Disney recently announced a Marvel themed land coming to many of its parks around the world, but due to a contract that Marvel signed long before Disney acquired the company, they are not allowed to use the mention Marvel anywhere in Disneyland Resorts theme parks in Anaheim California.
Many Walt Disney World fans already know that the rights for most Marvel characters belong to Universal Studios and can’t be used anywhere in Disney World. But what you may not know is that the quarter-century old contract — which gives Universal the rights to Marvel characters east of the Mississippi River — is the same contract that also states that the Marvel’s name can’t be used in any theme park west of the Mississippi.
The new land in Anaheim will feature superheroes made famous in Marvel comic books, movies and video games, including Spider-Man, the Hulk and Iron man and many others. Just don’t expect it to be called Marvel Land. They can use the characters, but they just can’t mention Marvel anywhere. Marvel Entertainment was purchased by Disney in 2009, but still must follow licensing agreements with other movie studios.
Unlike Walt Disney World in Orlando, Disneyland in California is free to use Marvel characters however they like whether or not they appear at any Universal theme parks and they certainly don’t plan of changing their plans. They will be moving at superhero speed to complete the projects, but they will just have to call it something different, like “Avengers Land” or “Place with Lots of Superheros Land.” They will think of something and most people probably won’t give it a second thought. Working out a deal with universal isn’t out of the question either.
Disney officials declined to comment on the licensing agreement but said the deal won’t derail their plans to build an expansion that will resonate with fans, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“We are excited to bring these stories and their compelling characters to life with a new land in Disney California Adventure park,” said Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown.