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What does the Disney-Marvel purchase mean for you?
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Fascinating news today: Walt Disney Co. has agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. But I'm sort of wondering whether Spider Man and Mickey Mouse can get along.
My hunch? Disney is buying Marvel for the vast potential the comic book company opens up for producing movies in the future. While the next round of Marvel films will be produced alongside rivals such as Fox and Paramount, over the long haul, Disney wil get good revenue streams from being able to market and produce future projects. I'm not even sure the comic books are all that important to Disney, except that they provide continuing adventures and stories of characters that might be used in movies down the road as well as a stready stream of money from licensing.
Except! Have you read comic books lately? They're grittier, more violent and more adult (and yes, of course, Marvel has lines of comics aimed at kids). But you have to wonder if Disney - which makes its bread and butter positioning itself as a company that sells family-friendly entertainment - won' t have something to say about the blood n' guts of superhero fights or the skimpy clothing worn by some female characters.
Maybe not, of course. DC Comics has been owned by Time Warner for decades and seems to do lots in the way of providing content for movies (Watchmen, The Dark Knight) and TV shows (Smallville, Teen Titans Go!) alike. DC's comics have gotten more bloody as well, and you don't hear much from critics.
The purchase of Marvel is one to watch: Disney will likely watch the publisher very closely. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's creations are pretty powerful folks, but there's definitely a new sherriff in town.
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