Disney Buys Marvel For $4B

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Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 31, 2009 @02:27AM from the wolverine-with-mouse-ears dept.

whisper_jeff writes "Disney has announced they will be purchasing Marvel. 'Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.'"

24 of 423 comments (clear)

Bye bye marvel... by CRiMSON · 2009-08-31 02:29 · Score: 5, Insightful

It was a nice run while you had it, Enjoy doing princess disney stories forever more now.

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oogly boogly!
1. Re:Bye bye marvel... by eln · 2009-08-31 02:53 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Just wait until Spider Man 4, in which Peter Parker is involved in a love triangle with Hannah Montana and Nick Jonas. Will Nick and Peter be able to work out their differences through song and dance numbers before the big prom? Or will their constant bickering cause Hannah Montana to fall into the arms of the local bad boy, Wolverine? And if she does, will she learn the error of her ways before he tries to kiss her before they're even married at Tony Stark's big alcohol-free party? And will Zac Efron be able to save her and teach her that the only way to true happiness is dating nice boys, abstinence, and wearing knee-length or longer skirts?
  
  The possibilities are endless!
2. Re:Bye bye marvel... by j00r0m4nc3r · 2009-08-31 02:54 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  With great autonomy comes great responsibility
3. Re:Bye bye marvel... by evilkasper · 2009-08-31 03:04 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  That wouldn't be much of a change from Spider Man 3.
4. Re:Bye bye marvel... by ObsessiveMathsFreak · 2009-08-31 03:36 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I worked for Disney for 5 years and they're not likely to change a winning formula.
  The beauty of Disney's model is that they sell to six years olds; six year olds with literally no memory and no experience of having seen their product before despite its being over 50 years old. It's as if Disney, as a company, is selling into a market with mass collective amnesia. They never need to innovate.
  
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  May the Maths Be with you!
5. Re:Bye bye marvel... by Narpak · 2009-08-31 03:42 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Which is why Disney-Marvel crossovers, like Phantom Duck teaming up with Wolverine to stop Magneto from stealing Scrooge's money, is going to be such a breath of fresh air.
  
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  The Long Now Foundation
6. Re:Bye bye marvel... by gfreeman · 2009-08-31 03:50 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Disney was around at that time. They've been slaughtering Grimm's Tales since 1923. (Trust me, Grimms Fairy Tales are much better in their original form...)
  Klingon?
  
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  Ceci n'est pas un sig.
7. Re:Bye bye marvel... by mqduck · 2009-08-31 04:30 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Trust me, Grimms Fairy Tales are much better in their original form
  I don't generally care for Disneyfication of classic stories, but in the case of the Grimm's fairy tales, it's difficult to say that the stories are better or worse left in their original hardcore form.
  The original stories weren't so much supposed to be entertainment as moral and cautionary tales. Back in the day, the message to kids of Little Red Riding Hood was very relevant: don't wander around in the woods by yourself or you'll get eaten by a fucking wolf.
  
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  Property is theft.
great! by Anonymous Coward · 2009-08-31 02:30 · Score: 5, Funny

Does this mean that we can expect to see unending series of cash-in sequels, like Spiderman 3, Fantastic Four 3, Iron Man 2, X-Men 4, etc?!? Oh wait...
A good fit by KingSkippus · 2009-08-31 02:32 · Score: 5, Insightful

Marvel... The company that sued NCsoft for making a game in which superheroes could be constructed because some of them could be made to look like Marvel characters? And then it turned out that the most egregious violators were actually Marvel employees?
Sounds like a good fit to me, I'm sure the companies will be really happy with each other.
Hulk vs Donald Duck by elh_inny · 2009-08-31 02:32 · Score: 5, Funny

Finally...
Those clashes between Marvel characters and DC Comics ones got boring so now it's time for:
Daisy vs Wolverine
Pinocchio vs Spiderman
Cinderella vs Juggernaut
If they film any of those I am soo going to see this..
Now the Biggest Question? by dorkbot · 2009-08-31 02:34 · Score: 5, Interesting

