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Disney to buy Marvel to appeal to boys
Mickey Mouse is taking on Spider-Man.Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that it will acquire Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion, which would give ownership to over its more than 5,000 characters, including the webslinger himself, Iron Man, Hulk and The X-Men.
"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," says Ike Perlmutter, Marvel's Chief Executive Officer. "This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney's tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world."
The acquisition will help Disney's appeal to young boys, a demographic that has been competitive with rivals Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Disney already has the young girls' market covered with great success with the Disney Princesses line and Hannah Montana.
Already, the Marvel movie machine has several projects in the works. "Iron Man 2" is due to hit theaters in May 2010, while "Spider-Man 4," "Thor" and the first "Avengers" movie are scheduled for the following years.
Before the deal goes through, an antitrust review and the approval of Marvel shareholders will be required.
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Oh, joy, now Disney can screw up comic books they way they have fairy tales. I just can't for the new Spiderman release where the web-slinger takes on the Wicked Step-Mother. Fun for all!
*sarcasm concluded*
Disney will not be a good owner of marvel. I can see it now, cartoon, cartoons, cartoons... No more blockbuster I wonder. Wonder what will happen to Thor and all the the films currently in production?
Disney will not be a good owner of marvel. I can see it now, cartoon, cartoons, cartoons... No more blockbuster I wonder. Wonder what will happen to Thor and all the the films currently in production? I love Disney, don't get me wrong, but Spider-man? Wolverine? Seriously?!
Just remember, Disney also owns adult studios as well, like Touchstone. so just because the Walt Disney Company owns them doesn't mean it all gets kiddified.
oh gag me. :(
DC Comics has been a part of mega-media corp Warner Bros and occasionally been lost in the shuffle going between mania and indifference--like the 70s DC Explosion-Implosion, the first Burton Batman, and now the recent comic movie resurgence which has WB/DC reevaluating things (the fact that DC may have contributed 15% of WB's revenues is mind-boggling.
I really don't want to see Spiderman and company stealing space at Walt Disney World when my family visits.
Well, Disney didn't screw up Pixar after they bought it (at least not yet). So I'm hoping for the best!
Those are two great companies merging together.