http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090831/ap_on_bi_ge/us_disney_marvel_entertainment

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LOS ANGELES – The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing such characters as 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 the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee.

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 Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share 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.

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 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.

Disney CEO Robert Iger said the latest 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.

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.

lol, ultimates 4 starring mickey mouse.

it's probably going to be the same deal disney has with pixar. (hopefully)
IE: disney owns pixar, but pixar does their own stuff.

Uhg. Sickening. :(

damn!
i should've bought marvel stock when they were going bankrupt!

damn damn damn! =(

I'm just going to sit back and wait for the "sky is falling" posts to roll in.

so long as they treat marvel properties as they did with the muppets, it's okay.

Actually, I'm a little surprised that it took Marvel this long to be bought out by some oversized corporate oligarch. DC's been under a similar umbrella since 1969.

The only thing I find questionable is how much of the market this is putting in one company, but beyond that it will probably be profitable for both companies since Marvel probably will just create the scripting and story boards then hand it off to Disney/Pixar for the animation and filming parts. It makes business sense.

Seems like a perfect marriage to me. Not that either really matter to me anyway.

...I do wonder when the big comic book movie fad will end though. No fad lasts forever. And when it does end, will they divorce?

Frankly I dont get why som many of you are so upset about this.

Disney will influx Marvel with much needed cash and will boost notoriety.
This new influx of creative energy will be a great injection of new life for the beloved Marvel.

Besides, I am thrilled at having a Hannah Montana heroine.

Maybe she could shoot glitter out of her finger nails.

It does sound like it could be a successful symbiotic relationship.

manicmerganser
Besides, I am thrilled at having a Hannah Montana heroine.

Maybe she could shoot glitter out of her finger nails.

That would be frightening.

manicmerganser
Frankly I dont get why som many of you are so upset about this.

By "so many" you do realise there's only a single post that fits this description? lol!

So far I count one post that's vaguely negative, the rest are either neutral or positive and two that are in anticipation of negative posts. That's quite a funny result. :)

The real question is. What will happen to Universal Studios Islands of adventure Marvel themed rides? Will they all be moving to Disneyworld?

4 billion dollars?!?!

That is a LOT of cash!

I assume that this deal includes Marvel movie studios.

From a business standpoint, this deal is amazing.

Creatively speaking, who knows? It could be interesting.

ozoneocean

manicmerganser
Frankly I dont get why som many of you are so upset about this.

By "so many" you do realise there's only a single post that fits this description? lol!

So far I count one post that's vaguely negative, the rest are either neutral or positive and two that are in anticipation of negative posts. That's quite a funny result. :)

I'll admit, I'm shocked at the lack of negative response. It seems like there's always a bucket full of pig slop ready to be thrown at Disney whenever they do anything. Why not from you, Ozone? Do you also hate Marvel more than turds? And therefore it's a marriage of turds with turds?

I'm actually fine with the acquisition. I don't expect Disney to meddle too much with the properties, just find ways to make them more profitable (like, through cross-promotion or Happy Meal toys). The relationship could even be mutually beneficial in that Marvel can utilize Disney's established movie/animation studios and Disney can make use of Marvel's comic-publishing facilities.

When I first heard of the news, I was more appalled than anything. The thought of Captain American turning into something like Goofy, just made me cringe.

But I realize, I doubt Disney would destroy something like that. In fact, I'm sure Disney will bring something awesome to Marvel. Who knows, maybe we'll get some awesome stuff coming from Marvel from now on.

I'm just hoping it all works out.

And I'm going to be patiently waiting for my Toy Story comic.

Does this mean that Spiderman and Hulk are going to be prancing around in Disney World? They could team up and beat up Mickey and his friends.

subcultured
damn!
i should've bought marvel stock when they were going bankrupt!

damn damn damn! =(

I second you on that damn, sub. (sigh)

Disney and Muppets I can sorta understand, but this combo? (shudder) The Mouse House really IS trying to take over the world... It's definitely a good move for both sides, but it just seems like a strange combo, for some reason. I just can't see X-Men and Iron Man dancing around with Mickey and Minnie. Although this would provide a whole new opportunity for a "Superhero Land" at Disney World, and could involve more adult-like rides like roller coasters and such.

zaymac
The real question is. What will happen to Universal Studios Islands of adventure Marvel themed rides? Will they all be moving to Disneyworld?

Good question...

Just picture that now Kingdom Hearts could also use Marvel AND Squire-Enix characters.

Wolverine vs Sephirot vs Mickey in a Mexican Stand-off?

They could do now a Capcom vs Enix vs Disney vs Marvel?

How cool could be that?

Hawk
Why not from you, Ozone? Do you also hate Marvel more than turds? And therefore it's a marriage of turds with turds?

Ewwww! lol!

No, it doesn't matter that much to me really. I don't care about Marvel one way or another, Disney only annoys me sometimes. This just sounds like it means more comic book movies to me... and that doesn't bother me either.

I do wonder how long that will last though.
---------------
Heh, it's like someone saying Paris Hilton is getting married to Hugh Hefner- She's annoying when we're bombarded with news about her and Hef is an old fuddyduddy that I don't really care about. A marriage between them would generate more useless press but it wouldn't offend or please me.:)

Personally I'm looking forward to a Donald Duck/Deadpool Crossover...

Wht's next? Microsoft buying Yahoo?!

I'd like to see that!

as long as they keep the two separated, I think I'll be fine with it. If there's no evidence that Disney owns Marvel, then I'll be happy. Like how McDonalds owns Boston Market.

i hope this means no more fox x-men movies. wolverine was terrible.

this is a great move, POTENTIALLY. Imagine a spinner rack of nothing but marvel comics in the gift stores of dinseyland/world. compared to 15 dollar plushies and 30 dollar hats, whats mommy gonna buy her son, that or a 3.99 comic?
Marvel also has a leg up on DC with this, since DC doesnt do the same with Time Warner and Six Flags. this is a great buy, and im excited by the possibilities.

You know, it isn't unprecedented for the characters of both studios to mingle. Does anyone remember that Justice League/Looney Tunes crossover?

That was a weird one. It wasn't that good though.

Archie Meets The Punisher on the other hand...

manicmerganser
Besides, I am thrilled at having a Hannah Montana heroine.

Maybe she could shoot glitter out of her finger nails.

or kill people with her deafening voice.

This could be both a good and bad thing.

5000 characters? really?

I know there's a lot of X-men, but jeez.

Warren Ellis: so I got this phone call from Joe Quesada and it was just the sound of him rubbing himself with money and now I am confused


lol.
Disney probably just saw into the huge money making potential the movies have, rather than the actual nerd-bait comics. I doubt that part will be changed, but who knows what'll happen to the movies.