Disney buying Marvel

It was announced today that the Walt Disney company is buying Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion.

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/disney-to-buy-marvel-entertainment-for-4-billion/

I wonder what this means for Marvel's slate of movies? I shouldn't affect licensed properties (Spider-Man/Sony, X-Men/Fox, etc.) but I wonder if the in-house films (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, etc.) will see changes to schedules, or be distributed by Disney (Iron Man 2 seems iron-clad with Paramount).

It also means that the two largest comic book companies will be owned by two of the largest media companies.

Huge news.  I just saw it an hour ago.

That is a lot of scratch for the characters, so I am assuming they must already have some plans.  Marvel Studios will still do their thing, but I'll be interested in any crossover ideas (Mickey Mouse comics, X-Men rides and plushies, etc) with the Mouse House.

wow...i was just about to post this too. I just saw the news on Fox.

I think what this may also mean is a resurgence of Marvel animated series.  DC has been very successful with it's animated direct to DVD product.. look at "Batman" "Superman" etc. DC products that were issued out in direct to DVD.

 

Disney would be able to offer them full access to "toon disney" type programming alternatives for Marvel, as well as provide immediate in house direct to DVD productions.

Actually, The Spectacular Spider-Man (on Disney XD, S1 available for like $20) is good.  REAL good.  It's not Batman:TAS or JLU, but it's the best Spidey cartoon in my lifetime.  Regarding the Direct to DVD movies, yeah, Marvel needs work there.

I've long said that, although I loved TDK and BB, "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" is still the best Batman movie I've ever seen at capturing what the comic books were all about.  

 

Accomplish something like that for some Marvel properties.. would be nice.

How about Pixar making Marvel movies ?

Very interesting news indeed

They kind of already did with The Incredibles.

John Lasseter met with Marvel officials last week, so expect to see Pixar movies focusing on Marvel characters in the future.  Disney now owns the rights to more than 5,000 characters so the studio has several options for movies (animated and live-action), television projects, straight-to-DVD features, etc.  As stated with the deal, Paramount, Sony, and Fox will retain their film rights (for now) to the characters Spider-Man, the key players from the Avengers, and the various characters from the X-Men universe.

Whether you love Disney or not, this is absolutely huge news.

I don't want a bunch of Pixar/Marvel movies.  But one or two a decade would be awesome :)  I'd like Pixar to focus on their own stuff, with an occasional foray into superheroics.

I can't read the article for some reason.
John Lasseter also oversees the parks, so it could be that he's talking about that. Seems more probably than Pixar doing Marvel adaptations.

I posted this in the After Hour Lounge, did not realize this was here.  I wonder what happens to any future animated or theatrical releases now that Disney will own the rights. 

IMHO nothing good can possibly come from this.

 I wonder how this will affect Marvel characters & rides at Universal Studios Orlando?  Although, they are building a big Harry Potter themed park there.  So I guess they can just convert everything.

Universal Lawyers have said their contract lasts basically forever.

 

However, there is some question on whether or not it's exclusive.. and more then that, does DIsney really care?  I mean, the agreement Universal made with Marvel still counts as income to Marvel (now DIsney) every year.. so if Disney has to live with it, I don't think they will have trouble cashing checks from Universal forever :)

From the NYT article:

There was also some talk of exploiting some of Marvel's lesser-known characters for film or animation projects.

It's going to take some months to see how everything shakes out, but I would bet that we start to see some animated projects first. Feature films will certainly follow. Disney didn't spend $4 billion just to get a bunch of comic books. (The question for comic book fans is will Disney's family-friendly image affect the content?)

I enjoyed reading some die hard comic fan responses yesterday.  Some thoughts on that:

1) Marvel was once owned (in the 1990's) by Revlon.  REVLON.
2) Disney could give a rat's ass about the comics.  Seriously.  The annual profits from the various monthly comics are in the rounding errors for how much Disney makes overall from parks, movies, toys, games, etc.  They want the properties, not the monthlies.  As long as monthlies basically break even, Disney won't care at all.  Hopefully, some of their talent will want to write a mini-series or an arc.  Who wouldn't want a Brad Bird Avengers mini-series?  But I'd imagine things like that will be the extent of Disney involvement with the monthlies.
3) Shouldn't most superhero comics BE family friendly?  They are a medium suitable to a variety of storytelling, but superheroes are decidedly wish-fulfillment.  Specifically aimed at young boys (and some young girls).

