Disney Buying Marvel

[filkertom]

Holy crap.

Okay, very first thing: Maybe the comics will improve. Seriously. A lot of the dark, insane shit Marvel has done over the past ten years drove me out of buying comics completely. Disney won't like a lot of that stuff, though.

Second thing: Marvel has a shitload of licenses with Universal Studios down the street. Like, many of the major rides at Universal's Islands of Adventure. What's gonna happen to them?

Third thing: Status of the movie studio? Animation studio? Existing merch licenses?

Fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. Wow. I foresee a new theme park in the offing. Perhaps a Marvel-themed reboot of the former Pleasure Island.

Thoughts?

ETA: I went to the store this morning, and they had some comics in the magazine section. The most recent Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk (as opposed to Hulk) #600.

Mother of God.

Disney really can't fuck these up any worse than these yahoos already have.

Comments

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

I'll be happy if Disney introduces the concept of continuity to Marvel.

[anjala.livejournal.com]

OK, I totally agree with the WTF sentiment. Seriously! I can't believe it. And the first thing I thought of was Universal Studios. And I don't want to imagine Disney's version of Wolverine or Sabretooth. This is a very sad day indeed.

[allandaros.livejournal.com]

I hope this doesn't derail the plans for the Avengers movies.

[ladysmith.livejournal.com]

This is all over the news here in Central Florida. And a friend pointed out that the licensing agreement is now Disney's cash cow. Universal has a LOT invested in Marvel Island.

And if Universal decide not to pay, Disney just might acquire a fifth gate and a Disney thrill park that fans have been wanting. Win-win.

Now, Stan Lee is already working with Disney; they own his POW label. There's some hope that this might put Stan back in at Marvel, which the blogger I read says would be a good thing. http://thedisneyblog.com/2009/08/31/disney-aquires-marvel-superheros-to-join-disney-fold/

Disney already owns all the Saban properties, so they have some action heroes in the stable already (Power Rangers being the most obvious, although when Saban sold to Disney, they owned the rights to Gatchaman II and Gatchaman F! Can't wait to see how THAT plays out with the upcoming Imagi Gatchaman movie!)

I just reread that. Power Ranger/X-man crossover, anyone?

[alverant.livejournal.com]

This was a real WTF moment for me too. I agree that lately their comics have been darker, but also a bit more mature to appeal to a changing audience. I didn't mind it so much, but Civil War pretty much did it for me in a bad way. (The New Warriors was one of my favorite titles until Civil War royally screwed them over.)

I don't see this being good in the long term as Disney wants to keep everything family friendly and comics need to be a little edgy if they want to expand past their children's audience. Plus Disney has a bad habit of messing with a good thing by getting their grubby little fingerprints on everything. We'll have to see what they do, but I'm not optimistic.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

What about the Marvel/Transformer crossover and toys? I know there's already an Micky-mus Prime out there.

[laurel-potter.livejournal.com]

Well, Universal will be opening their new Harry Potter Island next year, so that'll bring in some money if they have to get rid of all their Mavel stuff.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Well, y'know, Disney has shown in the past that they don't necessarily mind more mature or edgy. Heck, it's part of the reason they merged with Pixar. Thing is, I feel Marvel has lost the art of telling a story. They put their characters through such a constant shit-grind, escalating the stakes beyond all reason in the interests of Story Coming Out Of Conflict, that many of their characters and plotlines have become genuinely hateful for me. Certainly a number of their creators and editors. Between Avengers Disassembled, Civil War, World War Hulk, One More Day/Brand New Day, the endless lives-after death of Dr. Doom and others, and a host of other things, I simply do not care about the current Marvel oeuvre.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Wow. I thought it was impossible for Marvel's comics to ensure a downward turn.

Yet, with Disney's guidance and restrictions, I fear we're seeing the end of the Tin and Lead Age.

[kunzelman.livejournal.com]

I feel like Marvel will become just like DC. Not good, in my book.

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

Thoughts? Winnie the Pooh. Savagely sodomized to death by the Mouse. The Mouse kills everything it touches, turning it into homogeneous, pallid goo.

Not fond of the Mouse. Sorry.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

So, we can expect singing crabs and dancing flowers in the next Spiderman movie?

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

The precedent I can think of is the Muppets franchise, which has not been notably contaminated by Disney characters. If Disney keeps the Marvelverse separate, as Warner Bros. has done with the DC characters, this could work.

