During The Future of World-Building at Disney panel at SXSW, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and Walt Disney Imagineering Chief Creative Officer Bruce Vaughn provided a fantastic update.
The Fantastic Four will be in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland this summer. Marvel’s First Family will make their Disney Park debut, and guests will have the chance to meet the whole family — Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm — when Fantastic Four: First Steps opens in theaters.
Vaughn shared that Walt Disney Imagineering is creating a real-life H.E.R.B.I.E. audio-animatronic from The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Vaughn didn’t provide a specific timeline, but one could hope that H.E.R.B.I.E. could possibly join the Fantastic Four in Tomorrowland this summer if progress is made on the project.
NEW: Walt Disney Imagineering is developing a H.E.R.B.I.E. Audio-Animatronic. #SXSW pic.twitter.com/VlJDjp7zen
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“This is what is so great about our teams collaborating the way they do — we’re always coming up with crazy ideas that we know our guests will love,” Vaughn told the SXSW crowd.
Kevin Feige then told the SXSW crowd about his Disney Parks fandom and how that fandom shaped The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
“Just like my colleagues at the other studios, I’m a giant, giant Disney parks fan. I’m always drawn to the places that showcase Walt’s vision for the future — particularly Tomorrowland and EPCOT. They share a mid-century, retro-futuristic design language that I love… In fact, it’s served as an inspiration for our new film coming out this summer, The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” — Kevin Feige
Feige also shared concept art that is inspired by the retro-futurism aesthetic that he loves from EPCOT and Tomorrowland.
I also just want to point out that a lot from my previous article about The Fantastic Four and Avengers Campus is coming together. We love it when a plan comes together.
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Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
