Click to Enlarge

 

What?!

 

 

Yesterday, at a Los Angeles press conference, Disney reps announced that they are set on purchasing Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion dollars in cash and stock. With this deal, Disney will gain rights to 5,000 of the Marvel characters. I didn’t even know Marvel had that many characters. The deal has already been approved by Disney and Marvel; the final result will depend on Marvel’s stockholders. The goal in this collaboration is pretty obvious: Disney’s trying desperatley to attract tourists, while Marvel has overall failed in obtaining a legitimate theme park. And let’s face it - there’s few things hotter than a good superhero flick in today’s industry.

Now…how will this affect the two franchises? I simply cannot picture men in tights running around Magic Kingdom. Thankfully, no such plans have been confirmed. However, meetings between the brains of Pixar and Marvel have already taken place. With luck, maybe Disney animation studios will help perfect the storylines that movies such as Fantastic Four, DareDevil, and Ghost Rider (to name a few) have utterly mutilated. On the other hand, the better movies will most likely be affected as well. Taking into consideration Disney’s past conflict with more alternative and independent filmmakers, hits like Ironman will probably thrive on a bigger budget, but might be more main-stream.

Click to Enlarge

Speaking of Marvel…

         Check out  the new Fantastic 4: Rise to The Occassion clip and info on the Green Lantern movie.