I think everyone wants the "mickey mouse in the public domain" thing to be an opportunity for things that are subversive and edgy, when the reality is actually a lot more boring. you were allowed to do an edgy parody of mickey mouse whenever you wanted already, because of parody laws
what you CAN do now, though, is, for example, make a picture book or a movie with mickey mouse in it, or sell a t shirt.... and I think those things don't appeal to people cause they're not actually that juicy