Iron Mouse

In NY Times cover worthy news, Disney has bought Marvel for $4 billion in stock and cash.

On the face of it, it's an obvious and rather smart move for Disney. They can extend their patented relentless Disney synergy to over 5,000 Marvel characters-- From Aardwolf (A mutant bad guy from Night Thrasher, who sounds like a superhero with restless leg syndrome: Read the breathless fanboy description here) to Zzzax (A high-voltage Hulk nemesis). Marvel comics, at least the directly branded ones, tend to keep to a PG rating: a fairly decent fit for Disney's audience.

I'm not so sure hardcore Marvel Comics fans are going to like the fact the likes of Clarabelle Cow and Goofy are more central to Marvel's new owners than Spider-Man and Thor. They may not be relishing the idea that there is nothing to prevent an Iron Man-"Jonas Brothers" or X-Men-"Wizards of Waverly Place" mashup. Might be interesting the other way: I'd like to see what Marvel could do in the Duckburg universe.

It may not come to that. It was Marvel Entertainment's tendency to shop their properties to a number of different studios: Spider-Man to Columbia/Sony, Iron Man to Paramount, X-Men to Fox, etc. These deals are staying firmly in place. I wonder if Disney is holding something of a pig in a poke, at least in terms of movie rights. With all the easily recognized, big-name franchises tied up elsewhere, they may have to be content with films featuring second-string characters. So look for news of new Disney dev deals for Dead Girl, Collective Man, Flatman, Obnoxio the Clown, and Captain Britain. But hey-- I can suddenly see Howard The Duck actually working!