Is this brand actually stretching? Disney has owned Marvel since 2009, bringing superheroes to the theme parks, but it looks like the flow has reversed. Disneyland itself will be joining the pages of the Marvel universe with a special limited series focusing on the Haunted Mansion Attraction.
HAUNTED MANSION #1 is set to hit shelves in March, 2016 under the guidance of writer Joshua Williamson and artist Jorge Coelho. It joins other Disney Kingdoms titles like Figment, Figment 2, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Seekers of the Weird, which have already been released.
Says Williamson in an Entertainment Weekly interview:
There are running themes throughout the whole series that we’re going to be doing, but I think when people read all five issues, I want them to have that same feeling they have when they get off the ride. If I can accomplish that, then I really feel like I’ve done something with it. Whether you’re a Marvel fan, a Haunted Mansion fan, a Disney fan, or even a comics fan, if you can get that feeling – that rush of fear and happiness — I think that would be great.
The Haunted Mansion is a ride that holds great appeal to horror fans and Disney fans alike, so this crossover could potentially be a fun mix of the macabre and the cartoony. But then again, Guillermo del Toro could have done that for us and look how that went.
Here is the decidedly cagey plot summary:
It seems that no one lives in the elegant mansion on the hill…but where then is that eerie organ music come from? Are its iron gates meant to keep people out…or keep some things in? Filled with wall-to-wall creeps and hot and cold running chills, the happy haunts of the Haunted Mansion come to (after) life like never before! Get ready to meet the 999 spooks lingering within. But be warned, they’re looking for the 1000th!
There's not a lot to draw from yet, so we'll just have to wait and see!