The `Rogers' challenge: spoof or play it straight?

Top theme parks such as Disneyland spend billions of dollars to create attractions that make people feel like they have stepped into the worlds of their favorite films and television shows. But what happens when those imaginary worlds offer a bad experience?

I am not talking about the evil characters and unfortunate moments that drive the stories in those franchises. Villains are supposed to show up and make life difficult for our heroes. Ultimately, that's all part of the fun. But sometimes stories include elements that don't easily translate into an experience that reflects well upon a theme park or entertainment franchise.

Let's call it the Krusty Burger dilemma. When Universal was designing lands based on “The Simpsons” for its theme parks in Orlando, Florida, and Hollywood, the Krusty Burger had to be on the menu. Duff Beer and Krusty Burgers were iconic food and beverage items in the Fox TV show, and Universal knew that fans wanted the opportunity to taste them as part of their “Simpsons” theme park experience.

Duff Beer was easy, but in the world of “The Simpsons,” Krusty Burgers were supposed to taste horrible. Yet no theme park wants to serve food that makes its customers gag.

Disneyland now faces a similar issue with its announced plans to bring “Rogers: The Musical” to Disney California Adventure this summer. The fake Broadway show from the opening episode of the “Hawkeye” series on Disney+ depicts the Battle of New York from the first “Avengers” movie, but wrapped in a thick layer of corn and cheese.

It's a satirical comment on the culture of celebrity around the Marvel superheroes, created to be laughed at. That worked within the context of the “Hawkeye” show, but does Disney really want a musical that makes fun of its superheroes, right next to a theme park land it spent many millions of dollars on to celebrate them?

Universal ultimately explained away its Krusty Burger problem with a quip that while Krusty Burgers taste horrible to the two-dimensional characters in “The Simpsons” universe, they were quite tasty to three-dimensional human beings in ours. That allowed Universal to have its burger, while we ate it, too.

Disney has a mixed record when it comes to balancing faithfulness to an intellectual property versus giving guests what they want. In Avengers Campus, Disney has allowed characters from all moments of the Marvel cinematic universe to appear at the same place and time. Yet in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, Disney set that experience within a specific moment in the “Star Wars” timeline, which prevents Disney from including characters such as Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi, whom many fans wanted to see as part of their “Star Wars” theme park experience.

Marvel beat its rival DC at the box office in part because Marvel movies embrace humor and snarky fun. But when it's time to get serious and save the day, Marvel's superheroes ultimately come through. That's the lesson I hope Disney remembers when “Rogers: The Musical” premieres, for real, this summer.

Robert Niles covers the themed entertainment industry as the editor of ThemeParkInsider.com.