Disney Files Construction Permit for New Villains Show at Hollywood Studios, Set for Summer 2025

Oct 01, 2024 in "Magic Mirror Villains Show"

Posted: Tuesday October 1, 2024 2:45pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has filed a construction permit for work on the new Villains-themed live entertainment show set to debut at Disney's Hollywood Studios in the summer of 2025.

The permit for "General Construction" is assigned to the long-term Disney construction partner, Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, valid through September 27, 2025.

This new show will take over the Sunset Showcase on Sunset Boulevard, replacing the current Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy, which is set to close on October 7, 2024. Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy, which opened in March 2019, features a life-sized animatronic Lightning McQueen and high-energy racing sequences from the Cars franchise.

The upcoming villains-themed show is set in the Magic Mirror's mysterious realm, where iconic Disney villains will break through the glass and come to life on stage. Characters such as Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook, and Maleficent are already confirmed to make appearances, with live production numbers and immersive special effects promising to bring these notorious figures to life.

Sunset Showcase, which first opened in 2015, has previously hosted a variety of entertainment experiences, including the short-lived Club Disney and special events like Club Villain, a cabaret-style show featuring Disney villains.

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danlb_200015 days ago

The character was also created well after the contract was signed, so it it likely that Disney could use him.

llewmmu15 days ago

Wiccan being usable depends on how you look at his involvement, his main association in the comics is the team The Young Avengers. Which is technically not part of the avengers itself as it was a new team formed for different characters and not The Avengers with swapped out members, but it does bare their branding. So would that count as Avengers Family, or unrelated group with a shared name? Lawyers probably have to work that out.

MagicHappens197115 days ago

He is the child of the Scarlet Witch so I'm not sure how complex that would get in the "families of" part of the contract, but I would think that he's probably safe.

Starship82416 days ago

Well at the very least I would assume Wiccan is probably fair game right? We know Doctor Strange is good.

MagicHappens197116 days ago

Generally off limits, I agree, but as I mentioned Agatha is on a billboard behind the Chinese Theatre which generally implies that the character is not off limits

doctornick16 days ago

The fantastic Four are their own thing, not really in the Avengers "family". But, alas, the FF are represented at Uni with their restaurant - and the Fantasticar! - plus the Dr Doom ride (who is clearly in their "family") so they and their associates are generally off limits for WDW.

MagicHappens197116 days ago

The rights only apply to their original Comic roots, but Agatha first appeared in a Fantastic 4 comic which then ties to the Avengers, so I would want to say no. Although she appears on a billboard in DHS which in previous cases has been indicative of them having the rights to use her.

djlaosc16 days ago

I know that it won't happen, but does anyone know if the rights to Agatha Harkness are available for WDW? I'm guessing not, as she will link to Scarlet Witch, which would link to Avengers/X-Men, but not sure. She would have a song available to perform, if they are going for a cabaret type of show...

Ice Gator17 days ago

You’d be surprised to find out where they manufacture a lot of their vehicles/animatronics- Roush Engineering in Michigan did a lot of work on Disney and Universal Studios attractions. When I was there I also got a glimpse of the Ratatouille vehicles for Epcot, Millennium Falcon pods for HWS, and Harry Potter Forbidden Journey ride vehicles for Tokyo. At the time they were also designing the Secret Life of Pets animatronics on Solidworks. This was early 2019, and I had to sign an NDA because certain attractions like SLOP hadn’t been announced at the time.

SplashJacket18 days ago

I think it’s biggest issue was it wasn’t grand/good enough to really market it, so I didn’t even really know it existed for most of its life and I spend my free time on an Internet Disney forum.

SilentWindODoom18 days ago

I... had... no idea this theatre existed. I always thought this replaced the Jack Sparrow show for some reason until I saw the name "Sunset Showcase" and was confused why it would have that name. What a weird, out-of-place place for this, creating an additional dead end in a park full of them. They actually built the car animatronic in Michigan? I've never heard of any other figures being made in the state famous for auto manufacturing. Is that a normal thing, or just special for obvious reasons? While you've stated extra reasons, at that age for me the latest bad guys were Jafar and Scar, so they were too delightful even at their wickedest to totally avoid. Although parks villains and film villains are different. One of my vivid memories from my first trip around that age was the Sheriff and Prince John walking through a group of children taking small trinkets off of them (scrunchies and the like). It was rather horrifying. Fortunately, my parents said "Let's get out of here." It was an out of character moment considering they absolutely horrified me by making me believe I was driving Mr. Toads and screaming at me not to drive down the train tunnel. They also had me convinced to reach out further to grab the gold ring during Magic Journeys! Muppet loses its featured spot?!?! What does that mean? Thanks… Muppets Haunted Tower, coming to a Studios near you!!! In a new casting call, Disney Live Entertainment is seeking Actors for the new Villains show: Wait. "Cannibal Cove"? No. Go back. "Cannibal Cove?" Is this an established thing?

discos20 days ago

There should be, they just wouldn't be live equity performers.

mattpeto21 days ago

I was kind of hoping some of other less common villains would be represented as well.

jrhwdw21 days ago

Good to see TDO keeping their focus on this! Now let's see a casting call for Starlight!