Disney to Buy Marvel

[Pomai]

Breaking news today:

Disney to Buy Marvel for $4 Billion

The Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that it has agreed to purchase comic book and action hero company Marvel Entertainment for about $4 billion.

On a conference call with investors, Iger said the deal will allow Disney to sell Marvel's vast array of characters and properties across different media platforms and in many more markets. For instance, Iger said that Disney's Pixar animation unit was excited about the opportunities that a Marvel acquisition could yield.

Reading the message board there at CNN, an overwhelming majority of readers are passionately AGAINST this move, fearing Disney will destroy the characters and the brand as we know it.

Surely we have lots of comic book fans here at HT, so what's your take on it?

[Pomai]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

Umm, I wonder if I should have posted this under 'The Library'. Moderator, if you think this is better fit for that section, please move it. Otherwise, carry on!

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

"Other (don't care)"

Hey - I hadda leave a comment, right?

[helen]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

I didn't think Marvel was a few billion dollar industry, but then again besides doing comics, it does do cartoon TV series. I haven't purchased a comic book since the mid-1990's so it doesn't matter to me.

[mel]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

Licensing is the big thing here... Spiderman... movies... other characters...

[mel]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

Licensing is the big thing here... re: Spiderman... movies... games... online media... characters... Pixar... yes.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

I didn't think Marvel was a few billion dollar industry, but then again besides doing comics, it does do cartoon TV series. I haven't purchased a comic book since the mid-1990's so it doesn't matter to me.

And therein lies the problem for Marvel Entertainment. The steadily declining comic book readership. While recent big-screen flicks like Spiderman, Hulk, Fantastic 4, X-Men, and Iron Man have revived some fan interest in these characters, the long-term future outlook for Marvel is cloudy. If the readership continues its decline, it will become harder to develop interest in new characters, which are the lifeblood of a comics publisher. Let's face it. Most of the aformentioned heroes originated back in the 1960s heyday of Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. Even Wolverine has been a part of the Marvel Universe since the '70s.

I think Marvel saw the writing on the wall and that NOW was the time to be bought out.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

The movies with Marvel comics heroes have a touch of darkness in the story. I can only think of The Fantastic Four series as being lighthearted. So with Disney ownership, the Marvel movies will probably be like The Fantastic Four.

[LocalMotion]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

I don't see it as a bad move. I see it as a pure money play on Disney's part. They will let Marvel do it's thing, and make all the profits.

They did the same thing with Pixar and it's been fine. Everyone thought they would destroy Pixar too.

[Random]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

They did the same thing with Pixar and it's been fine. Everyone thought they would destroy Pixar too.

And yet I prefer PIXAR to be with their original parent company, Lucasfilms/ILM.

Sighs. I guess we'll see the return of Wonder Woman in her old familiar Golden-Age granny panties ... or have Hilary Duff cast her in the live-action movie instead of Megan Fox.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

Sighs. I guess we'll see the return of Wonder Woman in her old familiar Golden-Age granny panties ... or have Hilary Duff cast her in the live-action movie instead of Megan Fox.

Hmmm. Wonder Woman is a DC comics hero.

[Random]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

Sorry. She's too much of an icon in the entire comic-book genre.

Trying to find a Marvel counterpart that match her popularity.

[Nords]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

They did the same thing with Pixar and it's been fine. Everyone thought they would destroy Pixar too.

I think Disney started heading south in the 1990s when Frank Wells died (helicopter accident), leaving Eisner's ego unleashed. Even Roy Disney felt obliged to battle publicly with the direction Eisner took the company. One of Iger's first acts was to kiss & make up with Jobs over Pixar, and I think that Iger'll do just fine with Marvel.

Disney is smart enough to preserve Marvel's culture, even if becomes part of DisneyWorld and the Disney Channel. They know that they need to find new ways to grow, and the empire is getting to the point of being too big to run by one person's obsessive control. Marvel will still get away with being the bad boys of the business...

[Honoruru]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

Don’t forget graphic novels and manga. I think they may be more popular today than Marvel (or DC) products. They tend to siphon readership from the traditional American comics. Everytime I go by the Manga/Graphic Novel sections at Barnes and Noble and Borders, I am amazed at how crowded those areas are.

As far as the Disney deal, I think it makes sense, but only in the long run. After all, Marvel’s licensing deals represent a significant portion of their earnings. The comic book portion is more a character factory. I don’t think Disney would want to tamper with that.

[helen]

Re: Disney to Buy Marvel

Sighs. I guess we'll see the return of Wonder Woman in her old familiar Golden-Age granny panties ... or have Hilary Duff cast her in the live-action movie instead of Megan Fox.

Hmmm. Wonder Woman is a DC comics hero.

Trying to find a Marvel counterpart that match her popularity.

Well you got Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel (or Binary now), Rouge, Storm, She-Hulk, Wasp or Jean Grey.