** WARNING THEME PARK NERD POST**

Universal has held theme-park rights to major Marvel characters in Florida since before Disney acquired the brand. Disney later inherited a similar complication when it got ahold of Fox and therefore The Simpsons, whose Universal theme-park agreement is widely expected to expire around 2028.

There are many nuances to these agreements, but this essentially sets the stage for today, where Universal is in the middle of a massive expansion. They recently demolished their Lost Continent area and are creating a new experience.

The internet is full of people who are very territorial and want their side to win. Disney fans feel that Disney could take away the Simpsons IP to damage Universal, and Universal fans claim they should never let Disney have the Marvel characters they currently have exclusivity to in Florida theme parks.

I think that kind of tribal thinking is blinding a lot of fans to some real possibilities for the future. Disney is benefiting from Marvel Island. They receive a licensing fee and percentage of merchandise. Trying to negotiate away their intellectual property may not be the best option for the company, while Universal has a land that has multiple major rides and continues to hold popularity with guests.

The Simpsons is where I think things might get interesting. I received a survey from Disney that included how I felt about The Simpsons fitting into the Disney parks. So, there is a possibility they are looking to take that IP back from Universal. But if that is the case, although they could force Universal to shut down the Springfield section at the end of their contract, they could also use it as leverage for the Marvel IP.

There are rumors of Universal looking for space for both Zelda and Pokémon. Not to mention, DC Comics features its characters in Six Flags, but the agreement does not include Florida. Rumors are constantly swirling that they may be looking for their own theme park land in Florida, Universal being the most likely candidate. Regardless of the details of new lands and IPs, in the ever-changing theme park world, Universal losing The Simpsons and/or Marvel may not be the worst situation for them. They could need the space for other planned areas.

Now, I believe that Disney would love to include more Marvel characters in Disney World. The Guardians of the Galaxy are pretty much the only real representation. But what if Disney informed Universal they were taking back The Simpsons? Rather than let the contract end and evict the characters from the corner of Universal Studios, they could give them a longer runway. Something that allowed Universal to finish its construction where the Lost Continent was so they aren’t looking at large closed areas in multiple parks. In exchange for that, Disney gets to renegotiate its Marvel contract. And I am not saying take everything away from Universal. Again, Disney does make good money from the deal.

But Disney could possibly transition some of the characters that don’t have a major ride over to their parks. Maybe start with some big MCU characters that don’t have a large impact on Marvel Island. Maybe Doctor Strange and Ant-Man to begin with. This would allow Disney to get some Marvel representation, Universal to keep its successful Marvel area, and give Universal an offboarding plan for The Simpsons.

I personally don’t see why Disney would want to steal away full exclusivity from Universal with Marvel in the first place. They have a lot of different IPs to influence vacationers, and removing all Marvel from Universal not only kills one of the income streams into Disney but also heightens the possibility of DC being a replacement for Marvel. So, I could see it being in both companies’ best interests to not only be more flexible but to split the properties.

The slowed-down exit of The Simpsons for Universal would also allow Disney time to plan and build its own Simpsons attraction rather than hurt the franchise by not having it represented anywhere for a period of time.

There are a lot of ways they could split the Marvel representation that benefit both companies. Assuming Universal is not looking to overhaul its theme park, it could just have the comic book representation while Disney holds the MCU versions. Or they could split up the characters. This could be the best option, allowing Disney to bring in the more Disney-friendly characters like Spidey, Ant-Man, Groot, the Fantastic Four, or even an offshoot character like Spider-Ham. Universal could keep the edgier characters with Wolverine, Deadpool, Punisher, Daredevil… Or they could just allow overlap.

The actual deal isn’t the point. It’s that the internet fandoms treat this like a fight to the death where one company must vanquish the other. They are not.

They are two companies with assets that the other may or may not value. If changing the Marvel contract, extending the Simpsons runway, or creating overlap creates value for both companies, there is a deal that could be made.

The first question should not be how to destroy the competition, but figuring out what pieces they have that we want and what pieces we have that they want so we can negotiate ourselves into a better situation than before.