Given
the rate at which cities are destroyed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’m
not sure we should rejoice in the news that the Docklands venue formerly-known-as-everything-but-Prince
will soon be called Marvel Stadium.
Disney,
which owns the Marvel Studios brand, has a keen interest in sport through its
ESPN cable network. It owns and operates one stadium, a 9500-seat venue in the
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in the US.
But
to date, the crossover between Marvel and sport has been limited to one flashy
scene in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. And it didn’t end well.
In
that film, the sometimes-good-sometimes-bad superhero Magneto (Michael Fassbender)
used his powers to rip an entire baseball stadium from the ground. He then dropped
it back to earth, using it to encircle the White House and trap its occupants
inside.
I
wonder if Spring Street has any idea what they have just let themselves in for?
In
fairness, the government had nothing to do with this deal. “This is a matter
for the AFL,” a spokesman said on Thursday morning, perhaps sensing the tsunami
of mockery that awaited the news.
Also
in fairness, Disney didn’t own the X-Men brand in 2014. Fox did. But thanks
to its imminent takeover of Fox, that property and a host of others in the Marvel
Comics stable (including the Fantastic Four) will soon be back where they belong
– in the arms of the biggest entertainment factory the world has ever known.
Disney
made $US55 billion in revenue last financial year. Thanks to the staggering success
of the latest Avengers movie and Black Panther (both Marvel products), it now
has five of the top 10 box office hits of all time (Avatar, the all-time top grosser,
is a Fox film – when that deal goes through it, and the four sequels currently
in production, will presumably become Disney properties too). Amazingly, though,
movies aren’t even Disney’s biggest earners. The TV networks are, followed
by parks and resorts (Disneyworld, Disneyland etc). Merch and spin-off products
such as computer games come way down the list, making a measly $US4.83 billion
last year.
That
category was down 13 per cent year-on-year, and that’s where this stadium
deal presumably comes into play. While Disney is paying an undisclosed sum to
the AFL (previous naming rights deals have reportedly been worth up to $8 million
a year), it isn’t just getting its name up in lights. It will get to develop
a Marvel store inside the stadium, it will have access to the stadium’s electronic
signage, and exposure on the TV screens of everyone watching AFL and A-League
games played in it on TV, and it will have access to those massive LED screens
on which to promote its upcoming product.
“This
partnership will allow us to take the stadium atmosphere to the next level and
create memorable experiences for a vast array of audiences,” Melbourne Stadiums
boss Michael Green said of the deal. “We hope to bring people together, and
provide them with a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the Marvel brand.”
Because
clearly, there just isn’t enough opportunity for that in the world already.
Right
now in Melbourne, you can sample the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. exhibition
at Federation Square, an interactive experience that doubles as an inculcation
for anyone a little hazy on how the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) works. Or
you can go to any multiplex and watch Avengers: Infinity War, or take a Qantas
plane to Darwin and watch Black Panther on a drop-down screen.
And
soon, you’ll be able to go to the footy and watch the big men fly. Hulk,
Thor, Iron Man and the rest.
You
might decry this as cultural imperialism at its most avaricious. Or you might
take a more sanguine view.
Perhaps
this renaming is just the next inevitable stage in the evolution of a place that
was conceived as “Victoria Stadium”, born as “Colonial Stadium”,
reached toddlerhood as “Telstra Dome”, and spent its tweens as “Eithad
Stadium”.
Now
it’s a spotty teenager, maybe Marvel Stadium makes perfect sense.
Stadium
Levitation Scene | X-Men Days of Future Past (2014) Movie Clip
