Due to licensing issues from the Universal theme park agreement regarding the use of Marvel characters east of the Mississippi, Disney Springs can’t sell the “Deadpool & Wolverine” popcorn bucket at AMC Disney Springs 24 Dine-In Theatres at Walt Disney World.

Deadpool & Wolverine Popcorn Bucket

Disney Springs management confirmed that due to licensing, the AMC theatre at the shopping and entertainment destination is unable to sell the Wolverine popcorn bucket created for “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

Thanks to a 1994 agreement, Universal still has the theme park rights to the Marvel brand east of the Mississippi River, despite The Walt Disney Company owning Marvel. Because of this, there are restrictions as to what Marvel merchandise Disney can sell that is related to certain characters at Walt Disney World — like the Wolverine popcorn bucket “designed by Deadpool.”

Wolverine is part of the X-Men, one of the four “families” for which Universal retains the theme park rights. The other three families are the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four. All characters original to one of these four properties are off-limits to Disney on the East Coast. The 1994 contract exists in perpetuity, and Universal is not obligated to forfeit their rights to the various characters in their covered families so long as they fulfill their obligations of the agreement.

Guests can currently meet Wolverine and other Marvel Super Heroes in the Marvel Super Hero Island area of Universal Islands of Adventure.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said in April 2023 that Disney “certainly would love to be able to do more with Marvel” in the Florida parks, but did not elaborate further.

Limited screenings have already begun for “Deadpool & Wolverine.” The film will get a wide release on Friday, July 26. Multiple trailers have been released for the film. Deadpool will also make limited-time appearances at Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure; he has already begun appearing at Disneyland Paris.

For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.