The prospect of Disney making an animated Marvel movie that would canonically exist within the MCU is an exciting one, but for whatever reason, it turns out the House of Mouse have opted not to go down that route with BIG HERO 6. Bummer. The project, first whispered about last June before being confirmed a month later, is being developed by Walt Disney Animation Studios as a CG (naturally) animated feature film that will draw from the comic book of the same name (above), which was first introduced in 1998. The story centred around a group of heroes (no shit!) brought together by the Japanese government to defend the country against super-villainy and the like. With Marvel characters like Hiro, Baymax, Sunfire, Honey Lemon and Go-Go Tomago on the roster, Disney clearly aren’t going to be able to take advantage of any brand recognition (which begs the question again, why not set it in the MCU?!). The only member of the original team that audiences are likely to have heard of is The Silver Samurai, but since he’ll be appearing in THE WOLVERINE this summer, that means he’s off the table (and no longer owned by Disney/Marvel Studios). Further disappointment comes in the form of these newly released pieces of promo art and test footage. Sure it’s pretty, but I can’t be the only one to think it’s a little underwhelming? (Although just as I was bemoaning the lack of character designs, I then noticed a teeny rendering of the young Hiro sitting on the shoulder of one of his robots in the right hand corner. Cute!) With a release date now set of November 2014, the guys have their work cut out making this thing play to audiences on the scale they’re accustomed to.

Official Synopsis:

From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes Big Hero 6, an action comedy adventure about brilliant robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, who finds himself in the grips of a criminal plot that threatens to destroy the fast-paced, high-tech city of San Fransokyo. With the help of his closest companion-a robot named Baymax-Hiro joins forces with a reluctant team of first-time crime fighters on a mission to save their city. Inspired by the Marvel comics of the same name, and featuring comic-book style action and all the heart and humor audiences expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios, the CG-animated Big Hero 6 hits theaters in 3D on November 7, 2014.

Concept Art:

 

Test Footage:

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