, or using exact armor from the movies, then they can do it.
