The new Marvel-themed land at Disneyland will be called Avengers Campus, and it seems like Spider-Man will be present there. Disney Parks already has a strange relationship with Marvel. In 1994, Universal Parks & Resorts signed a contract with Marvel, allowing its theme parks exclusive access to Marvel rides and attractions. However, though Disney purchased Marvel in 2009, the Universal contract stipulates that Disney cannot use the Marvel name or brand on any ride or attractions.
This licensing is why Universal Studios Florida has Marvel-themed rides, and Walt Disney World does not. However, the licensing gets a little looser when it comes to Disney’s other parks. After Disney purchased Marvel, characters such as Captain America and Spider-Man began showing up at Disneyland in California, along with a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction at Disneyland’s California Adventure. Disneyland was recently approved for a permit to start building a Marvel-themed land at California Adventure. But after negotiations fell apart between Disney and Sony over the character film rights of Spider-Man, it seemed like Spidey’s inclusion in Disney Parks was officially dead in the water.
Marvel announced at D23 that its Marvel-themed land would be called Avengers Campus. This un-Marvel title is probably due to the existing contract with Universal about the Marvel name and brand. More importantly, though, Avengers Campus seems to include Spider-Man as a prominent character. A display showing off Disney’s concepts for the new land showcased a copy of Spider-Man’s suit for the park, as well as plans for an attraction based on the web-slinger.
The idea of Spider-Man leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe led to some severe backlash from fans, with the hashtag #SaveSpiderMan trending on social media worldwide. But it does seem that Disney also believes it will broker a new deal for the film rights to the character: Disney’s banner for D23 also featured Spider-Man. Many in the industry feel that Disney and Sony will eventually come to some sort of deal. Both companies stand to make even more money if the character stays in the MCU.
D23 seems to be a sign that Disney remains confident it will strike a new deal for Spider-Man to stay in the MCU, although the materials at the expo were probably printed up well before the dispute with Sony was made public. Sony recently revealed that negotiations are far from over. Fans can keep hoping that the two companies will come to an agreement to keep the character in the MCU. Now that Disney has unveiled its plans for a Spider-Man attraction at California Adventure, fans will want the character to stay in the MCU alongside the Avengers for as long as possible.
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