Yeah, you read the title right. In a move completely out of nowhere for most of us, Disney has made a move to buy up Marvel shares at a deal valued $4 billion. I know, right? Wow. That’s huge. People who had shares in Marvel will be making $30 per share. Kinda makes me wish that I had bought those shares a while ago like I planned! Disney is going to get the rights to almost 5,000 characters in the Marvel U to do with as they please. The deal of course isn’t done as it still needs the backing of the Marvel shareholders, but still. It’s a pretty amazing development to come out of the blue.
The deal works out well for Marvel because now they have the expansive Disney network to use as a resource. Marvel is doing well, but times are still tough in the industry so they could definitely use the business. Disney works out well in this because Marvel has a literal cult following and is one of the two biggest publishers in comic books right now. Sales of print comics are slowly picking up as books get more press and movies get made, especially with characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men, and Captain America. Disney has actually reported a decrease in revenue and lack of attendance at their parks lately, so the extra money Marvel will bring in will certainly help.
What do you think about the deal? What do you suppose this would do for Marvel? Does this mean no more dark characters and at the end of Dark Reign everyone will just hold hands and sing a song? No. In essence, nothing will change in the comic world, so there isn’t a lot to worry about. But even so, are you comfortable with the idea of your favorite dark characters (i.e. the Punisher) going over to a company most known for family friendly entertainment?
EDIT: A lot of people are acting very odd over the purchase, stating that they feel it is a bad move for fans of Marvel. Those people shouldn’t be worried, as even Editor In Chief Joe Quesada confirmed on Twitter nothing will change. For all the details on what is actually changing, click here and read. Marvel will pretty much remain unchanged. The Avenger-themed movies are all owned by Paramount, the X-Men and Spiderman movies are owned by Fox. Mickey is not actually going to replace Wolverine. If anything, this is a really great move for Marvel and will help assure they never go bankrupt again. Be happy, people. It’s a Brand New Day.
Hilarious picture courtesy of the Wolverine Daily
