Disney buys Marvel for $4-billion

[big_red_s]

Holly cow...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/disney-buys-marvel-for-4-billion/article1270467/

 

[Disn3y]

What's this mean for IOA? Do/Would they have to re-theme all their rides?

 

[YoMickey]

What does this mean for Universal Studios Islands of Adventure??

 

[jnwings]

I was thinking the same thing. Is Disney trying to run Universal under?

 

[Metro West]

What does this mean for Universal Studios Islands of Adventure??

I imagine Universal has wording in their contract/licensing arrangement with Marvel to deal with a situation like this. I don't think the characters are going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[MickeyDisneyFan]

It wouldnt have any changes yet, Disney would have to honor the contracts that Marvel had in place. However once those contracts come due they would either have to pay Disney/Marvel more to license their characters or not allow them to use their property at all.

If Disney doesnt allow them to use their Marvel characters then Universal could be in trouble having to rebrand all of their rides, parades etc with new characters.

The only ones they own that I can think of are the Simpsons and the new Harry Potter characters. Everything else there was Hulk, Spiderman, Dr Doom etc.

 

[johnGorski]

Hope not, because universal has its own great brand allthough no one in the world can touch Disney, this Marvel pruchase now keeps no one in the universe can touch Disney. But I am keeping an eye out for DC comics/WB to sell the rights to universal, also there is still a line up from Paramount as they sold there parks. Universal will be fine and stay as the best 2nd theme park in the world. Disney will build a 5th gate to fit this new Brand.

 

[PoohBear]

I saw an interview with Iger this morning. They asked him what this meant for the theme parks. He said they would incorporate some characters into their theme parks. However, he said not all of the parks because there are some existing contacts in place that they will of course have to honor. I was thinking maybe Universal's contract with Marvel probably has language that restricts Marvel from cutting deals with Universal's competitors near their theme parks.

http://money.aol.com/videos/video/main/disney-ceo-on-marvel-entertainment-acquisition/3752079452

 

[My2Angels]

This makes me a little sad. I like Disney for Disney characters. I don't want the parks, especially MK, to be changed to incorporate SpiderMan!!! It would definitely not be the same. Does anyone else feel this way??

 

[jnwings]

Spider man is probably just going to team up with the power rangers near DHS backlot.

 

[suorkaterina]

I don;t see them incorporating Marvel characters into MK. It's not really the place for it. Maybe Disney Studios...I'd be okay with that.

 

[jcoldham]

I can see a fifth gate some time down the road with this.

 

[dlyn88]

I think this is wonderful. There is a serious lack of boy-centered events and this could be a huge step in the right direction to incorporate some of the Marvel characters, which appeal to a lot of boys, within the park. I can't see the overall feel of the parks changing that much. As a PP said, they will probably merge them in like the Power Rangers have been.

 

[Greg K.]

Julie Taymor is deep into pre-production of a Spider Man musical that was set to debut next season -- with a rumored $40m price tag. Producers were having trouble scraping together money. I wonder if Disney will get into this, too?

 

[twinklebug]

I can see a fifth gate some time down the road with this.

Not happening. They have far too much to work on within the existing parks development wise & a 5th gate would not draw in more visitors.

I agree with others that say DHS is the most likely suspect for location.

 

[AlienBrain]

I think this is wonderful. There is a serious lack of boy-centered events and this could be a huge step in the right direction to incorporate some of the Marvel characters, which appeal to a lot of boys, within the park. I can't see the overall feel of the parks changing that much. As a PP said, they will probably merge them in like the Power Rangers have been.

I couldn't agree more. This can be huge if Disney plays it right. Don't use Marvel in Epcot, MK, or AK. You can incorporate them into DHS. Disney can also screw this up, big time. If Disney puts any Marvel stuff in MK, it would be catastrophic.

 

[RNtheRN]

The article I read says that Disney will honor the contracts that are in place. As far as the Universal Parks, I think Disney will either take some stake in the the operation decisions or collect some sort of royalty or licensing fees. Either way, I don't think it would bother me. I've never thought that Universal parks even come close to staking up to the Disney parks.

It did mention that it would give Disney a bigger share with male demos. Seems to make sense. Disney is favoring the girls with Hanah Montana and the Princesses. The article also mentioned that Disney gets control of about 5,000 characters and would most likely translate into some of those characters in the Disney parks.

I also agree, though as much as I wouldn't mind another destination, that another park is if not out of the question, many years away.

 

[Minniemama350]

when I went to Six Flags Over Georgia and they were playing Hannah Montana's soundtrack as well as Jonas Brothers music. I would have thought little more of it, except then on one of their promo ads at a restaurant in the park, they were showing all of their "great rides" and showed MK's teacups in the middle of it. Six Flags has never had teacups. They used to have Momo the monster instead. The thought ran through my head that Disney purchased the bankrupt Six Flags. I forgot about it until today. The marvel characters are Six Flags, along with Warner Bros. cartoon characters. Does anybody think this is possible? Six Flags is so NOT Disney, that I could see why they wouldn't want to say so.

Just a thought!

 

[TDSAXX]

Actually Six Flags has DC comic characters ie. Superman & Batman. Disney is buying Marvel ie. Spiderman, Hulk, Ironman.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Article in the online edition of the Orlando Sentinel says that Universal has the exclusive theme park rights to Marvel characters east of the Mississippi River as long as they meet the terms of the contract. If true, Disney cannot use Marvel characters anywhere in Walt Disney World nor can they stop Universal from continuing to use them. It's not clear to me whether this means ALL Marvel characters or just the 4 main characters they currently use.

I'm sure we'll see a lot more about this in the press because $4B is an incredible amount of money for Disney to spend on something new when there is so much that needs to be done with what they already have.

BobK/Orlando