Can We Talk about Disney & Marvel

Back in 2009, Disney purchased Marvel and while there was a huge uproar over it. I thought, meh. Not a big deal but at that time, I wasn't too big on superheroes. I mean yes I enjoyed all of the Marvel films but after having watched many episodes of Atop The Fourth Wall, I look at the comics differently. Even still, I see no big problem with this. Now it has always made me wonder what would happen to the parks and I may have gotten that answer.  Now I'm not certain if it is just Disneyland but there are rumors swirling around that the Stark Expo from Iron Man 2 may soon find a home in Tomorrowland.

Now part of me likes this idea as it seems to be the most logical step to take as Iron Man is one of the more popular franchises. Speaking of that, let me clarify something, while Disney owns the rights to the films, from the way I understand Universal for the time being still has the rights to use the comic book iterations.  Back on topic though, another reason that I like this is that Howard Stark in Iron Man 2 was Walt Disney.  Seriously, that is the closest we have ever gotten to someone making a Walt Disney biopic.  Granted, I thought the Howard Stark scenes were the best part of the film as I found myself bored with the rest of the movie. Also by just looking at that Stark Expo poster, it reminds of the some of the older Disney attraction posters.  With the simple designs and bright colors. It is very inviting just as the attraction posters were and still are. Take for example any of these vintage posters.

Now the other reason that I say he was Walt Disney was a because of his demeanor on camera and the look of the actor.  Let's examine that shall we.

While perhaps not the greatest picture to use, the similarities are there if you look hard enough. Really, it felt as if this character was a tribute to Walt's vision for EPCOT with the Stark Expo.  Now there was a point to all of this and this brings us back to the park.  As I stated above, the Stark Expo may soon make its home in Tomorrowland replacing Innoventions.

While it is always sad to lose an attraction, if there is one thing we all must remember. That is that Walt liked changed and realized you needed it. He felt that the parks would never be complete. He meant that what was there when we as alive may not be here now and to a degree that is true. My question though is how they are going to tie this in. I mean I'm sure they'll find a way but when you think of Disney, you don't think of Tony Stark. I'm curious to see how this will be pulled off.  Now as I said nothing is certain but it's rumored that this is going to be announced at D23,  Disney's big expo where they announce all of their upcoming projects.  I also have a feeling that if the Disneyland version does well, we may see the Stark Expo pop up in one of the parks at Disney World. 


 Now I'm not sure how to feel about this but I understand what they are trying to do and it makes sense to intergrate the Marvel franchise into the parks and it does make sense for them to start small and with just one attraction.  They don't want to do an overload but I still think this is going to be different and odd. As for I feel about the attraction itself, I'm not sure what to say. It does seem like an interesting idea to say the least and why not superheroes are the "In" thing in Hollywood right now but the inner 11 year old in me is screaming "Iron Man and Mickey Mouse don't belong in the same park".  Those pesky inner children, they just don't know when to keep shut. Though it will be neat to see what they come up with and don't get me wrong, I admire Marvel and I have often said that I believe Stan  Lee to be the Walt Disney of the Comic industry especially with the reading that I have done on him.  As I said above, I can't say if I'm excited or not about this idea but it does seem to be  a unique one. What's your take on this? Do you think that we will see anymore Marvel attractions in Disney Parks in the future if this turns out well?  Tell me in the comments.