Rumor Alert: Will Success of 'Civil War' Help Launch West Coast Marvel Park?

by Erik Yates
Last updated: 6:00 PM ET, Mon May 9, 2016

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Captain America: Civil War is absolutely huge at the box office this weekend. It's the latest entry into the "Marvel Cinematic Universe", with many more on the way. Now that Disney is calling the shots, it's only a matter of time before we see the movies hit the theme parks. According to many rumors, and insiders, that could happen a lot sooner than expected, as Disney could have a mini-Marvel land in the works at their Disneyland Resort in California.

The Marvel theme park deal is a complicated one. Way back before Disney owned Marvel, the comic book company made a deal with an up and coming theme park called Universal. The deal brought us Marvel Superhero Island at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure. Flash forward several years later, and Universal's biggest competitor, Disney now owns Marvel. That would naturally mean the theme park side of things too, right? No! Through a contract (which is way too long and boring to get into here), Universal Orlando retains the rights to all theme park activities East of the Mississippi River. In short, Walt Disney World can't build a Marvel themed anything without forking over a large amount of money to Universal. So what are they to do?

Disneyland in California is West of the Mississippi River, and they are looking at taking advantage of the fact that every Marvel movie is a huge success. The park already has a huge Star Wars Land under development, but that's not going to be ready for a few more years. Many industry insiders are saying that Disney is looking to bring a Marvel based attraction within the next few months, and right next door at Disney's California Adventure.

The new project would be introduced in several phases, but the ultimate goal would be a smaller Marvel themed land that offers something more than the current meet and greets with characters. The first phase would be a total and complete retheme of the popular Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror. Currently the ride is themed to a Hollywood Hotel that was struck by lightning. The riders meet the same fate when they board the elevator car, and go plummeting to their fate. The new attraction would see The Collector from the Guardians of the Galaxy film interacting with guests. The ride system would be essentially the same, but it would add in several little bits from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including a cameo by Stan Lee.

The next would be an indoor Avengers Launch Coaster. Think Rock n Roller Coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studios, only a little more intense, and themed to Iron Man. The new coaster would be in and around same area as Tower of Terror, and could possibly feature cameos from Tony Stark, Captain America and Nick Fury. Personally we hope that Black Widow and Spider-Man make a showing as well (although the rights to Spider-Man are a whole different ball of wax). The area would also feature a few shops and of course a meet and greet for Marvel characters, because, well Disney loves meet and greets. The new land would of course mean that a few things would have to leave or get moved, including the Monsters Inc. attraction.

Keep in mind that this is just for California, and nothing is planned for Florida at this time. Also keep in mind that these are just rumors, and could change at any moment.

What do you hope happens with Disney and Marvel?

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