Note: about hmmm, 6-7 years ago, Marvel did have a theme restaurant up at Universal CityWalk in California. Marvel Mania was not bad, it was all bright colors and iffy food. The walkaround characters were pretty superior. If Captain America comes up to you and says to drink your healthful milk, you do it, And if Wolverine does the same, you drink it faster, bub!

[hyrkanian.livejournal.com]

First thing on my mind upon seeing this: What will happen to all the artists and writers (some of them my friends) who have worked for Marvel all these years.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Disney is an ideal example of "Design by committee". They are set up to not offend anybody or cause any ripples at all. After all, they are family fare. I'm not certain if the mentality predates Eisner or came in with him, however.

And since Marvel comics are decidedly NOT PC, either Disney's corporate mentality must change, or the stories under Marvel must change. See if you can guess who is going to blink first - the rich suits or the starving writers?

[wingus.livejournal.com]

I just hope nobody gets nerfed, character-wise. Or at least not Deadpool.

[misterseth.livejournal.com]

Here are MY thoughts on how this aquisition will affect both companies...
http://www.monitorduty.com/2009/08/disney-to-acquire-marvel-entertainment/

[djonn]

Much to boggle about indeed.

On one hand, it's true that the Disney family-friendly image is, at first blush, not at all in sync with the Marvelverse's brand of grit, violence, and soap-operatic plotting.

OTOH, it's also demonstrably true that Disney doesn't meddle in everything it touches. As selenesue notes, the Muppet franchise has retained most of its essential Muppetness, and if anything, the last few seasons of the Power Rangers franchise have struck me as somewhat better-written and more complex.

Also, it seems to me that parts of the Disney empire have already been sticking their toes in both sides of the superhero pond; hasn't Disney's second cable channel (branded nowadays as Disney XD) acquired and shown past programming from both the DC and Marvel families in recent years?

Then, too, think about which studio it was that gave us what I consider the single best-written animated dramatic/adventure series of all time, bar none....

Gargoyles.

There are no guarantees. But I don't think the Marvel franchises are necessarily doomed.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Have you seen what happened to Dr.D recently?

/Spoilers start/

Apparently he had a "master" all these years who taught him the dark arts and we get to meet him and his assistant. Mad at Doom's failures, he sends Doom back in time to get ripped apart from dinosaur-era sharks. Doom survives and rebuilds his body down to the atom so when meets the "master" in the future/past, he won't be recognized. He becomes the "master's" assistant and helps to train himself. At the right moment he betrays his "master" and presents himself as the new uber-Doom devoid of whatever positive qualities the old Doom might have had.

/Spoilers stop/

In their War of Kings story they totally gutted and revised the origin of one of my favorite characters, Darkhawk. I'm loosing such an interest in comics these days. If Marvel isn't screwing up their characters, DC is hitting the reset button. Most of my comics are by the independent companies, and even then I'm wondering if it would be better to just stop.

[joshuwain.livejournal.com]

"Finding Namor"

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Remember the Muppets. Their first season DVD had all these nice extras. Then Disney consumed them and all the seasons after that were nothing more than the shows.

The great mouse god must go.

[sdelmonte]

Best pro comment so far is from Kurt Busiek:

"I see the fan community already salivating over Pixar X-Men (has Pixar done any adaptations, guys?) or dreading Hannah Montana joining the Avengers, or hoping that Disney will immediately fire Joe Quesada and reinstate the kind of comics they use to love back when Disney had no interest in Marvel. Or dreading that Disney will 'wimpify' Marvel. Or exulting that now Marvel can be like Vertigo and publish comics that don't make money, because they can spend Disney's money without expecting to make a profit. And a lot of other things that don't seem likely, either.

"My reaction: This will change things. Whether it'll change things in a good way, in a bad way or (most likely) in a mixture of both, it'll change things," he said. "How? No way to tell yet, so there's not much point in drawing conclusions of any kind. I hope we have Roger Langridge "Muppet Show" comics for a long time to come, though.

"I do recall, back in the '80s, people at Marvel used to say they wanted to be Disney for older audiences. Well, I guess now they are. What that means, though, remains to be seen."

[misterseth.livejournal.com]

I just hope they don't have Super Goof join the Avengers!

[zillafan.livejournal.com]

I look forward to "Mickey's Murderworld" amusement park! ;-)

[misterseth.livejournal.com]

Or 'HYDRA of the Carribean', and lets not forget 'Howard the Duck tales'!