Texan Mosaic

By Kendall Rainer

Disney Studios holds the largest film franchise on the planet and is still growing, with new stakes in entertainment companies arising every year.  

The familiar family-friendly company has made its mark with some of the most profitable movies that have hit the silver screen. However, they are steadily ruining some fan-favorite film series. 

Disney purchased Lucas Films in 2012, which subsequently gave them the rights to the “Star Wars” franchise. Shortly after the purchase, Disney Studios began production of the first installment of a sequel trilogy set to take place after “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.”

In December 2015, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was released. The film grossed more than $245 million on opening weekend. That figure makes it sound like it was a big hit. However, the film was lackluster in both story and the overall action that fans have come to expect from a “Star Wars” film. Although the visual effects were quite stunning and done well, there was still something missing that didn’t quite make it feel like a “Star Wars” film.

Disney continued to produce “Star Wars” Universe films such as “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” in December 2016, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in December 2017, and “Solo: A Star Wars Story” in May 2018. All of these movies hit it big on opening weekend but seemed to be missing a lot of the traditional “Star Wars” feel that came with the original six movies.  

Since Disney has taken over the “Star Wars” film franchise, the films have suffered. If George Lucas had not sold his company, “Star Wars” films would be significantly better. The fan base of the films would be growing continuously instead of shrinking as it has been since the release of the first “Star Wars” film Disney produced. 

Lucas Films isn’t the only film franchise Disney has ties with. Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment in 2009 and has helped Marvel produce the most successful film series to hit the big screen, grossing more than $18 billion worldwide. 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has 28 films in the series. Some of the highest-grossing films from the series include: “Guardians of the Galaxy” (July 2014), “Doctor Strange” (October 2016), “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2” (April 2017), “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (April 2017), “Thor: Ragnarok” (October 2017), “Black Panther” (February 2018), “Avengers: Infinity War” (April 2018), “Ant-Man and the Wasp” (July 2018), “Captain Marvel” (March 2019), “Avengers: Endgame” (April 2019), and “Spider-Man: Far from Home” (July 2019).

However, Disney did not ruin any of these films. They were actually a huge success. The film that began to round out phase three of the MCU, “Avengers: Endgame,” was one of the most highly anticipated films of the year and grossed $1.2 billion worldwide on opening weekend, breaking the record for highest-grossing opening weekend film. 

The following film, “Spiderman: Far From Home,” completed phase three and was a pivotal part of the MCU linking the past 10 years of films with what comes next in the MCU, phase four. 

However, Disney’s destruction of the MCU came after “Spiderman: Far From Home.” Everyone’s favorite “Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman” will no longer be a part of the Marvel Universe, as Disney burned their bridges, at least for now, with Sony Pictures, which owns the rights to the Spiderman films.

The reason for the two cutting ties is the fact that Sony did not agree with Disney’s proposition to increase the financing of the Spiderman films, with Disney receiving 50 percent of the profit from the films. Sony was also disappointed in Disney’s proposal to scale down Marvel President Kevin Feige’s involvement in the films. 

Feige has produced all of the films within the MCU and acted as an executive producer in the Spiderman films within phase three.  

The split, for which Disney was largely to blame, has ruined the future of the MCU, as Spiderman plays a crucial role in phase four and is a favorite character in the Marvel films.

Phase four will still continue to be produced and will garner some amazing movies and television shows. However, Marvel will have a hard time trying to write out Spiderman from the plans. Subsequently, some films may suffer.