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Disney buys Marvel for $4bn

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/aug/31/disney-marvel-buy-out

The Walt Disney empire is to buy the superheroes stable Marvel Entertainment for $4bn (£2.5bn) in a star-studded Hollywood deal that unites family names such as Mickey Mouse with lucrative characters including Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk and the X-Men.

Disney hopes to put Marvel's 5,000 characters to work on its television channels and in video games, theme parks and movies. The agreed takeover is for a mixture of cash and stock, with Disney shares accounting for roughly 40% of the buyout price.

The tie-up unites two companies with similar business models – they both take characters which capture the popular imagination and promote them vigorously around the world on every possible media platform and through third-party licensing deals.

While Disney has traditionally been known for its wholesome family creations ranging from the Little Mermaid to Lion King, Hannah Montana and Pocahontas, the purchase of Marvel adds an edgier, more violent element – it recently scored a box office success with Iron Man, a movie starring Robert Downey Jr as a billionaire inventor who creates a hi-tech suit of armour to battle evil.

Marvel's characters, who include superhero Captain America, tend to chime particularly well with teenage boys and young men, while Disney has been stronger in appealing to a female audience.

Disney's chief executive, Bob Iger, said Marvel had a "treasure trove" of intellectual property that "transcends gender, age, culture and geographical barriers".

"There are so many opportunities to mine both characters that are known and characters that are not widely known," Iger said.

The tie-up is one of the largest US corporate transactions of the summer and marks a remarkable turnaround for Marvel, originally a comic book company, which filed for bankruptcy in 1996 under heavy debts as it faced a slump in comic book sales.

The two companies hope to complete the deal by the end of the year. Marvel's chief executive, Ike Perlmutter, will be the largest personal winner, scooping $1.4bn in cash and Disney shares in return for his 37% stake in the business.

Perlmutter has been involved in running Marvel since helping to buy the business out of bankruptcy in 1998.

Marvel's chairman, Mort Handel, described Disney as a "perfect home" for his company's library of characters. "Both companies have their roots in great storytelling and innovative artistry," he said.

Marvel had sales of $676m last year but employed just 300 people. Disney, in contrast, had a turnover of $37.8bn and a payroll of 150,000 staff at businesses varying from its Hollywood film studios to ABC television, theme parks on three continents and a high-street chain of Disney merchandise stores.

"This helps give Disney more important exposure to the young male demographic that they have sort of lost some ground with in recent years," said David Joyce, a media analyst at stockbroker Miller Tabak.

He added: "When you look at the kind of TV shows on their cable networks, and the Disney consumer products line for the princess and fairies – the Hannah Montana kind of stuff – it shows that they have a lot of strength addressing the young female demographic."

In a research note, Citigroup analyst Jason Bazinet said: "Disney will also be able to monetise Marvel's brands across its entire ecosystem from TV to parks, movies, consumer products and video games."

Marvel's shares shot up by 26% to $48.78 during early trading on Wall Street. The buyout values Marvel at $50 per share.


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Bruce Campbell: '' This place has more security then the Batcave ''

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deadpool wil be redesigned to rival ronald mcdonald,

basicly he will look like a clown and be called happy pool, who runs around their theme park handing out flowers and hugs and kisses


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Bruce Campbell: '' This place has more security then the Batcave ''

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Deadpool will be redesigned to rival Ronald McDonald,

basically he will look like a clown and be called happy pool, who runs around their theme park handing out flowers and hugs and kisses

:noway:

THE TRANSFORMATION IS HAPPENING B4 MY VERY EYES!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0LhEeWdzFN8/SlyCJ1kLCNI/AAAAAAAABS8/nkckxt4sHR8/s1600-h/70sDeadpool12.jpg


Those who fight deplorables should see to it that they themselves do not become deplorables.

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what does this mean for chars like punisher, Deadpool and wolverine
They end up being voiced by the Jonas Brothers & have to wear purity rings...

Those who fight deplorables should see to it that they themselves do not become deplorables.

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Disney Land will be so awesome now! Big costume headed Wolverines walking around with Chip and Dales and Goofy... awesome...

wtf.

The only interesting possibility of Disney owning marvel is that marvel could get cg movies made by pixar... but is Pixar even capable of producing an action packed *gasp*PG-13 rated movie?

no mention of stan lee...

Stan Lee already had that one huge first rights deal with Disney. If anything, Disney might end up re-uniting Stan Lee with alot of his original properties.


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no mention of stan lee...

I found an article with Stan Lee's comments on the Disney/Marvel deal:

STAN "the Man" LEE Calls Marvel/Disney Deal "Perfect"

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090901-stan-lee-marvel-disney.html

“Think of the fun I'll have since I'm positioned right smack in the middle of them – and maybe some extra cameos, too!"

gallery_1_23_1357354444_270.jpg

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i think marvel has moved past stan lees original vision and become far more violent and maybe disney will bring it back to the original vision he had


sigpic1620_11.gif

Bruce Campbell: '' This place has more security then the Batcave ''

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Finally ItsJustSomeRandomGuy's short!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyYb_r4cZHE&feature=sub]YouTube - Marvel/DC: Disney Buys Marvel (Parody)[/ame]


Those who fight deplorables should see to it that they themselves do not become deplorables.

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Both Wolverine and the X-men and Spectacular spiderman have been cancelled

............

they were both really good shows

but Disney is making Ultimate Spiderman series (another reboot)


sigpic1620_11.gif

Bruce Campbell: '' This place has more security then the Batcave ''

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Both Wolverine and the X-men and Spectacular spider-man have been canceled

............

they were both really good shows

but Disney is making Ultimate Spider-man series (another reboot)

:petrified: I was looking forward to Deadpool in Wolverine & The X-Men...

Those who fight deplorables should see to it that they themselves do not become deplorables.

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xmen set in age of apocalypse would have been insain...

and spiderman was a series that didnt have him pining over mary jane every episode, but more about his strugle of being spiderman,

was awesome

probably will make the new show Spiderman Pixar....


sigpic1620_11.gif

Bruce Campbell: '' This place has more security then the Batcave ''

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They'll probably want to do a spiderman cartoon like how they did the old "Lois and Clark" superman series. It'll focus completely on relationships and character buildups with a slight super hero action on the side. LAME.
So an animated series of "Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man_Loves_Mary_Jane

Too bad RC can't pardody that like they did Lois & Clark...

http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/lewis-and-clark.html


Those who fight deplorables should see to it that they themselves do not become deplorables.

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So an animated series of "Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man_Loves_Mary_Jane

Too bad RC can't pardody that like they did Lois & Clark...

http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/lewis-and-clark.html

Wow, that looks like a horrible comic... but I think this picture will probably showcase just what the new spider-man movies and future cartoons will be like:

post-1-135551584694_thumb.jpg

And where is spider-man in this teen drama? Over in the corner hurrying away from the plotline. :nonono:


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