Universal uses Marvel trademarks in one of their Theme Park (Universal's Island of Adventure) in Central Florida. Will Universal continue to pay for these Likeness rights when they are to a rival company?
Batman and Porky Pig by tepples · 2009-08-31 02:40 · Score: 5, Insightful

Thank god Batman is DC comics.
DC Comics is part of Time Warner. So is Porky Pig.
1. Re:Batman and Porky Pig by Anonymous Coward · 2009-08-31 02:58 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Gargoyles was produced by Buena Vista Television. A division of Disney.
2. Re:Batman and Porky Pig by GyroLC · 2009-08-31 04:07 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  That's The Brave and the B-B-B... The Brave and the B-B-B... The Brave and the B-B-B-Enterprising
Re:great! by CodeBuster · 2009-08-31 02:49 · Score: 5, Insightful

Yes, except now Disney-fied and sanitized (look no blood!) to assure parents that little johnny won't be lead astray by those no-good comic books. If you thought that the Comics Code Authority was bad, just wait until Disney sinks their claws into the Marvel brands. I do not see how this can be considered to be good for comics in general and Marvel in particular. In fact, it will probably hasten the decline of American comics in favor of edgier manga and graphic novels coming out of Japan (a trend which was already clearly evident even before this latest deal).
Re:The bigger these behemoths become... by mrtommyb · 2009-08-31 02:53 · Score: 5, Funny

Well, it might slow the passing of the Mutant Registration Act.
Finally! A justification for Howard the Duck! by JoshDM · 2009-08-31 02:58 · Score: 5, Funny

Not the movie, the Marvel character. Now Howard the Duck will finally be able to admit he's from the same universe as Donald. My inner geek is sated!
Re:GREAT! by Philip+K+Dickhead · 2009-08-31 03:00 · Score: 5, Insightful

The great suckage.
I buy no Disney. They are cultural programming of the lowest order. You want a rotten child? Let them watch Disney channel 2 hours a day.
If you could contrive propaganda aimed at undermining basic human values, specifically that of respect, you could do no better than to come up with this garbage. It is particularly detrimental to the child / parent relationship - always portrayed as a way to manipulate or deceive the old buffoons.
Disney is death.

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"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
Re:GREAT! by camg188 · 2009-08-31 03:08 · Score: 5, Informative

Don't worry about that.
Disney also owns Touchstone, Miramax, Hollywood Pictures, ABC and ESPN. The original reason Disney bought Touchstone was to release non-G rated movies separate from the Disney label.
Touchstone, Hollywood and Miramax all release R-rated movies including the likes of Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, No Country for Old Men, Reservoir Dogs, The Crow and Con-Air.
what a Shame by OrangeMonkey11 · 2009-08-31 03:11 · Score: 5, Funny

I'm just going to repeat what pretty much everyone is saying; f*ck Disney and RIP Marvel
Maybe Marvel will change Disney by kenp2002 · 2009-08-31 03:52 · Score: 5, Interesting

Perhaps Marvel will help Disney with their "anti-two parent home" rage. Disney has always HATED two parent families.
Don't believe me?
Where are Donald's nephews parents?
Ariel's mother?
Goofey's Wife?
Scrooge's Parents?
Mickey's?
Miney's?
That little brat from Tailspin?
Jasmine?
I mean holy crap they hate parents apparently they are either dead or MIA!
Marvel has plenty of Parents, Kids, Grandkids, hell whole genetic lineages running through the ages.
Perhaps, just maybe, Disney will learn from Marvel... we can hope some day for an answer to the anti-parent obsession the Disney corp has...
Stop teh h8 Disney! Stop teh h8! :)

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-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
Re:GREAT! by jerwinch · 2009-08-31 04:04 · Score: 5, Informative

as the parent of a 5 year-old and a 1.5 year-old, i could not agree with you more. the moment we disallowed the disney channel (just playhouse disney -- aimed at preschoolers) and only allowed pbs, there was a noticeable attitude change in my older son.
Re:GREAT! by binarylarry · 2009-08-31 04:07 · Score: 5, Funny

Did he immediately start smoking, drinking cappuccino and talking about how the capitalist bastards are going to ruin everything?

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Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!