Re: “Icon/Loose Theme” for this year (I might have made this point about 50 pages ago), but after all the Eddie business last year I feel like that’s the path of least resistance, especially considering that most of our speculation this year (for an event still six-ish months away, mind you, but definitely the time when people start asking for days off at work) is about movies.
Reasons Why I Believe Eddie Comes Back:
1. He’s hot. Marketing probably thinks he’s the second-best choice for an Icon for this reason. Before we get into this: While I know that a lot of the fan base has an issue with the “objectification” of the Icons, I’d argue that Lady Luck is literally a siren character that is meant to be sexy until she “transforms”, which is the gimmick. At least a few variations of Chance are also meant to be alluring, and even after her emancipation from Jack, she used some of her “innocent“ coercive tactics to lead a mad rebellion in a prison.
As a gay man, I’ll just say that Eddie is hot and probably designed to be so. And having lived in Orlando, I can imagine a lot of regular attendees of HHN will agree. And frankly, I can see marketing really appreciating this kind of character being put on billboards and t-shirts rather than an elderly man. I also imagine the Merch team could have fun with this, and he will probably sell more Merch than most other icons.
2. Speaking of merch, he didn’t have a whole lot of single-character Merch last year. That means, more returning guests will appreciate merch diversity this year.
3. He’s a legacy character related to Jack, which many of us super-die-hard fans would enjoy learning more about. It’s just a small contingent, but possibly the highest spenders, especially when it comes to multi-night passes.
4. Those that say that big unifying themes loosely tying UO events together are dead, last year’s event, the tribute stores, Earl the Squirrel, and “Planet Mardi Gras” would have a word. Someone who would approve spending on an Earl the Squirrel walk-around character is currently approving event budgets, so I don’t think it’s such a leap to believe a unifying theme could come this year.
5. If this year is mostly about IP and Movies, it would make sense to have a “Movie Buff” host the event as they’ve done with Director and Usher to drape a loose connective tissue across any incoming IP. Marathon of Mayhem writes itself. So do the originals (Run, extrapolate one or two of the streets featured in last year’s zone into a Trick ‘R’ Treatment).
6. The rumors of last night mayhem at the end of 30 (Eddie “killing Jack”).
Please let me know if this is obvious/dead-horse-beating, but after seeing the Earl walk-around I began to realize that there really is money in Uni going towards fan service.