Disney buys Marvel for 4 Billion

[Smittycal]

I havent seen this discussed yet on here and was wondering what some of you folks thoughts were on this:

This could be a great move or the worst move known to man lol

Discuss


....... ........ ......... .........DISNEY BUYS MARVEL!!!.......
........ ........ WOW DISNEY BUYS MARVEL!!!


CBS
cbsnews.com


Disney to Buy Marvel Comics for $4B

• Photo

(CBS/AP) The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it is acquiring Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including favorites such as the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by comic book legend Stan Lee.

Disney said Marvel shareholders will receive $30 in cash, plus 0.745 Disney shares, for every Marvel share they own. That values each Marvel share at $50 based on Friday's closing stock prices.

Marvel shares jumped $10.17, or 26 percent, to $48.82 shortly after the market opened. Disney shares fell 47 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $26.37.

Analyst David Joyce of Miller Tabak & Co. said the acquisition will help Disney appeal to young men who have flocked to theaters to see Marvel's superhero fare in recent years. That contrasts with Disney's recent successes among young women with such fare as "Hannah Montana" and the Jonas Brothers.

"It helps Disney add exposure to a young male demographic it had sort of lost some balance with," Joyce said, noting the $4 billion offer was at "full price."

Disney said the boards of both companies have approved the transaction, but it will require an antitrust review and the approval of Marvel shareholders.

Disney CEO Robert Iger said the acquisition combines Marvel's "strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters" with Disney's "unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties" and ability to maximize value across multiple platforms and territories.

Over the past decade, movies featuring Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, the Punisher, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Elektra and Blade, have grossed cumulatively more than $3 billion, according to Variety.

None of those films has been released by Disney.

Marvel earned a net profit of $206 million last fiscal year, up 47 percent from a year earlier, on revenue of $676 million, as it took movie production in house instead of just cutting licensing deals.

Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer, said, "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.”

Disney last made a big purchase in 2006 when it acquired Pixar Animation Studios Inc., the creator of the "Toy Story" franchise, for $7.4 billion in stock.

[jim5cents]

it changes nothing, managment at marvel will remain the same, just that disney is now reaping the rewards.

[Slime Slayer]

i think this is a good and bad thing.
as long as disney doesnt change anything, it should be cool, and 3d movies featuring marvel characters could be awsome.

[Winnebagel]

Good post. I heard about this earlier in the week, and I was pretty shocked.

I sort of have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, Disney has a great marketing network. However, on the other hand, I hope Disney will keep its hands off of Marvel creatively. Marvel already has a history of many bad films/T.V. shows because another studio had creative control and messed with the stories too much. Marvel has just recently started producing their own films and we have already seen the quality with things like Iron Man.

I just hope the quality doesn't go down.

[Smittycal]

Originally Posted by jim5cents

it changes nothing, managment at marvel will remain the same, just that disney is now reaping the rewards.

It changes nothing in the short term but if Disney has ultimate control whats to keep them from coming out with a Disney version of ANY Marvel property. I dont want to see Deadpool playing cards with Donald Duck in his next movie. ( I know thats taking it a bit far lol)

[Winnebagel]

Originally Posted by Smittycal

It changes nothing in the short term but if Disney has ultimate control whats to keep them from coming out with a Disney version of ANY Marvel property. I dont want to see Deadpool playing cards with Donald Duck in his next movie. ( I know thats taking it a bit far lol)

That's my fear too. I know Disney says they will leave it alone, but the House of Mouse does not have a great track record in this department.

I'm not really looking forward to the day when Tinker Bell replaces Wasp on the Avengers team.

[Slime Slayer]

have you guys seen the hulk vs. series, had those been animated by disney in classical 2d style they would have been mind blowing

[Smittycal]

Originally Posted by Winnebagel

That's my fear too. I know Disney says they will leave it alone, but the House of Mouse does not have a great track record in this department.

I'm not really looking forward to the day when Tinker Bell replaces Wasp on the Avengers team.

Exactly. If you look at almost EVERY Disney animated movie from Pocahontas to Anastasia they have "Disneified" the story or changed key elements of the story. I know they make these changes so that they can appeal to a broader audience but in the original version of Little Mermaid I know there wasnt a singing crab in it. Even the property there getting from Studio Gibil ( Howls Moving Castle, Ponyo) have been altered in some ways. I just dont want to go into a movie looking for Alpha Flight and end up seeing Huey Dewy and Louy fighting Windigo or something.

