‘Big Hero 6′ Gets Manga Adaptation; Marvel Isn’t Publishing It (Not In Japan, Anyway)

The promotional machine for Disney's big, animated fall film Big Hero 6 has really started ramping up with the announcement of the various voice cast members and a brand new trailer.

An odd quirk of the promotion for the film has been that it doesn't seem to mention Marvel Comics even one time, though the concept, characters and title come from a Marvel team that spun out of Alpha Flight and had a few mini-series over the years. Now it looks like Marvel's not even going to publish one of the comics that tie into Big Hero 6, a manga by Haruki Ueno. It's going to be in Kodansha's Magazine Special instead.

A special "zero" story will appear in the August 6th issue of Weekly Shonen Magazine, followed by the first installment of the manga adaptation on August 20 in Magazine Special. Anime News Network refers to the manga as a "preview" and an "adaptation" of the movie, but it's not entirely clear what the story will be just yet.

Of course, this news doesn't necessarily mean Marvel is cut out entirely. It's quite possible that it will print the American versions of Ueno's manga, or do its own, entirely different movie tie-in comics.

This could also be the result of a standing relationship between Disney and Kodansha. Other Disney films including Tangled and Wall-E have had official manga adaptations through Kodansha as well.

I'm sure we'll find out more about what Marvel is doing in relation to Big Hero 6 in the weeks and months to come. The movie will be released in the United States on November 7 and comes to Japan December 19.