comment #1

corey3rd says ...

probably could have bought them for half this price after the release of Ang Lee's Hulk.

comment #2

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

Could be alright if they let Pixar make films with Marvel characters. Then you might finally get that Fantastic Four film in the style of The Incredibles.

Marvel bore me though. This "Ultimate Avengers" film they're gearing up to do is going to be an epic clusterfuck. Why bother establishing a universe for the likes of Iron Man if you're just going to stick a Norse God in there with him? It the same reason that Batman and Superman wouldn't work on film together. If in real life there was an alien superhero who could fly around and shoot laser-beams from his eyes, why would anyone give a flying fuck about a normal bloke who dresses up like a bat and ties up criminals?

This is why Nolan's films are so good. They set Batman within the context of a semi-realistic world, so his exploits are truly "super".

Marvel on the other hand seem to want to smash all their superheroes in together and exhaust their back catalogue as quickly as possible.

comment #3

DeafBrownTrashPunk says ...

if Disney is smart, they'll know not to fuck around with Marvel's business strategy and leave Marvel's creative side alone. Obviously, Disney did this for MONEY.

with Disney's money, they could help Marvel lure in huge A-list stars to act in Marvel's movie projects with a promise of a bigger paycheck.

Somehow, I really hope that Disney won't try to create a Marvel comic cartoon (or live action) show for Disney channel.

Then we are fucked.

comment #4

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

I wonder if this'll affect Universal's Islands of Adventure which has loads of Marvel-themed rides.

comment #5

Joe G says ...

I had a similar intial reaction - good for Disney, bad for Marvel. Mickey Mouse has not been allowed to exist as a character in decades. He's an icon, a logo - safe from and impervious to the demands of personality. He's sterile.

Look at something like the CIvil War series Marvel just did. Would that have made The Mouse nervous?

Also, hasn't Marvel already made its big deals with other studios? How long before Disney can get its hands on Spider Man, say?

comment #6

TL says ...

Am I the only one that thinks this deal is driven, in large part, on getting Marvel-themed attractions for Disney theme parks?

comment #7

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

"Wouldn't this give Disney the force to veto any edge-pushing content from future Marvel character and creations? What's the last genuinely cool and edgy film to come out of Disney culture?"

Not that they're particulary "edgy," but I'd argue that the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are a lot more interesting than the cookie-cutter Marvel output of the last decade.

comment #8

TL says ...

"Wouldn't this give Disney the force to veto any edge-pushing content from future Marvel character and creations? What's the last genuinely cool and edgy film to come out of Disney culture?"

In all fairness, despite some gnashing of teeth at the time, but I don't think that Disney corporate parentage or corporate values had much of an effect on what Miramax was doing in the 90s (with a few notable exceptions -- Priest, Dogma, Kids). Sure, Miramax devolved after it was purchased, but that was because of the Weinstein's desire to be moguls, not Disney interference.

comment #9

markj says ...

@Bosh: The Pirates of the Carribean movies are interesting only for trying to decide who delivers the worst line readings, Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightley

comment #10

Movie Watcher says ...

TL that was the first thing I thought of when I read this. Can you imagine Iron Man/Spider Man, side by side with Mickey mouse at disneyworld? And let's not stop there! Disney has food products in the supermarkets. Soon there will be Iron Man ice cream, Spider Man sausages, Hulk hot dogs! They are going to make a pile of money.

comment #11

DavidF says ...

I dunno about all the concern here.
I know they're not as edgy as Marvel but did The Muppets really go to hell when Disney purchased them?

I mean, all due respect Movie Watcher - but what are your real concerns? There isn't already cheesy comic book merchandise? Have you been to Toys R Us to hit the Spider-Man section? Played one of the sucky video games they churn out?

People talk about Marvel as if it's a few edgy, bohemian artists sitting around a table and not a mega-corporation in its own right - one worth about $4B, apparently. The fucked up Spider-Man 3 all on their own.

It's a bit like being worried that Dr. Pepper owns Snapple, if you ask me.

comment #12

COCO says ...

Pirates of Sunset Hills meets the Hulk...
must see....''Sound Good'' fellow Eloi.....
.......................''YES SIR'' says Joe Lunchbucket..
more watered down drivel from the mouse who
roared. We miss you Walt.

comment #13

Movie Watcher says ...

DavidF, the whole thing amuses me. The sheer amount of money to be made is staggering. A Marvel/Disney movie comes out, all the mrechandising hits the stores and of course the paretnts buy the stuff. I was commenting on how the ability to make money, for Disney and the Marvel people, is the number one concern and the ways to expand that is amazing. Maybe DIsney will not interfer too much when a Marvel movie is made. That's all I meant.

comment #14

DavidF says ...

