“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”
King James Bible, Matthew 5:5
“Ugh. The geeks will inherit our parking and fuck everything up.”
James Matthew, San Diego (re: Comic Con)
In recent decades, our society has evolved to a point where it is no longer considered taboo for adults to embrace the more childlike aspects of their existence. Now, to be clear, I’m not talking about getting dressed in diapers and spanked (although, if you’re into that, please comment below so that my co-worker Aaron can message you directly). I’m simply talking about their youthful enjoyment of everything from Disney-Pixar to the onslaught of Comic Book films and the record-setting attendance of Comic-Con (be it in San Diego, New York or smaller local conventions). And judging by rumors within the automotive industry related to the 2018 Chevy Equinox vs 2018 Ford Escape, it would seem that geeks are getting their (Wolverine) claws into yet another piece of our cultural pie. But we’ll get back to that.
On June 27th, 2018 it was reported that Disney had cleared a key hurdle in its attempt to acquire 21st Century Fox. That hurdle came in the form of the antitrust approval to be either approved or denied by the Justice Department. But with the approval, Disney’s acquisition is expected to go through in due time.
But what does this mean, in layman’s terms? Well, it means that Disney will acquire additional properties including (but not limited to) film rights to Marvel Comics’ The Fantastic Four and X-Men. On the heels of Disney’s agreement with SONY to acquire Spider-Man, this means that the post-Infinity War phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe can include some of the major characters which had failed to appear to-date.
Now, I know what you’re thinking:
“Every Fantastic Four movie so far has sucked gigantic mouse balls.”
Fact.
“Haven’t we beaten the X-Men movies to death with a Groot-sized stick?”
Also fair.
But if Star Wars is any indication of just how hard they’re willing to milk a franchise, get ready to feel butt-hurt for decades to come. Because not only is The Fantastic Four about to be stretched further than Reed Richards’ elasticity will allow, but The X-Men is about to mutate into the multi-level cross-marketed revenue stream, and it starts with automotive.
You might remember how the release of Rogue One: a Star Wars Story enjoyed a commercial tie-in with the Nissan, in the form of a special edition Nissan Rogue. Loyal readers of The Lemon might even recall discussion of Ford’s missed opportunity to release the Limited Edition Ford Ragnarok, failing to capitalize on the strength of the most recent Thor film. That said, rumor has it that pretty much every automaker wants to cross-market with Disney / Marvel’s inevitable update of the X-Men franchise. Well, at least the automakers whose offerings have an “x” in its name.
Early on, the Chevy EquinoX appeared to be the front-runner, with the Ford EXcape quickly disqualified once Disney realized that Ford was being #ShadyAF. That said, it’s widely speculated that BMW will come out on top, managing to tie in their X Series with Disney’s.
Here at The Lemon, we want to know what you think. Which automaker would make the ideal partner for Disney / Marvel in cross-marketing of their X-MEN movies?
