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On December 30, 2009 Marvel shareholders voted to OK the Walt Disney Corporation’s purchase of Marvel Entertainment. For those who don’t know, Marvel Entertainment is one of the major comic book companies and owns franchises like X-Men and Spiderman.
Despite the enormity of the deal, we will see few immediate changes in the output of either company, particularly in film. Most of Marvel’s main franchises, such as Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, and X-Men are already tied up in deals with other movie studios.
The situation is similar for television series. Also, Marvel characters may not immediately, if at all, appear at Disney parks. A few years ago Marvel signed a deal with Universal Studios Orlando for use of the characters there.
But since Marvel launched its own movie studio a few years ago to release films like “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk,” any films made within that studio now fall under the Disney umbrella. So, for example, Disney will profit from the release of “Iron Man 2” this summer.
Those who are afraid that the House of Mouse’s ownership over Marvel will result in a “Disneyfication” of their new comic book properties shouldn’t worry. Disney stands to make the most money from the deal by not alienating Marvel’s core audience.
The first step Disney took in proving its commitment to preserving Marvel’s integrity was hiring comic book legend Stan Lee to act as Disney’s front man at Marvel. Lee is Marvel’s most famous name, best known for creating Spiderman, the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk, and the Fantastic Four, among others.
Disney’s approach to its Marvel output will likely mirror the way it handles products released under some of its other companies, such as Miramax. Miramax movies do not bear the Disney logo, and they sometimes contain content inappropriate for family viewing.
So parents don’t need to worry. Though some comics published by Marvel are inappropriate for children, the Disney merger doesn’t mean that explicit content will suddenly be marketed to children. What this really means, especially at first, is there will soon be a much greater variety of Marvel merchandise on the market, backed by the power of the Disney machine.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we soon see everything from Marvel video games and toys to clothing, toothbrushes, and bedding available alongside pink princess products at the Disney store. And maybe in a few years we can look forward to more comic-booky fun for the whole family, a la the now almost-prophetic “The Incredibles.”
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*(This image by janex is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
