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After weeks of teasing, Disney Interactive confirmed what comic lovers had been waiting for since the toy/game hybrid was first announced in 2013: Marvel super heroes are coming to Disney Infinity. The reveal started strong with appearances by all the Avengers featured in the hit films, along with teases of a dozen more collectible Marvel figures coming to the title (officially called Disney Infinity 2.0). That’s great news for Marvel fanboys like myself, but this is also a sign that gamers waiting for Star Wars figures to join the series will have to wait a little bit longer--and that’s not such a bad thing.
Why no Disney Infinity Star Wars in 2014? Considering the massive blitz of Star Wars media that will accompany Episode VII in fall of 2015, I think holding off simply makes the most sense. Disney Interactive is aware that it has so many properties at its disposal that Marvel alone can support Infinity for 2014, no Darth Vader necessary.
The fact that Disney spent 50 minutes talking about the Marvel Universe shows that those characters are the main focus of the year, leaving little room for Star Wars. The addition of Marvel franchises opens up the world to such a degree that it’s got to be challenging enough to add Avengers-branded characters and objects without considering all the props Star Wars fans would expect. The possibilities are so expansive that Disney barely teased Spider-Man being in the game, and he’s arguably the most famous Marvel character of them all. Add in possible X-Men or Fantastic Four figures, plus whatever new Disney or Pixar icons join the mix, and the likes of Chewbacca could get lost in the fray.
And fans should be happy that developer Avalanche is taking its time. The original Disney Infinity had its fair share of issues, so it's best those get ironed out before Star Wars figures are added to the mix. Early footage of Infinity 2.0 covers all the ways Marvel characters are changing the series, starting with some deeper combat and exploration options that appear to learn lessons from the fun play style of the popular Lego games. 2.0 also brings with it skill trees to better personalize your figure as you level, and confirmation that all your old toys will work with the newest release, even as it expands its domain to PS4 and Xbox One. If Luke’s incomplete Jedi training taught us anything, it’s that preparation makes the difference between success and losing a hand (or making a bad game).
Star Wars devotees shouldn’t fear that their beloved franchise will never come to Disney Infinity. The original game already contains a super rare lightsaber, and during the Disney Infinity 2.0 presentation, studio head Jimmy Pitaro mentioned that the series will have content for years to come, all while showing an image of Disney’s Rapunzel swinging said saber. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but mentioning vague plans for future content while showing a screen of the hard-to-find lightsaber seems to me like a pretty strong hint towards future Star Wars installments. However, the real question remains: When Star Wars inevitably joins the Disney Infinity roster, will it be canon?
