Disney buys Marvel (!!!!)

[Adam Tyner]

Wow. From http://www.marketwatch.com/story/disney-to-acquire-marvel-entertainment-for-4b-2009-08-31 :

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Walt Disney Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!dis/quotes/nls/dis (DIS 26.72, -0.12, -0.43%) said on Monday it has reached a deal to acquire comic book titan Marvel Entertainment Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!mvl/quotes/nls/mvl (MVL 49.10, +10.45, +27.04%) for $4 billion in stock and cash. In a statement, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger said "adding Marvel to Disney's unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation." Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. At closing, the amount of cash and stock will be adjusted if necessary so that the total value of the Disney stock issued as merger consideration based on its trading value at that time is not less than 40% of the total merger consideration. Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters, including The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men, The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man, all of which have been turned into highly valuable feature film franchises. Ike Perlmutter, Marvel's CEO, would continue to oversee the Marvel properties, and work directly with Disney executives to integrate them into Disney's businesses.

I wonder...

What does this mean for Boom!'s license to make Disney comics?

Long-term future for Marvel Studios? How about the distribution deal with Paramount?

What does this mean for content and distribution of Marvel's comics? Wider reach than just dedicated comic shops? Will things be made more kid-friendly to reach a wider audience? (I don't see this as necessarily a bad thing.)

[DGibFen]

Well, this should be interesting. I can see it now: "What If? : Mickey Mouse was the Punisher".

[CaptStormy]

More importantly. What does this mean to Universal Islands of Adventure?

[pinata242]

Well, this should be interesting. I can see it now: "What If? : Mickey Mouse was the Punisher".

Really opens up the possibilities for Kingdom Hearts 3.

[dx23]

Just got the news from a friend of mine that works at Marvel. All he could say was Fuck!!!! I think this is going to put a things in disarray. Seeing how Disney has treated the Marvel properties they have license to, like animated series from the 90's, I believe we'll see something similar along the lines of having a property and not using it to the maximum potential.

[stingermck]

DC is AOL Comics, huh Joey Q? How do you feel now?

[dx23]

More about the acquisition:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/business/media/01disney.html?_r=1&hp

[fumanstan]

I wouldn't mind seeing Marvel themed rides at Disneyland.

[davidh777]

-eek-

[CaptStormy]

High School Musical Staring the X-Men!

[Josh-da-man]

Be interesting to see how this plays out...

[JasonF]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/JFliegel/2009-08-31_110806_Goofy2Spider2.jpg

[Boba Fett]

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2008-12-09-Punisher2.jpg
R.I.P
2/1974 - 8/31/2009

[JasonF]

I don't think Disney is necessarily going to mess with Marvel content, or get rid of the Punisher, or anything like that. Disney as a corporation is responsible for movies like the Sixth Sense, Primeval, and Con Air. They air Grey's Anatomy, Lost, and the upcomign Cougar Town. They produce(d) Army Wives, Playmakers, and Desperate Housewives. They are very protective of the Disney name and trademark, but they have spent the last 25 years doing more adult fare under a variety of other labels.

Disney may have their own ideas on how to run a comic book company, and it wouldn't surprise me to see some changes, but I don't think there is going to be any sort of wholesale attempt to make Marvel as kid-friendly as a Mickey Mouse cartoon.

[fujishig]

I do wonder about distribution... what difference would disney really make? They struggled for years to even get their own Disney comics out, and distribution of those seemed far lower than Marvel distribution. Unless they still have that sweet grocery store spot (where Archie is) for their Disney Adventures mag, and they could put some nicely priced digests there.

[DRG]

I'm looking forward to Mutants of the Caribbean.

[mike7162]

:jawdrop:

[Rockmjd23]

Can't wait for the Daredevil vs Darkwing Duck crossover.

[DGibFen]

Anyone else hope Quesada is gone after the acquisition?

[kevin75]

yup, and then spidey can be married again!

[Jackskeleton]

Nothing's going to change.

[stingermck]

Anyone else hope Quesada is gone after the acquisition?

yup, and then spidey can be married again!

Yes. Reading the recently released Mary Jane tpb just shows how they should be together, and now BND sucks.

[ytrez]

Nothing's going to change.

There's talk of Disney moving distribution from Diamond to Harper, which I think would be a pretty huge impact for Diamond.

[dx23]

Anyone else hope Quesada is gone after the acquisition?

Yes. The fact that he greenlighted the Spider-Man brand new day storyline, brought back Bucky and treats superhero death in a way that it has become meaningless merits for his removal.

[The Bus]

<img src="http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/636820540_E5wzE-L.jpg">

[slop101]

This is really no different from when Warner bought DC.

[The Bus]

This is really no different from when Warner bought DC.

Except a lot of people don't understand that Disney owns Miramax, Buena Vista, etc. People understood that WB didn't mean just Porky Pig.

[dx23]

Except a lot of people don't understand that Disney owns Miramax, Buena Vista, etc. People understood that WB didn't mean just Porky Pig.

Disney officially stopped using the Buena Vista brand last year and Miramax has been in turmoils since the hard split with the Weinsteins. One issue during the Eisner era (I don't know if it still happening) was the refusal to release anything harder than R rated. If that is the case, then the Miracleman/Marvelman (Alan Moore/Neil Gaiman stories) 2010 releases may be in jeopardy since they could consider that more than R.

[dx23]

Joe Quesada interview regarding the Disney/Marvel merger:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22872

[fujishig]

Seemingly in response, Warner handed over operations of the DC publishing unit to Diane Nelson, who headed their Harry Potter franchise. Levitz will be a consultant. Common thinking is that this is supposed to help DC get on par with Marvel in terms of film output, but I can't help but think that this is a bad idea and will have bigger implications than the Disney/Marvel deal, at least on the DC publishing side.