Source: Variety
(Found via Cinematical)
Um, did anyone see this coming? It was all over the news on Monday, so I’m sorry for the late comment…but we just have to mention this. Check out Variety for the whole story, but, yep, as it now stands, Disney bought Marvel Entertainment—that source of so much comic-book superhero goodness, like Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four, and much, much more—for the huge chunk of change of $4 billion. This was completely out of the blue, especially since Marvel, which started independently financing their own films (beginning with 2008's “Iron Man”), seemed to be doing great on their own. These guys have four more films planned for the next 3 years (“Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” “Captain America,” and the extremely anticipated cross-over superhero team-up, “The Avengers”), and after that…well, it looks like Disney will oversee the next round of Marvel heroes to hit the screen.
The online world’s filled with opinions right now, and a lot of these guys know way more than me… but, in all honesty, this could be a very good thing. I’m a positive person in general, but I think this will turn out well for both parties. Marvel could gain the cushy support of the House of Mouse, while the Disney brand will inherit edgier, more adult-skewing fare than, say, Hannah Montana.
This really reminds me of a few years back, when Disney finally bought Pixar for a similar amount, and then placed Pixar head genius John Lasseter as the Creative Director of the whole Disney Animation wing. From that deal, Pixar got to have autonomy and creative freedom, while gaining Disney’s epic marketing power to back them up—a perfect match between talent and resources.
I think something similar will happen here. Marvel will likely continue to operate independently (while brainstorming with Disney), and then have Disney to supply the advertising and product-spin-off onslaught. Can you picture that? Disney Channel, ABC, Happy Meals, Disneyland rides—the possibilities are endless, and if Marvel continues to make great films like “Iron Man,” it’ll be very much worth it. Plus, could we get a Pixar/Marvel movie down the line? (Especially since Pixar’s Fantastic Four-inspired “The Incredibles” was infinitely better than that superhero team’s own movie) Ah, that would be insanely awesome…
I have a lot of faith in Disney (after all, they gave me two of my favorite movies with “Aladdin” and the first “Pirates of the Caribbean”, not to mention the countless cartoons I grew up on)—they’ve had their stumbles, but when they’re firing on all creative cylinders, it’s a constant treat for us viewers. Considering how many Marvel Comics characters exist that have yet to be adapted (probably upwards of 4,000), this could be a very interesting new partnership down the line.
In the meanwhile, we’ll have “Iron Man 2” hitting theaters next year (with a trailer sometime in the next few months), “Thor” and “Captain America” in 2011, and the Downey Jr.-led “The Avengers” blasting away in 2012.
What do you guys think? Could Disney and Marvel become the new Disney/Pixar-like powerhouse? Or does this merger of the family-friendly empire and badass superheroes have disaster written all over it? Guess we'll just have to wait and see...
Images courtesy of Marvel and Walt Disney Pictures.
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