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Marvel's Captain America Fights His Way to Disney

Aug 31, 2009 By Mark Redfern

Disney has announced today on their corporate website that they have bought Marvel Entertainment for approximately $4 billion. Does this mean that we’ll now start seeing Spider-Man and Captain America wandering around Disney World and Disneyland, as well as Marvel-themed rides? That remains to be seen. What it does mean in regards to films based on Marvel characters, according to ComingSoon.net, is that Marvel’s preexisting deals with other movie studios will remain in place, but in the future Disney will be involved in other Marvel films. Rival studios already have the rights to Spider-Man, The X-Men, and others. Marvel’s film division already has a deal with Paramount to distribute Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers, and that deal will also remain in place. John Lasseter, the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios (and director of the first two Toy Story movies, among others) met with Marvel last week to discuss a possible team up between Marvel and Pixar, which could be potentially exciting when you consider that The Incredibles blows away most animated superhero movies (and many live action ones too). As reported by Ain’t It Cool, Marvel’s Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada sent out this Tweet today: “If you’re familiar with the Disney/Pixar relationship, then you’ll understand why this is a new dawn for Marvel and the comics industry.”

The benefit to Disney is obvious. While their characters appeal to young kids and tweens, utilizing Marvel’s characters would allow them to better tap into the teen and adult markets, the way they also have with Pixar’s films. It remains to be seen how much this will effect Marvel Comics and the creative directions they take there. But hopefully, for Marvel fans, this move will lead to better quality Marvel animated films and even more cinematic opportunities for their wealth of characters. Marvel’s chief rival, DC, has been owned by Time Warner for decades and that seems to have worked out fine.

www.marvel.com