I get what you’re saying and I’m not saying those parks shouldn’t get DC. But i’m sorry, leaving DC out of Orlando or even Hollywood would be a complete miss. Besides Japan, the parks in NA are the cash cows. I cannot see a world where the DC talk is only for UK and Beijing.
I didn’t say Japan more out of space limitations than interest. Hollywood is in a similar boat to Japan.
Realistically,
if this happens at all, UK will see it first. So let’s say 2030/2031. It’ll probably have exclusivity for two years at a minimum. Asia will probably be next. I said Beijing (they have space), but Singapore could be a possibility because Sentosa could be down. And, sure. Maybe Japan. But Japan will have Pokemon and Nintendo by then. They won’t be as big a priority. Regardless, let’s say 2034 a DC space shows up somewhere in Asia.
Now, maybe by that point—a decade from now—Six Flags is bought of the DC contract (or its not) and so DC can show up in Hollywood (or Frisco). Also, maybe by that point, Hollywood has shut its backlot tour to actually expand the park. Then maybe DC could be on the board for west of the Mississippi. The trick is Universal already has agreements with Nintendo (not going anywhere) and Harry Potter (not going anywhere). So an expansion is necessary and a big question mark out west. If it happens, a lot of things have to happen first. It’s far from a “certainty.”
Then there is Orlando. Orlando can keep MSHI in perpetuity. That’s great. They can expand, update as they need/want to. So the investment to change an entire comics land to a new comics land is an unnecessary lateral move. More so, it would be a lateral move to a less agreeable contract (a contract with a deadline - which Marvel doesn’t have).
There is also the reality of the state of Marvel versus DC. Disney - Universal’s only direct theme park competitor - has a bigger incentive to keep Marvel relevant and popular since the IP is a major tentpole of everything Disney does. Movies, streaming, parks all lean heavily on Marvel. And in the US, Disney has to rely in Marvel in the parks while not actually being allowed to say the word “Marvel.” That right belongs to Universal. That means Universal keeping Marvel in Orlando allows them to siphon off Disney’s indirect promotion of their land. Meanwhile, DC is—once again—trying to re-establish itself popularity. Who’s to say DC won’t do another massive reboot once it shifts to Netflix? What happens to all of Universal’s lateral investment if that happens?
Letting Marvel leave Islands would be one of the most bone-headed business decisions in theme park history. It would be moving out of a rent-control, Central Park brownstone that’s been in your family for 80 years. Universal will NOT use DC in Orlando.