Disney to buy Marvel

31 Comments

1. Anti-BND? Stan Lee? What makes you so sure of that Wellness?

2. Wellness, you bring up an excellent point. Although I have grave concerns about the Disney deal, if Stan does get involved again, it would be awesome. I can’t stand the way Spidey’s being handled, and it seems his guidance is needed. BIG TIME.

3. Also, Stan Lee could worm his way into Disney’s ear and get on the board or have some influence again…and he WOULD have his eye on the comics. He’d make suggestions, and since he’s anti-BND…

4. Quesada doesnt know what will happen. If Marvel take ONE gander at the content…there done. Bendis is lucky enough to have PREPARED for this with Ultimate Comics Spidey being aimed at younger reader and Marvel is likewise getting seriously and focused with Marvel Adventures.

   I doubt Disney will approve of things like deals with the devil, heroes getting all political, the SRA, Norman Osborn leading Avengers etc…this is the first time I may actually ENDORSE executive meddling.

5. From what I understand (I saw this analyst explaining stuff on Attack of the Show), Marvel needed some deeper pockets to pay for all those movies they couldn’t pay themselves (you know, ’cause now they finance their own stuff instead of going to Fox or Paramount).

   Even Joe Quesada was quoted as saying this won’t affect the comics in any way… which, depending on who you are, is either good news or bad news (BND stays… for now).

6. Well, well, well. This is interesting…not sure it will really effect comics in a positive way, but it does solidify more of a “brand” culture. Let’s hope that Disney stays out of the comics, talk about stagnation, Mickey and Minnie are still dating after 70+ years.

   As to cartoons for TV, that could be a good thing for Spectacular Spider-Man being picked up for DisneyXD. Let’s hope so…

7. this is pretty depressing

8. Well, I was starting to consider Marvel to be a Mickey Mouse organization…

   Okay, thing that makes me very concerned is how Disney has treated the Muppet franchise. Say what you will about the Muppets, love them or hate them, you’d have to agree that since becoming property of Disney the Muppets have really been a non-entity in the pop-culture landscape.

   In other words you can make an argument that the only reason Disney BOUGHT the franchise is to reap the benefits of having the name brand “The Muppets” under their umbrella. They haven’t done much with it other than Kermit and Piggy showing up on ABC programing and such.

   I mean, when the last thing that I recall Miss Piggy doing was some silly press confrence thing that was attended by BD, something that probably NEVER happened when Frank Oz’s hand was up Piggy’s butt and Jim Henson’s company was in charge of the property, you know the property is on hard times.

   Now, perhaps because the comic characters are much more accepted in terms of the mass audiences, perhaps better care will be taken, but something tells me Disney isn’t great when it comes to acquiring things that weren’t created under their umbrella.

9. Truly, this is going to have little to no effect upon the comic books. (If anything, it may mean that Marvel Comics will get the same deal that DC has had for years: Breaking Even.) As I understand it, Marvel Comics is minor portion of Marvel Entertainment which is in the business of licensing intellectual properties for movies, television, toys, clothing, amusement parks, music, video games, as well as comics. Despite your view of Disney Media, upper management isn’t going to tear through a commodity they acquired for 4 billion dollars, changing everything. If anything this pairing of companies is good for both parties. Its good for Disney, as they have acquired properties that open the company up to markets and demographics in which they do not do well (like the Direct Market, but also more teen/adult-oriented entertainment (I’m referring to the soap-operatic and action elements inherent to Marvel comics and their spin-offs (cartoons, movies, video games). On the other hand, Marvel benefits by having an entertainment company with many resources at its disposal. Instead of going to Sony or Fox to get movies made, Marvel just goes to its parent company to get movies, tv shows, etc made. In turn, the likelihood of making movies, tv shows, etc that better resemble the Marvel Universe are more likely.

10. This could provide some lol’s. If only for the speculations.

11. Donomark, sir, you’re 100% correct. I really really hope this doesn’t affect anything (which of course it will, its the grand severity that counts), but with the way things have been going in the Comic industry lately, I don’t blame people for doubting the future. “Any sign is a bad sign” is like what I mean….

12. Enigma, you beat me to saying, “Dear God”. lol

13. ^Oooookaaayyy, you really think thats gonna happen?

    I’m shocked, but I don’t think this is really a bad thing. I dunno what to think to be honest, but thinking “BAW NAW! THIS SUCKS!!” is ridiculous. Not everything has to SUCK.

14. This is evil

    I hate disney
    My thrice monthly spiderman comics are something I enjoy and look forward to very much and I dont want disney interfering with it

15. I have mixed feelings.

16. If you thought Quesada made a deal with the devil before…

17. Ugh…. Warner Brothers is Looney Tunes, and Acme anvils, and giant hammers… Disney is watered down children’s stories. ‘Nuff said. It makes me happy to see the WB logo turn into a bat on the start of a big movie. I cringe at the sight of the Disney Castle thing. IF anything, MAYBE-slightly-not likely we’ll see a Pixar animated Marvel movie (which could be the only good thing coming out of this). Hopefully the worst we ever see from this is more “Spider-man and Friends” products….

    Namor vs The Little Mermaid FTW?

18. Everybody with me now, in your best Vader voice: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

19. Disney has tried publishing comics before (their characters) – didn’t work.
    They would be wise to leave the publishing to them that done it better.

20. You know; this is the hottest news of today
    I checked other boards and look how quick the news passed over 20 pages

21. Oh dear god, no….

22. Wonder how this will affect the Marvel themed “Islands of Adventure” at Disney World’s rival theme park Universal here in Florida?

23. I seen on yahoo that disney will own the charachters so they will own all of Marvel. I hope they put out the 90’s spidey cartoon and Spiderman and his Amazing friends.i am more old school than most soooo hopefully Disney will turn things around because marvel kinda sux right now.

24. Ha…yeah right, Disney have their foot in the door now. Anyone suggesting they won’t want a peice of the publishing pie is fooling themselves.

25. Yay, now we’re going to have Marvel Cartoons on regular “Disney Channel”. I’m not serious here
    I wonder how Disney fans who hate Marvel comics will feel, I know I don’t want a team-up between “Howard The Duck” & “Donald Duck” in the regular 616
    Will Sony still own the rights to make Spider-Man toons and otherwise? How will Fox feel? How many dumbed down animated shows will we have? How will this effect “Spectacular Spider-Man Animated” in case there really are going to be more seasons on their ways to the making?

26. Disney won’t own Marvel Comics, its just the new Marvel Entertainment production company. I guess we’ll see what happens. This might be the start of some really good Marvel animated features

27. Well, that was a shocker.

28. Well, at any rate, I guess I’l be getting a little increase in my dividends from Disney!

29. Hah! Thats what I was going to say Bertone. Honestly, I don’t know how I feel. I would be afraid they’ll screw things up, but with the way things are now…

30. I give it an hour or two before someone says “Maybe Disney will try and reverse OMD”.

31. I’m going to be sick.

    Scratch that – too late.