Fair enough. I think the important question for everyone is: Is it good for the Eloi?

comment #15

Mark says ...

"Would Iron Man have been the same film if Disney had been pulling the strings?"

Not unless you consider The Rock edgier than Robert Downey Jr.

comment #16

corey3rd says ...

Far as the theme parks go, Disney will probably want to put Marvel related rides into EPCOT and California Adventure

comment #17

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

Am I the only one who's first question was "how does this effect the current deals with other studios in regards to the characters?" The Financial Times article does not address this elephant in the room: just what is Disney buying here?

I can't imagine that Fox, Sony, Paramount and Universal did not lock up most merchandising rights for the foreseeable future when it came to the X-Men, Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Hulk, etc. In fact, IRCC usually there is a revenue sharing agreement for new products offering the comic version of the character simply because the film version is assumed to help drive those sales.

As has been commented upon for years now, all the high profile, instant-hit characters have been snapped up; what Disney is getting is the 2nd and 3rd tier ones.

So, again: what did Disney buy?

comment #18

Redmond says ...

@DeathTongue: From ComingSoon:

"UPDATE #1: In a conference call, the companies said that the deals for movies for characters at other studios (Spider-Man, X-Men, etc.) will stay in place under the terms set by Marvel and the other studios.

UPDATE #2: John Lasseter met with Marvel last week about a possible team-up between Marvel and Pixar and got "pretty excited, pretty fast." They say there's definitely an opportunity there.

UPDATE #3: The deal with Paramount Pictures to distribute "Iron Man 2," "Thor," "Captain America" and "The Avengers" stays in place as well, but Disney would like to self-distribute down the line. "When the time comes we'll take a closer look at it." It was actually stated that the deal still included five films, so that is one more film after "The Avengers.""

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=58547

comment #19

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

@Redmond:

So, in other words, this is really great news for my grandchildren, who will be able to enjoy those new Disney Marvel movies.

Provided, of course, that John Lesseter's sons decide to work at Pixar...

comment #20

Agent of Nerd 1 says ...

I think this is a long term deal for Disney. I mean, how long until the characters are even available for the theme parks? And it sounds like 6 or 7 years at least until Disney can produce their own Avengers or Spidey films with Marvel. Maybe we get a Power Pack movie or Dum Dum Dugan television show out of this in the meantime.

comment #21

Rich S. says ...

Disney may be talking all nice-nice now, but before the ink is dry on the Marvel deal, you can bet your bottom dollar that it will have it's lawyers working on overdrive to figure out a way to reel those characters and deals back in. For evidence, just check out what happened with the Muppets after Jim Henson died.

Even if the current distribution deals stay in place, I imagine Disney will receive royalties of some sort.

The biggest reason they are doing this, of course, is to get their hands on the characters. While Universal probably has exclusive rights to use Marvel characters in theme parks in the Orlando area, you'll probably see them popping up at Disney's California Adventure in short order.

And according to the various stories I've read, Marvel has over 5000 characters. The movies have only scratched the surface of those. Unless they're tied up in the various licensing deals, there are lots of characters waiting to be exploited, even relatively heavy hitters like Sub-Mariner.

It will be fascinating, though, to see how the Islands of Adventure thing plays out. In the last month, Disney has entered into deals with both Spielberg and Marvel. Maybe a play for Universal's theme parks, or even the company itself, is in the future.

comment #22

kamichojin says ...

Pixar presents Brother Voodoo? Can't wait!

comment #23

rayciscon says ...

I've gotta echo Moviewatcher's comments -- this is ALL ABOUT THE MERCHANDISING!

Every account of this lists "Marvel's 5000 characters". That's 5000 characters you can create T-shirts, action figures, mugs, computer games, etc.

Marvel has been pretty hapless at merchandising beyond the ghetto of fan-boy Comic Book Shops. Disney will be busting this stuff out of the zillions of mall-based Disney Stores at a HUGE profit margin.

As a fan of a lot of the classic Stan Lee/Jack Kirby/Steve Ditko created characters, I hope that Disney will keep a "hands off" approach to Marvel, much as they did for Pixar.

My fondest hope is that we'll get John Lassetter and Brad Bird from Pixar involved in some Marvel characters because let's be honest, The Incredibles REALLY wanted to be the Fantastic Four. It's a shame that both Fantastic Four movies together are about 1/5 as good as The Incredibles.

comment #24

mpneeb says ...

