Summary
With the release ofDeadpool & Wolverinethis weekend, Disney announced that guests visiting the Disneyland California and Disneyland Paris resorts would be able to meet Deadpool for the first time. However,Disneyland Californiasurprised guests again with the announcement that Wolverine would also be making his debut at the park alongside Deadpool at the Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure.
The Walt Disney Company has owned Marvel since 2009 and has owned 20th Century Fox since 2019. Disney California Adventure revealed its Avengers Campus area in 2021, featuring several characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Thor, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Captain America, and many others. Disneyland Paris followed suit the following year, debuting its own version of Avengers Campus and characters for guests to meet. Earlier this week, Disneyland California and Paris announced thatDeadpool would be meeting guests in the parksstarting July 26, ahead of the film’s release.Deadpool & Wolverinemarks the first officialX-Menmovie released under the Disney umbrella, and officially marked the first time that any of theX-Mencharacters will be available to meet and greet guests in the parks.
According to the announcement on theDisney Parks Blog, Wolverine and Deadpool can be seen around Disney California Adventure with the brand-new experience, “Story Time with Deadpool.” In addition, they can be seen interrupting popular shows like “Avengers Assemble!” and “Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Dance Off!” For the time being, it seems as though Wolverine can only be found at Disneyland California and will not be joining Deadpool in Disneyland Paris. While both characters are currently being offered “for a limited time,” this likely won’t be the last time guests will be able to see any of the X-Men in the Disneyland park.
Disneyland Brings Marvel and X-Men to Parks
With Deadpool now part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the entireX-Menlineup, Disney probably already has plans for the next several Marvel phases,including newX-Menfilms. This means that over the next few years, guests may see even moreX-Mencharacters join the parks. However, guests at Walt Disney World may never get the same offerings that guests at Disneyland California have due to a contract between Marvel and Universal Studios. While visiting Universal Orlando, guests can walk through Superhero Island, a ’90s Marvel comic come to life. Along the way, they may see characters like Rogue, Wolverine, Captain America, Storm, and many others.
As explained byForbes, the contract between Universal and Marvel limits the characters and terminology that can be used by The Walt Disney Company “east of the Mississippi River.” Essentially, this means that Walt Disney World in Florida cannot offer guests any of the characters used by Universal Orlando (as long as Universal continues to pay Disney for the rights). With thesuccess ofDeadpool & Wolverineon its opening weekend, it paves the way for a new phase in Marvel films and the potential for a wider variety of characters to be introduced in the Disney parks. So, while guests at Disneyland California can see Deadpool, Wolverine, and possibly dozens of other X-Men over the next few years, guests visiting Walt Disney World may not get more than the Guardians of the Galaxy for a long time.
Now is the perfect time to book a trip to Disneyland, with thepark offering a summer discount saleon tickets for guests, and the stars of the latest Marvel release roaming Avengers Campus for a limited time. Hopefully, this is just the first of many X-Men to debut within the Disney parks as Marvel builds the franchise into its cinematic universe.
