Hearing through the grapevine, it has been suggested that Big Hero 6’s Baymax and Hiro will make a live-action debut sometime soon within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It has also been revealed that a set of Marvel characters could be making their way to the MCU and take the leap from animation to live-action in the process.
According to DisInsider, some of the projects that have been heard about were Secret Invasion, Agents of Atlas, and Doctor Strange. However, there was no further confirmation. There’s also no word on if the actors will reprise their roles in regards to live-action appearances.
The Big Hero 6 team debuted in Marvel Comics as an ensemble team, featuring bots and superheroes like X-Men’s Sunfire. However, Disney’s animated 2014 film made several changes to the team’s lineup and story, so it bore little resemblance to the original cast. In case you missed it, the Disney animated film 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.
The 2014 film brought in over $657 million dollars at the box office and still holds 89 per cent rating from movie critics at Rotten Tomatoes.The success of the film spawned two television series, Big Hero 6: The Series and Baymax Dreams.
Big Hero 6’s comic series debuted in 1998 and was written by Scott Lobdell and illustrated by Gus Vasquez. The series ran for a three-issue mini-series, focusing on a team created by Japan’s government and focused on defending the country and others against superhero invasions. Hiro joined the group after it was already led by the Silver Samurai. Baymax, also, was changed significantly as the creation tended to shift into dragon-like monsters during combat, not resemble a friendlier marshmallow-like shape.
In August 2020, Disney released season two of Baymax Dreams online. Based on Disney’s 2014 animated film Big Hero 6, the Emmy Award-nominated series premiered with a 43-minute episode titled Baymax Returns’ on Disney XD on 20 November 2017. The series was developed by Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and Kim Possible creators Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley. A spin-off series titled Baymax! has been confirmed for development by Walt Disney Animation Studios and will premiere on Disney+ in 2022.
Big Hero 6: The Series recently released its third season on Disney+. Executive producer Bob Schooley recently shared what fans can expect in the animated series’ season three, noting, “We wanted to emphasize that Hiro is younger than them, too. That feeling of people you’re at school with being ahead of you. It happened to my daughter; her roommate was a year ahead of her and so suddenly she was graduating and my daughter had a year left. It was an interesting thing to explore.”
Now, it appears that the company may have more in the works for the franchise. The characters of Big Hero 6 all have varying abilities, so it would be interesting to see them come to life in a Marvel Studios film or series.
The cast of Big Hero 6: The Series includes Ryan Potter (Hiro), Scott Adsit (Baymax), Jamie Chung (Go Go), and Genesis Rodriguez as Honey Lemon, all of whom reprised their roles from the film. The series was developed by Mark McCorkle, Bob Schooley, and Nick Filippi. The first two seasons are currently available on Disney+.