Are the Muppets a speculative game-changer?

Baroness_Eric_II · September 9, 2019, 1:21pm

Are the Muppets a game-changer? Not so much in gameplay, but in speculation as to future heroes?

Consider one thing here: the Muppets aren’t a Disney creation, nor were their earliest appearances connected to Disney in any way. They’re a property that existed on their own until they were later acquired by Disney.

Sound familiar?

Are they in the same boat as the ever-debated Marvel and Star Wars? And with Muppets confirmed to be in, does this make those mega-franchises more likely to appear in the game?

Well, yes, somewhat, but there are still some notable differences.

For one, the Muppets have spent a lot longer as a Disney property. For another, the various Muppet movies (including Muppets Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island and the more recent revival movies and series) are actually listed as Disney movies, while Marvel and Star Wars movies are still made by Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm respectively - while those studios are owned by Disney, the movies they make aren’t necessarily classed as Disney movies. A small distinction by most accounts, but a pertinent one in this sense.

The licensing costs for the Muppets are also presumably significantly cheaper than those of Marvel and Star Wars.

I think it’s still somewhat unlikely we’ll see characters from Star Wars or Marvel in DHBM, but that’s still a step up from “very unlikely” which was where they were sitting before. If we do see them, I’d say the Marvel characters will almost certainly be the MCU versions.

It’s also worth mentioning that this also speaks well for the chances of characters from other Disney movies based on existing media and other properties Disney bought up and made movies of themselves.

This is all conjecture really, but it’s interesting to think.

And regardless, I, for one, am incredibly excited to see the Muppets join Disney Heroes Battle Mode.

Lord_Skellington · September 9, 2019, 1:40pm

There are plenty of Pixar characters in the game that pre-date the Disney acquisition. In principle they are exactly the same as The Muppets as far as your argument goes.

Unfortunately I think you’re ready too much into this one.

Queen_MacGuffin_II · September 9, 2019, 1:55pm

This is a good thing

Baroness_Eric_II · September 9, 2019, 2:37pm

Muppets ARE a good thing. I agree

Baroness_Eric_II · September 9, 2019, 2:53pm

Whilst Pixar wasn’t owned by Disney when they made Toy Story and the like, these films were still made in partnership with Disney. So a different situation from the Muppets, though I do see your point

I suppose a closer example to Muppets is Big Hero 6.

Geadaan · September 9, 2019, 3:10pm

Honestly I think it has more to do with style and characters. Star wars exists in a world that follow our basic laws, they have gravity, need for oxygen, dead means dead etc. And yes you can argue that in Pixar movies if someone dies they are permanently gone, however the writers could bend the will of the world and create loopholes. In star wars this doesn’t exist and does not fit the style of this game.

Marvel is a different story, while I don’t think every marvel hero fits this games style for the reasons stated above, there are some universes and characters that can and do. Still very unlikely given that the more famous heroes are the ones that would not fit into this games style, so what’s the point, but it has a much better chance then star wars.

The Muppets bend the laws to fit their own concept of the world. Therefore they fit into this game.

CommanderStorm · September 9, 2019, 8:36pm

As of right now, there are no references, nor easter eggs and badges of anything Star Wars or Marvel related in DHBM.

Friend_Ray_III · September 13, 2019, 12:16am

I think this reflects that there’s not a huge market for a standalone Muppets game of this type and it makes financial sense to bring Muppet fans to this game. That is not true for Marvel and Star Wars which already have similar types of games licensed.

Baroness_Eric_II · September 13, 2019, 7:35am

I’ve never liked the “they have their own game” argument, at least in terms of having Marvel and Star Wars characters in the game at all (though it’s a very good reason not to have too many). Part of the appeal of a crossover is seeing these characters from different source materials together, and this game especially has friendships and such to add extra interaction between the characters.

FOR THE RECORD, I still think M+SW characters are probably ruled out under the fact that every character in the game so far has been in a movie or series released under Disney’s name, which M+SW (even the recent ones) aren’t. Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios may be owned by Disney, but their movies aren’t necessarily “Disney movies”. This can also be seen, as someone else quite rightly brought up, in the fact that there are no Easter egg references to things from outside the Disney label in the badges and such, and when there are references to everything from The Black Hole and Cool Runnings to various Pixar shorts in those Easter eggs, that seems kind of significant.

Baroness_Eric_II · December 3, 2019, 4:35pm

So Polaris has now actually flat-out said they’re not doing Marvel and Star Wars. I guess that defines the limit as movies (and TV shows, etc) released under Disney’s name, not simply owned by Disney.