One idea that needs to be shot in the head: Pixar doing Marvel.

Uh, yeah. Pixar is gong to get right on those Marvel movies.

Just like they immediately started working on those Mickey Mouse shorts a couple of years ago when Disney bought Pixar.

comment #25

Stringer Bell says ...

Al ofl this while Disney & ABC are currently laying off tons of workers.

Unbelievable.

comment #26

storymark says ...

Let's remember when speaking of those 50000 characters that can be sold on t-shirts and mugs that of the 50000, about 49750 are characters no one who doesn't live in a basement has heard of, and of those, about 45000 of them are utterly retarded in concept.

comment #27

matt cousens says ...

Chud, as well as other fanboy sites, claim that Pixar heads are very excited about working with Marvel...

comment #28

Rich S. says ...

"49750 are characters no one who doesn't live in a basement has heard of"

Yes, but that was under the Marvel marketing banner. They haven't been through the Disney machine yet.

Remember, most folks hadn't heard of Iron Man until a couple years ago. Now the sequel is poised for the biggest opening weekend ever.

comment #29

Gordon27 says ...

"I know they're not as edgy as Marvel but did The Muppets really go to hell when Disney purchased them?"

Are you suggesting that the answer to your question is not an obvious yes? The only way it isn't is if you say that the Muppets had already gone to hell before Disney bought them (from somebody else who had bought them), to which I'd say, okay, fair enough, but Disney didn't improve them at all. They just wanted the characters.

comment #30

Gordon27 says ...

"Let's remember when speaking of those 50000 characters that can be sold on t-shirts and mugs that of the 50000, about 49750 are characters no one who doesn't live in a basement has heard of, and of those, about 45000 of them are utterly retarded in concept."

One thing I love about the Internet -- people who blanketly insult those who know about some given thing, but simultaneously try to present themselves as if they know about the given thing, and see no contradiction in their own statement.

comment #31

Rich S. says ...

Gordon27, don't forget that Disney actually bought the Muppets twice. The first time, Disney made the deal with Jim Henson, who died soon thereafter. They started to produce theme park rides, merchandising and movies, including Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island.

If I recall correctly, Disney had a falling out with the Henson family, especially over Disney's attempts to grab the rights to the Sesame Street Muppets. Ultimately, Disney sold the rights to the Muppets to a German company, which horribly mismanaged them. Disney then repurchased the rights from the German company for a fraction of what they had paid originally.

I don't think Disney has done much with the Muppets since, although you hear rumors from time to time. I think the Muppets actually did go to hell while the German company owned their rights, although their popularity was definitely on a downward slide when Disney was involved the first time.

comment #32

storymark says ...

"One thing I love about the Internet -- people who blanketly insult those who know about some given thing, but simultaneously try to present themselves as if they know about the given thing, and see no contradiction in their own statement."

Gee, didn't occur to you that by professing my knowledge of such things that I might be including myself in that group? That maybe it's not a contrdiction? Nah.

Good job at exemplifying the very type of person you were complaining about though. Well done.

comment #33

MovieBob says ...

mpneeb

"Uh, yeah. Pixar is gong to get right on those Marvel movies.

Just like they immediately started working on those Mickey Mouse shorts a couple of years ago when Disney bought Pixar."

The difference is, Pixar is staffed damn-near top to bottom by hardcore geeks who "came up" in Marvel's heyday.

You can take it to the bank that John Lassetter has already had to tell his people to "cool it" with the hundreds upon hundreds of Marvel pitches already. The words "Does anyone have the rights on 'Moon Knight" or "What about Devil Dinosaur?" have almost-certainly already been spoken, perhaps two or three times.

comment #34

Carl LaFong says ...

Your eyes are full of hate, forty-one. That's good. Hate keeps a man alive. It gives him strength...

Now it's clobberin' time!

comment #35

ErrantElan says ...

During my lifetime, Disney has been responsible for "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Lion King", and many of the Pixar films, in which they haven't interfered at all with quality level.

Marvel, on the other hand, has been responsible for providing entertainment to the dorky kids who thought they were ten times smarter than they actually are. They weren't nerds, who tend to actually be intelligent - they're just bourgeois geeks of detestable taste.

And yes, I am one of the people who'd never even HEARD of "Iron Man" until I saw the film trailer. It was alright as comic book movies go, but Christ, people.

comment #36

Bob Violence says ...

The only angle of any interest is whether or not this will serve to bland down the Marvel brand

"Will Coca-Cola's purchase of water bottler result in blander mineral water?"

comment #37

moviesquad says ...

