JackFetch Posted September 1, 2009 Report Share Posted September 1, 2009 How it affects the theme park, movie distribution rights, and video games: "Viacom is unlikely to retain distribution rights to Marvel films after the agreement" that covers five more releases, he said. "Discovery/Hasbro's new cable network joint venture was expected to include some Marvel programming, which seems less likely now." Goulder, meanwhile, said the Marvel sale could help Time Warner highlight the value of its DC Comics unit, although he said it has not been as successful exploiting its secondary characters. It was not immediately clear how the Disney-Marvel marriage would help Disney on the theme parks side, though competitor NBC Universal said it feels good about its own position. NBC Uni's theme park unit has a licensing deal with Marvel that is visible in a Spider-Man attraction in its Osaka theme park in Japan and its Islands of Adventure at the Universal Orlando resort, where Marvel characters play a key role on the Marvel Super Hero Island. It includes "The Amazing Adventures of Spider-man" 3D ride, the "Incredible Hulk Coaster" and "Dr. Doom's Fearfall," plus a plethora of Marvel characters, including Wolverine, interacting with visitors. "Our agreement with Marvel stands for as long as we follow the terms of our existing contract and for as long as we want there to be a Marvel Super Hero Island," a Uni spokeswoman said. But Disney is believed to have the right to create theme park rides with characters with which Uni doesn't have park offers in existence or in the planning stage. As for video game firms, it will take a few years before they'll feel any effects of the Disney acquisition. Game licenses will come up for renewal between 2011 and 2017, according to Pachter. Activision Blizzard has its hands on "Marvel Ultimate Alliance" and "Wolverine" games through 2017; Sega has the "Iron Man" and "Thor" licenses; THQ has rights to "Marvel Superhero Squad." http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i3ece09c4a5f94f5c9fbed2b1ab61ed53 Is it bad that I read all that and when I see Sega is doing the Thor game I groan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightWing Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Is it bad that I read all that and when I see Sega is doing the Thor game I groan? Nah; that's justified. Though I'd be interested to see if they can make a good Thor game; the main reason that Iron Man sucked was because the game had no idea how to balance the massive scope of the game (flying, running, shooting, etc). Maybe if Thor is more of a simple action game, it'll be good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George W. Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-T Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 Maybe if Thor is more of a simple action game, it'll be good? God of War provides a good template for a Thor game. Not the blood and gore so much as the atmosphere (changing from greek to Norse mythology, of course) and game engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewMG Posted September 9, 2009 Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 Apparently not everyone's on board with the Marvel acquisition. Io9.com reports that there's at least one serious lawsuit aimed at stopping the deal. I apologize in advance for the Mickey/Wolverine mash up art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFetch Posted September 9, 2009 Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 When you see all these mashups, remember Kirby did it first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Now that Disney owns Marvel and DCE exists, I wonder if inter-company crossovers will be more or less likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightWing Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Now that Disney owns Marvel and DCE exists, I wonder if inter-company crossovers will be more or less likely. They were already unlikely as hell anyway, so there's no place to go but up, right? After all, now that DC and Marvel are more company-integrated, they'll have more of an incentive to pursue projects that will get them more money. (like DC/Marvel crossovers) Though, truth be told, I'd be happy to never see another Marvel/DC crossover story again in my life. Those are two universes that were never meant to intersect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 My thinking is this: they make buckets of money, and both companies want that. Also, one less ego (RE: Paul Levitz) is out of the equation, so that's a hurdle that no longer needs to be overcome. However, Disney's legal team might make things harder. So I don't know which way it will fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Those are two universes that were never meant to intersect. Most corners of the two universes never blend well, however, I can see Batman in Hell's Kitchen or Daredevil in Gotham. I can also see some less likely pairings. It's too easy to team Hawkeye up with Green Arrow. Me, I'd rather see Green Arrow and Black Canary cross paths with Spider-Man and Black Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavros Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 When you see all these mashups, remember Kirby did it first. Weird how that unintentionally recalls Marvelman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightWing Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Most corners of the two universes never blend well, however, I can see Batman in Hell's Kitchen or Daredevil in Gotham. I can also see some less likely pairings. It's too easy to team Hawkeye up with Green Arrow. Me, I'd rather see Green Arrow and Black Canary cross paths with Spider-Man and Black Cat. Yes, there are sections of the universes that work well, but the problem is that DC and Marvel have diametrically opposed styles of storytelling. DC's stories are blatantly grandiose myth, while Marvel has more cynical real-world tales. Even when comparing books that should be somewhat similar, like Thor and Wonder Woman or Superman, they're still very different. When reading through most of the old Marvel/DC crossovers, one thing that becomes apparent is that the storytelling ultimately suffers from a slight diluting of the mythology on both sides. Spider-Man and Batman make logical sense together in theory, but in practice they end up being rather odd and forced. The biggest problem for me is just the fact that the DC and Marvel universes work differently. When the same event (someone getting shot, for instance) happens in both universes, the result can be drastically different. In the Marvel universe, realism is key, but in the DC universe, plot and theme are far more important. That's why having Superman fight the Hulk makes no sense: they each have their own universe with its own set of governing physical laws and plot requirements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFetch Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Walt Disney Company President and CEO Bob Iger made a surprise press conference appearance at Disney's D23 Expo, answering questions about the expo and Disney's plans for the future. One of the hot questions was in regard to Disney's announcement last week that the company had acquired Marvel Entertainment, the news of which (so far) has not made any