---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:01 PM ----------

Originally Posted by stevencassidy13

have you guys seen the hulk vs. series, had those been animated by disney in classical 2d style they would have been mind blowing

I did watch that series. They were both good. I liked the mind controlled Hulk element they put in the one where he fights Thor and any fight between Hulk and Wolverine is great

[Winnebagel]

Originally Posted by Smittycal

Exactly. If you look at almost EVERY Disney animated movie from Pocahontas to Anastasia they have "Disneified" the story or changed key elements of the story. I know they make these changes so that they can appeal to a broader audience but in the original version of Little Mermaid I know there wasnt a singing crab in it. Even the property there getting from Studio Gibil ( Howls Moving Castle, Ponyo) have been altered in some ways. I just dont want to go into a movie looking for Alpha Flight and end up seeing Huey Dewy and Louy fighting Windigo or something.

---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:01 PM ----------


I did watch that series. They were both good. I liked the mind controlled Hulk element they put in the one where he fights Thor and any fight between Hulk and Wolverine is great

Don't get me wrong. I really like a lot of the Disney movies. I just don't want to see Disney somehow sanitize the Marvel characters or stories to make them more politically correct or something.

Inevitably, there will be Marvel characters showing up in the parks and advertising. I am fine with that as long as Disney honors their promise and keeps a "hand's off" perspective when it comes to Marvel films.

[Gamenguru]

I pretty much have the same feelings on the subject as the previous posters. The quality of Marvel's films has increased dramatically since they created their own production company. My main concern is that Disney often can't leave well enough alone and could (theoretically) really screw things up for Marvel. Hopefully, that won't be the case and Disney really will keep their hands out of the production side of things and will simply sit back and collect the profits.

The following is an example of a film that Marvel didn't produce or have full creative control over vs. one they did:
Ang Lee's "Hulk" (...a movie that, in my opinion was completely butchered by the studio and director) vs. Marvel's "The Incredible Hulk" (...a movie that stayed much closer to the original source material, but unfortunately didn't have as much theatrical success as it could have. This was partially due to the fact that many theater goers were afraid it was a sequel to the Ang Lee stinker.) ...any questions?

[justinm26]

I actually kind of agree with gamenguru on this. I think it's a bad idea because Disney is so family oriented. Look at the Punisher movie for example, I don't see Disney doing any kind of movie like that and IMO that really sucks cause there are a lot of marvel characters that are dark in nature and will probably be ruined now. Also, does anyone else see a kind of monopoly affect Disney is starting to have?

[yoshi_star10]

i honestly couldnt care about it i never watched any marvel cartoons, well except x-men evolution, that is marvel, right?

[Winnebagel]

Originally Posted by justinm26

I actually kind of agree with gamenguru on this. I think it's a bad idea because Disney is so family oriented. Look at the Punisher movie for example, I don't see Disney doing any kind of movie like that and IMO that really sucks cause there are a lot of marvel characters that are dark in nature and will probably be ruined now. Also, does anyone else see a kind of monopoly affect Disney is starting to have?

I almost mentioned Punisher: War Zone in my earlier post. That mvie rocked, and I hope Disney doesn't stop movies like that being made.

[Dudebro]

Yeah I'm not liking this idea so far. I appreciate Disney for it's family stuff and sometimes they make a good crossover movie but for the most part they are terrible when it comes to being creative or allowing thier people to be creative. So many Disney movies share the same basic plot and that's fine for five year olds but this young male audience thier trying to capture won't be down with it.

I think this is gonna be an extreme change either way. On one hand it could mean much more money and freedom to produce Marvel brand stuff, on the other hand they could put too much Disney influence into it and totally ruin the current success.

Btw people keep talking about how Marvel is progressing with it's movies but what about the new Wolverine movie? I thought it was ok but from a comic book standpoint it was terrible. They destroyed the story and just made a typical action movie. I think it was a huge step backwards for these movies.

[Winnebagel]

Originally Posted by Dudebro

Btw people keep talking about how Marvel is progressing with it's movies but what about the new Wolverine movie? I thought it was ok but from a comic book standpoint it was terrible. They destroyed the story and just made a typical action movie. I think it was a huge step backwards for these movies.

It may have had problems, but I still think it was better than the X-Men movies (other than than X2 anyway).

[powerfullove]

This is pretty interesting. Well, as long as Disney stays the hell out of Marvel's way, I'm fine with this.

[Dudebro]

Originally Posted by Winnebagel

It may have had problems, but I still think it was better than the X-Men movies (other than than X2 anyway).