Exactly my thought. Marvel's (and DC's for that matter) attempts at "mature" themes in their superhero comics have been largely embarrassing (I loved how in Civil War they tried to solve a political problem by ineffectually punching each other for a few issues) so a return to something simpler and more all-ages in tone would be totally fine with me. I'm not sure what Disney will do overall, but their reputation for stricter controls over content and branding might protect Marvel from its worst impulses.

Depends on your definition. I can't imagine Disney would have backed DC or Marvel in the early 70s when they put out stories dealing with drugs. That was considered inappropriate for children by a lot of folks. Disney has always protected their family-friendly reputation (to the extent of not putting out films like Song of the South on home video). The opportunity for them here is to create another level of sophistication, and appeal to a slightly older audience of kids than they are used to.

Seems like a good deal for Marvel. Disney will no doubt leave the comics alone, and Marvel will benefit by increased exposure through video games, merchandising, cartoons and feature films.

well, here's one thing  :

www.youtube.com/watch

(the one with hitler and left 4 dead 2 is also really good...)

Yep and as a comic reader, that sends chills down my spine. My fear is that somewhere in the near future, Disney will pull the plug on Marvel publishing comics and have their comics go online-only and if Marvel stops publishing comics, every other company will either make the switch to online comics or close shop.

Travis, that is what keeps you completely safe.  The suits probably see the monthlies as a tax to pay for the popularity of the properties they bought.  They'd never, EVER get rid of tactile monthly comics.  The money saved in digitizing the process and removing physical comics would be completely inconsequential to their bottom line, and very, very counter-productive to their goals.

Quite the contrary, Disney's deep pockets will probably allow quality work on lesser Marvel titles with merely decent sales to continue for longer than Marvel's current policies allow.  This will open the aperture beyond Spidey, X-Men, Wolverine, Avengers being necessary for a monthly comic.  With that much capital, they can take more risks on comics and lesser known heroes and stories.  Disney NOT caring is quite good for the comics, creatively.

without comics to establish the characters then there are no characters that anyone would want to see movies about.

That sounds more thought out than my own admittedly paranoid fears so I'll believe you.  Outside of Spider-Man, I really couldn't care less if Marvel ever published a comic again but without Marvel printing comics, the rest of the physical comics industry would be done too.

Disney can't seem to figure out what to do with the Muppets. Except for the odd tv movie, and having Kermit edited out of the few tv specials they didn't get in the deal. So, what on earth will they do with Marvel?

I'd also hate to see some old Marvel tv show or film fall into the DVD limbo the 1960's Batman series is stuck in.

     Quote:

The Muppets were already floundering after Jim Henson's death; they still flounder because no one seems to be taking charge and being the singular creative force as Henson was.

I don't read comic books and know little about how Marvel is doing, but if corporate doesn't interfere, and if creative decisions aren't made by committee, they should be fine.

Well, Marvel is the #1 comic book company in the US, with over half the market share. Supposedly, the comics are worth about 40 million a year to Marvel.

As a comic geek, part of me wants to run screaming through the hills, thinking there's no way this could be good.

But, if Disney leaves the comic side alone, and just wants properties they can use for animation and movies, this could be the kick in the ass Marvel needs to create new, interesting characters instead of relying solely on Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, and the Fantastic Four, who are all locked into deals with other production companies.

It could go either way, and only time will tell just how badly comic book fans will get screwed.

As long as the publishing arm of Marvel (comics, hardcovers, paperbacks) doesn't constantly operate at a significant loss, Disney won't bother them.

There have, however, been a few good muppet vehicles since  his death.. though the one several wait for (Dark Crystal 2) is still in development hell, enough so that Robot Chicken managed to take  a 2 minute swipe at it.

I'm trying to think of major Marvel characters that have not already made their way to the screen or have films attached.

Wait, does Disney own the muppets again?  I remember in 1999 Columbia bought the rights.
What's the deal with Kermit being edited?  Is there a link?  I'm a huge muppet fan.