appearance at the Expo. Iger stressed the notion that fans can expect Marvel to continue to operate as it has. "We're not planning on any 'Disneyfication' of Marvel," said Iger, "...Our intention is to keep Marvel as an entity." Iger went on to explain that he has met with a great many Marvel talents and that, like the acquisition of Pixar, Disney's primary goal is to stay on the sidelines and let the artists do what they do best. He did admit that he was excited about the chance for some cross-pollination in the future, though nothing is planned as of yet. Iger reiterated that part of what is so intriguing about Marvel is that the deal is designed to play out in the long run, having characters that "transcend gender and age." In the short term, Disney just has to wait until some of the Marvel deals already in place with other studios and theme parks "work their course" and, until then, "there isn't much planning to be done." http://www.comingsoon.net/news/d23exponews.php?id=58997 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcavejanitor Posted September 18, 2009 Report Share Posted September 18, 2009 An interesting find: http://acomicbookblog.com/comic-book-blog/marvel-blog/top-5-comic-book-fan-q-a-about-the-disney-marvel-buy-2/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 From Newsarama: Kirby Heirs Notify Marvel, Disney Intent to Reclaim Rights By Michael Doran Heirs to comic book legend Jack Kirby sent 45 notices of copyright termination to Marvel Entertainment, prospective Marvel buyer Disney, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, and others studios that that hold licensed media rights to Marvel characters, this according to a Sunday afternoon report published on the New York Times website. The Times reports the legal notices expressed an intent to regain copyrights to some Kirby co-creations as early as 2014, this according to a statement from Toberoff & Associates, a Los Angeles firm that helped win a court ruling last year returning a share of the copyright in Superman to heirs of the character’s co-creator, Jerry Siegel. Mr. Toberoff declined to elaborate on the statement reached for comments Sunday by the Times. According to the newspaper, a Marvel spokesperson had no comment, but Disney replied in a statement, “The notices involved are an attempt to terminate rights seven to 10 years from now, and involve claims that were fully considered in the acquisition.” Fox, Sony, Paramount and Universal reportedly had no comment. As the Times reports points out, Disney's acquisition of Marvel is far from a done deal and must still be approved by Marvel shareholders. Wall Street is apparently already speculating that due to a complicated array of various rights agreements, shareholders may worry that Disney will face difficulty immediately exploiting Marvel's most valuable intellectual property. Cited in the story is the fact that Sony holds the film rights to Spider-Man in perpetuity. The proposed Disney deal could give creators or their heirs new reason to exploit United States copyright law to stake a claim. Under U.S. law, an author or his or her heirs can begin a process to regain copyrights a certain period of years after the original grant. While the report did not cite what characters were cited in the termination notices, if Kirby’s family were to gain the copyright to a co-created character like the Fantastic Four or the Incredible Hulk, they could become entitled to a share of profits from films or other properties featuring the character, or obtain the rights to sell characters independently of Marvel, Disney, or the various studios that have licensed the Marvel characters. Developing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molly Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I'd normally laugh this off, but after what happened with the Superman rights and DC, I just don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Thinking about the amount of years, the only character I can think of is Captain America. I never thought about this. Marvel has always been supportive of the Kirby Estate but due to the fact they're under a huge corporate umbrella and we've never been closer to an hour long teenage drama featuring the Inhumans (which would be awesome, by the way, ABC, I work for cheap), it makes sense that this would start now. Should be a very interesting few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFetch Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 They set a bad president with the Superman ruling. I don't like people who didn't do the work going after the money from it. This is about nothing but greed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightWing Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 They set a bad president with the Superman ruling. I don't like people who didn't do the work going after the money from it. This is about nothing but greed. That doesn't change the fact that the law says that they're entitled to their money. I HATE the Superman ruling with a fiery passion, but I can't really argue against it; it seems to be legally supported. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFetch Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 It opens the floodgates for all kinds of lawsuits in other media. Disney has only themselves to blame since they are the ones that got the trademark law changed to begin with so they could keep Micky Mouse. Kind of ironic if you ask me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Exactly. Plus there's no disputing the creation of Cap by Simon and Kirby, I only hope Joe Simon jumps on the badnwagon. These guys worked for fuck all to support their families their entire lives and gave us hours upon hours of constant entertainment (not to mention the daydreams and inspiration coming from said entertainment). They deserve a piece of the pie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc20willsave Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 From Comic Book Resources: Marvel Sets Special Meeting Date of December 31, 2009 for Stockholders to Vote on Disney Merger Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL), a global character-based entertainment and licensing company celebrating the 70th anniversary of its founding in 1939, announced today that it has set December 31, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. EST as the date for its special meeting of stockholders. At the special meeting, stockholders will consider and vote on the adoption of the Agreement and Plan of Merger entered into by Marvel and The Walt Disney Company (“Disney”), which provides for a merger in which Marvel will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney. Stockholders who owned Marvel common stock at the close of business on November 23, 2009 are entitled to vote at the special meeting. Assuming shareholder adoption of the Agreement and Plan of Merger at the special meeting, Marvel anticipates that the merger will be completed on December 31, 2009. The special meeting will be held at the offices of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, 75 East 55th Street, New York, New York. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 The shareholders have approved the merger, which will be official as of later today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.