When the Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment in 2009 - to the tune of $4.64 billion, no less - is was clear that the entertainment corporation was making a smart investment. After all, comic book movies were only growing more and more popular at the time, thanks to the recent releases of Iron Man and The Dark Knight, and Marvel’s many brands offered almost limitless potential for film franchise development, multimedia entertainment and of course, merchandise.
Fast-forward five years and Disney’s acquisition is looking every bit as bulletproof as it was back then. The Avengers became one of the top-grossing films of all time; Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Solider are the top two biggest earners of 2014; and now, Marvel’s characters are even making their way to the Disney Infinity sandbox gaming world.
Fans of the original Disney Infinity game from last fall will be excited to see the latest high-octane trailer for Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes. The trailer showcases iconic characters from three of Marvel’s key franchises - Spider-Man, The Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy - all active in the familiar and highly cartoonified Infinity world.
Dubbed “Walk It,” the new trailer is set to the classic riffs and wails of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” which provides apt soundtrack as we watch badass characters like Iron Man, Black Widow, and Rocket Raccoon strut around and blow stuff up.
The goal of the new Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes trailer is clear. Most sources have thus far pointed to the 2.0 Infinity package being almost identical to the original from a gameplay perspective. In other words, because most gamers interested in this new update to Infinity will already be familiar with the game’s sandbox, action-adventure play style, Disney Interactive and Avalanche Software have opted to use this trailer to highlight the new characters and worlds.
Even from the beginning, Disney Infinity has been a game with many possibilities for expansion and growth. The original package of the game included characters and worlds from three popular Disney franchises: Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, and Pirates of the Caribbean with lots of expansions for other Disney-owned properties. The concept of the game encourages and requires players (and their parents) to purchase figurines from each franchise in order to to access those franchise worlds and fully experience everything that the game and its sprawling universe had to offer.
With the 2.0 Marvel Super Heroes package of Infinity, Disney expands the number of characters and worlds that players can purchase and use with the Infinity platform. “What we need most are more heroes,” a voiceover near the beginning of the trailer intones, and the gameplay snippets that follow—showing characters like Hulk, Spider-Man, and Groot all using their unique abilities—will likely have players who were fans of the original Infinity package wanting to agree. Part of the appeal of Infinity has always been in collecting all of the figurines, and now, Disney has just given players a whole lot more to collect.
So long as Disney Infinity continues to get a strong fan reaction, Disney and Avalanche Software will likely continue supporting the platform and introducing new characters and franchises into the mix. While next year’s update could add more Disney or Marvel characters, it’s more likely that the update will be a Star Wars themed one. John Vignocchi, the Executive Producer of the series, has already hinted that he would like to do a Star Wars installment. Furthermore, with the as-yet-untitled Star Wars: Episode VII on the way to movie theaters next December, the fall of 2015 would undoubtedly provide perfect timing for the release of Disney Infinity: Star Wars.
Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes officially releases in North America on September 23, 2014 for PC, iOS, Wii U, PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.