Sorry but are you on crack? The Wolverine movie had me rolling my eyes and scoffing at the screen and I'm not even that into comic books. From what I know of the story this movie butchered it and just mashed other stuff together for no apparent reason. Why do you think it's better than the Xmen movies?

[DrunkN]

Originally Posted by Dudebro

Sorry but are you on crack? The Wolverine movie had me rolling my eyes and scoffing at the screen and I'm not even that into comic books. From what I know of the story this movie butchered it and just mashed other stuff together for no apparent reason. Why do you think it's better than the Xmen movies?

-1 for saying winnebagels on crack. NAH, I'm just kiddin ya.

I liked this movie, It didn't aim for the biggest movie in the century like X3(yeah that was a REAL bright idea marvel) did so it was a step in the right direction.

[Dudebro]

So if I understand you, you think it's a step in the right direction if they ignore the source material and just appeal to the crowd who can't be bothered with story/plot? I disagree very much.

[DrunkN]

Originally Posted by Dudebro

So if I understand you, you think it's a step in the right direction if they ignore the source material and just appeal to the crowd who can't be bothered with story/plot? I disagree very much.

There are about a million ways to make an X-man movie DB, so very few would be considered "good" by anyone. No matter how you slice it,(I really like that phrase man) you are going to get reviews that say it either sucked or strayed to far from the comics, X3 did both.

[justinm26]

i could be wrong but i don't think the recent wolverine movie was based on the comics, i think it was based more on the character from the X series. It's been a really long time since I have read a comic book so I don't really know for sure.

[Winnebagel]

Originally Posted by Dudebro

So if I understand you, you think it's a step in the right direction if they ignore the source material and just appeal to the crowd who can't be bothered with story/plot? I disagree very much.

Yeah, but X3 did the same thing. It had absolutely no connection to the comics, and it angered me that they kept wasting important characters for no reason.

Compared to X3, Wolverine was the most faithful comic book film ever made. It didn't get everything right, but its roots (like most of Wolvie's back story) were rooted in the comic.

What bothered me about the X-Men films in general is I think most of the characters were just wrong (i.e. Rogue, Storm, Cyclops). Also, it really bothered me that the movies were made almost completely about Wolverine. Wolverine was a frequent co-star in X-Men, but he was not the central character by any means.

The underuse of Cyclops also bugged me. In the comics he is one of the cooler characters, and in the movies he was just made into a dumb jock.

[Belmontzar]

-is a fan of the old beer drinking, cig smoking wolverine and decides not to comment on the changes lately-

My only real thought is that Game wise Disney is big for alot of companies.
Even though the X men or marvel crew may tag along in stuff like KH. Id admit loving to see Square make a wolverine boss fight for Olympus in a new KH game.
Some characters could fit in well with disney while others in thought make me twitch.
Only for sure things are disney comics marvel style, and that all else will need to be seen. After all, with how kid friendly marvel has become lately... this may not change much...

[Bluej]

Originally Posted by Winnebagel

Yeah, but X3 did the same thing. It had absolutely no connection to the comics, and it angered me that they kept wasting important characters for no reason.

Compared to X3, Wolverine was the most faithful comic book film ever made. It didn't get everything right, but its roots (like most of Wolvie's back story) were rooted in the comic.

What bothered me about the X-Men films in general is I think most of the characters were just wrong (i.e. Rogue, Storm, Cyclops). Also, it really bothered me that the movies were made almost completely about Wolverine. Wolverine was a frequent co-star in X-Men, but he was not the central character by any means.

The underuse of Cyclops also bugged me. In the comics he is one of the cooler characters, and in the movies he was just made into a dumb jock.

I agree, I like the actors but the casting was wrong for sooo many of them.

As far as Disney I think it will be a wait and see.

[Dudebro]

Maybe my love of the Xmen movies comes from how cool Prof X, Magneto, Nightcrawler and Beast were.

I just think the Wolverine movie was poorly made and it seemed rushed. They spent waaaaaaay too much time with Sabretooth and just glossed over all the other characters in his life.

( Click to show/hide )

Btw, Sabretooth is his brother and they ran off together when they were kids? What happened there? In the comic I read there was a person named Dog who was similar to Sabretooth but that was it. They didn't leave together, dog stayed at the house(many years later he pursued Logan) after the incident and Wolverine left with Rose. That's a big difference to me since the point of the movie was to tell his origin.

Also this whole buyout thing means we'll probably see Xmen in Kingdomhearts which means they might interact with Final Fantasy characters - my mind is blown.