Disney Buys Marvel

[Wee67]

Just got a message from the head of Disney saying the Mouse has acquired Marvel. Not sure if this will have any impact on Marvel, but it might mean discounts for me

[johnnystorm]

Wow, this is pretty big news. I'm sure Disney is more interested in the movie & merchandising aspects of Marvel rather than the comics, but there's so much this implies...not only for comic books, but for other media as well. For instance, what about the Marvel heroes being at Universal theme parks, competitors to Disney? TV Series- Marvel would now be an extended arm of ABC & ABC family networks. As for the comic book arm, Disney has just launched a multitude of books through BOOM, and the upcoming Kingdom Comics. Will these now be gathered under the Marvel umbrella- makes little sense to license out characters when you could do them in-house. Disney seemed happy with the Boom books, so maybe that would mean someone like Mark Waid taking charge over at Marvel? Interesting times.

Disney to buy comic book powerhouse Marvel for $4B - Yahoo! News

[palitoy]

Topless Robot - BREAKING: DISNEY BUYS MARVEL

Yeah just read that as well.

[Wee67]

Disney's interest is clearly in strongly branded material, ripe for licensing. Don't be surprised to see Pixar announce a TV producing arm pretty soon.

From Disney Pres.-
Dear Fellow Employees:

I’m pleased to tell you we’ve agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment and its treasure trove of over 5000 characters in a transaction we hope to complete by the end of the year.

I’m incredibly excited by the acquisition. Not only will we combine the great characters and storylines of Marvel with those of Disney, but we will also bring together two groups of dedicated and very talented people.

Disney’s success has been built on the great storytelling skills, the technical artistry and the creative vision of its Cast Members and employees. At Marvel, Ike Perlmutter and his team have created real value by combining similar creative skills with a strong strategy and a disciplined and smart way of doing business. They’ve done a great job in extending and increasing the popularity of such Marvel characters as Iron Man, X-Men and Spider Man.

Like our own characters and stories, Marvel’s break through gender, age, cultural and geographical boundaries and have broad appeal on a variety of media platforms. These attributes make the Marvel brand, characters and stories particularly valuable in a world of increasing consumer choice.

Marvel’s business meshes perfectly with ours and what we’ve all been doing to maximize the value of Disney’s creative properties across our businesses, media platforms and geographical markets.

Our acquisition of Pixar three years ago exemplified our focus on creating high-quality, technologically innovative entertainment that appeals to audiences all over the world. The acquisition of Marvel offers us a similar opportunity to advance that strategy, to build a business that’s stronger than the sum of its parts and to drive Disney’s long-term growth.

We look forward to welcoming the Marvel team to the Disney family and to the exciting potential this combination offers.

[goldenryan]

hopefully it leads to more retro looking marvel figures in the future, disney is really into nostalgia.

[mitchedwards]

Will we see the amazing spider mouse?

Hope Disney will infuse some new ideas into Marvel

[The Toyroom]

It's sorta fitting in a way......Time Warner owns Superman and Bugs Bunny and now Disney owns their rival counterparts Spider-Man and Mickey Mouse......Let the battle begin!

[The Toyroom]

I'd like to see Disney use some of the magic they're known for to restore the Spider-Man universe to where it was prior to One More Day.....

[Riffster]

Howard the Duck Vs Donald

[goldenryan]

the next issue of spiderman is going to go alittle something like this

Peter: "Hey MJ, I really have strong feelings for you. Some might even call it love... So I'd like to take our relationship to the next level."

MJ: "Oh Tiger, do you really mean it?"

Peter: "Yes. Will you take this promise ring to abstain until marriage?"

MJ: "I thought you'd never ask."

[Next Panel just after the proposal]

*Knock, Knock*

Peter: "Who is it?"

King Pin: "It's Wilson Fisk, the King Pin. I hereby renounce my life of crime, and accept full responsibility for my actions. Plus I'm giving all my money to charity."

[kryptosmaster]

So we are going to get either Lil' Wolverine (Teeny X-Men?) or Disney Zombies?

Rich

[Werewolf]

So we are going to get either Lil' Wolverine (Teeny X-Men?) or Disney Zombies?

Rich

Hopefully with Disney calling the shots we won't see anymore Zombies. The Marvel Universe is in pretty bad shape, in my opinion, and could use a re-branding. It's beyond inappropriate to have cannible zombie Spiderman co-existing with Spiderman and friends. If they want stuff like Hulk being a rapist and Marvel Zombies, fine. But then sell and market to adults only.

[samurainoir]

I'm not too sure how good a fit this will be. I guess it depends on which umbrella they find themselves... or perhaps Marvel Studios (and thus Marvel Comics) will have some autonomy as a separate arm?

Although how have other studios fared after being bought by The Mouse?
Mirimax/Dimension is the only one that comes to mind. Even internal studios like Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures never really took off on their own... I think Touchstone is now the banner that they will be releasing Dreamworks pictures under.

I guess the one thing we can hope for is Pixar produced Marvel 3-D animated movies?

[EMCE Hammer]

I'm disappointed in you all. I see this as a golden opportunity.

"It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.....come inside and die........."

[Earth 2 Chris]

Taking it one step further:

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse of M: Minnie remembers she had some nephews who were wiped out of continuity and goes ape-crap and destroys half of the Disney universe. Donald Duck sides with the Toon Registration Act. Mickey idealistically opposes him. The old clubhouse is torn asunder. Goofy publicly reveals his identity as Super-Goof and sides with Donald...etc, etc.


Chris