Besides the high price point, this makes a ton of sense for Disney. Disney has a lock on the little kid market (under 8 years old), and does very well with the pre-teen up to young teenage girl market with Hannah Montana, High School Musical, etc.

The gaping hole that was developing in the Disney strategy was with over 8 year old boys. Movies like Pirates of the Caribbean are an attempt to fill that gap, but it wasn't enough. By buying Marvel, Disney now has filled the gap and can introduce "edgier", older kid and teenage rides and films into its brands.

My thinking is they will establish a whole new theme park with a separate ticket for these characters to live in that will have more teen oriented rides (a la Island of Adventure but much bigger).

comment #38

Gordon27 says ...

"Gee, didn't occur to you that by professing my knowledge of such things that I might be including myself in that group?"

No, it hadn't occurred to me that somebody would be calling himself a loser, especially given that your point was that nobody should care about the losers's opinions on stuff. If you don't understand why that still is contradictory, well, I guess nobody said you were a smart person.

comment #39

Gordon27 says ...

"Gordon27, don't forget that Disney actually bought the Muppets twice. The first time, Disney made the deal with Jim Henson, who died soon thereafter. They started to produce theme park rides, merchandising and movies, including Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island."

To be honest, I had forgotten that; I was thinking of it as the Germans selling it to Disney, and the Germans had mainly killed it, but Disney let it fester...

That said, it's a sad sign of the state of the property that you seem to be saying that 'Christmas Carol' and 'Treasure Island' aren't the beginning of what I will, for lack of a better phrase, call the Muppet Dark Ages.

comment #40

lipranzer says ...

ErrantElan, you may be right in saying the Pixar films were produced without creative interference, but when all or most of the conventionally animated films after LITTLE MERMAID and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST had "wacky" sidekicks and "plucky" heroines in the story, you don't think that represents a mandate from Team Rodent?

FTR, I have no illusions about what Marvel represents today (if this were 30 or 40 years ago, maybe), I just don't like the fact of Team Rodent owning yet another property.

And aside from The Muppets, which they haven't done much with, they also owned Rocky & Bullwinkle, and put them out on cassette in truncated format.

Also FTR, I can't take credit for Team Rodent - that's the title of Carl Hiaasen's book about Disney.

comment #41

Gordon27 says ...

"you don't think that represents a mandate from Team Rodent?"

I was thinking the same thing pretty much every time 'Up' cut to that fat kid.

comment #42

ErrantElan says ...

The fat kid in "Up" may be a Team Rodent interference, but that fat kid is also what most fans of Marvel look like, only 39 years older.

comment #43

Terry McCarty says ...

Think of what Marvel could have done with G-FORCE.

comment #44

Bob Violence says ...

Just to clarify the Disney/Muppet thing: Disney has bought the Muppets once, in 2004. Eisner tried to get them in '89 and Henson was perfectly willing to sell -- they cooperated on a few ventures (the MuppetVision ride at Disney-MGM, "Dinosaurs", a "Muppets at Walt Disney World" TV special) and were planning a bunch of others, but then Henson died and Disney became less enthusiastic. They tried some strong-arm tactics to make the deal more attractive from their point of view, and the Henson family ended the negotiations. They kissed and made up (after a lawsuit) and Disney bankrolled and distributed the '90s Muppet films, but the Henson Company stayed independent until they sold out to the Germans (EM.TV) in 2000. Jim Hill did a long series about the history of the aborted '89 deal (part eight explains why it fell through, part nine is what happened next).

comment #45

Bob Violence says ...

Oh, and Disney never owned Rocky and Bullwinkle, they just had the video distribution rights. MCA/Universal outbid them for the theme park/merchandising rights and Disney decided to let the distribution deal lapse. Part nine of the Jim Hill series explains how that went down.

comment #46

Rich S. says ...

Thanks for the clarification Bob. I had is about half right.

And as to the "Muppet Dark Ages," quality issues aside (although I'd argue Muppet Christmas Carol is quite good), my point was that when they had their original dalliance with the Muppets, Disney did try to lavish them with the Disney marketing treatment. You'll see the same with the Marvel characters.

comment #47

DCIJB says ...

You guys and girls should try a Disney Comic made by Carl Barks or Don Rosa. They are all better and more mature than any Marvel Comic.

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comment #49

free games says ...

People talk about Marvel as if it's a few edgy, bohemian artists sitting around a table and not a mega-corporation in its own right - one worth about $4B, apparently. The fucked up Spider-Man 3 all on their own.

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