Coming Soon, The Spectacular Spider Mouse
The big news in comics today is the unexpected purchase of Marvel Comics by Disney! The cost? A whopping FOUR BILLION DOLLARS. My stars and garters that's a big number. Marvel's movie licenses will revert to Disney as they expire, so this won't affect any upcoming films, but the comics are now Disney's.
By bringing in macho types such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, the Marvel deal would expand Disney's audience, adding properties that appeal to boys from their preteen years into young adulthood. That demographic group hasn't been swept up by Disney's recent hot properties, such as "High School Musical" and the Jonas Brothers.
I'm hearing a lot of people complain they're worried what this will do to Marvel, but honestly, I don't see a big problem with it. DC has Warner Brothers above them, this sort of evens out the playing field. Disney isn't going to just 'Disney-fy' Marvel characters, they're doing this to make a profit, not mutilate franchises.
The test here will be if the creators stay. As long as we don't see writers and artists jumping ship, Marvel will be in good hands. If I still have to convince you, imagine Marvel properties being made into films by Pixar.
Disney Nabs Marvel Heroes [Wall Street Journal]
Sgt. Sausagepants
Posted to Comics, Say What? on 1 September 2009
· Comments (4)
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When my friends flipped out about this I just reminded them that Disney owns porn companies, too. All they care about is profit... they aren't on some crusade to Cute-ify everything like in Raze's Hell.
Hmm...I'm wondering what the hell is going to happen to the Marvel side of Islands of Adventure or whatever it's called at Universal Studios Orlando.
Unless...does Disney own Universal? Should I know the answer to that?!?!!!
No, Disney and Universal are competitors, in particular when it comes to theme parks!
The Universal contracts are legally binding, so nothing will happen to them. For the duration of the contract, Universal will have rides based on Disney-owned characters.
I think it's safe to say Disney will NOT renew the contracts when they come up, though. Just as with the Fox, Sony, etc. movie contracts.
My guildmate in World of Warcraft was freaking out when he learned this news. For me,I don't find anything alarming if Disney will own Marvel Comics. I don't think they'd ever mess up with the existing characters. Who knows, maybe Disney will be able to come up with more mature characters that can cater most grown ups.