‘Big Hero 6’ Meets MCU Is the Crossover We've All Been Waiting For
Published Feb. 22 2021, 10:37 p.m. ET
It’s happening! The fact that Disney bought Marvel is finally paying off with a Big Hero 6 and Marvel crossover, announced by The DisInsider. In case you missed it, Big Hero 6 was the 2014 Disney animated film that got less hype than other Disney films like Frozen, but it still ended up being a major hit, both critically and in the box office. Not only that, but the movie led to a spinoff Big Hero 6 series that ran for three years, and another spinoff, Baymax, is on the way to Disney+.
The news means that the MCU, or Marvel Cinematic Universe, will somehow be introducing characters from Big Hero 6 onto the live-action screen. However, this isn’t totally random — Big Hero 6 was actually part of a comic book series before it was made into a kids’ animated film. Though, it should be noted that the comic book version is definitely way less kid-friendly.
‘Big Hero 6’ was part of the Marvel comic books before it became a Disney movie, but it was very different.
There are many differences between the Marvel version of Big Hero 6 and the Disney animated film. The biggest difference is that Baymax, the non-human that turns Hiro with an “i” into a hero with an “e,” is a pillowy healthcare assistant created by Hiro’s older brother, Tadashi, in the movie. Tadashi was mysteriously killed at the start of the film, which is what drove Hiro to turn Baymax into a crime-fighting machine. In the comics, Baymax is a shape-shifting android that Hiro designed himself.
In addition, a lot of the aspects that gave Big Hero 6 its big hero heart, like Tadashi, Baymax’s adorableness, and the premise of Hiro avenging his brother’s death by defeating Callaghan, are simply nonexistent in the comic books. However, the Big Hero 6 Marvel comic books do have their own unique (and sometimes ridiculous) storylines, such as one that involves the ghosts of the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
One of the other main differences has a lot to do with how Big Hero 6 ties into the Marvel universe. Two members of the Fantastic Four franchise are actually part of the Big Hero 6 team in the comics: Sunfire and Silver Samurai. When the Big Hero 6 film was made, Disney had not yet acquired the rights to the Fantastic Four comics, so those characters have not (yet) been involved in any of the Big Hero 6 projects. With the new crossover, it seems very likely those characters will be included.
Fans are already speculating about how ‘Big Hero 6’ will play into the upcoming Marvel phase.
Between WandaVision and the ever-expanding Marvel universe, fans have a lot of theories about how Big Hero 6 will be joining the canon. Some expect that Marvel will be appealing to its younger viewers, since they’ve introduced Wiccan and Speed in WandaVision, and have confirmed other Young Avengers for appearances in the MCU later on.
Other fans are hoping they’ll see Spider-Man and Baymax in the same film, which isn’t totally out of left field since they crossed paths in the Amazing Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth comic. Some Twitter users are simply just excited that Big Hero 6 is now kind of considered a Marvel film, and others are wondering if this means Fall Out Boy could be scoring an upcoming Marvel movie. All we know is that we can’t wait for live-action Baymax to make the Marvel universe even bigger.