Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 10:01PM CDT

Categories: Toy News, Company News
Posted by: Nekoman Views: 14,488

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Surprising things in hard times: Disney has announced their acquisition of Marvel on Monday for $4 billion dollars, this being one of the most expensive buyouts to occur during the recent economic recession.

Hasbro had planed to air Marvel related programming on their joint TV channel project with Discovery, however, it is now unlikely that such a thing would happen.

Fortunately for fans of the Marvel Crossovers, or other Marvel products from Hasbro, they will be able to continue producing toys until 2017.

Click here to view the story at Reuters, and here at Yahoo! news.

Credit(s): Reuters, Yahoo! news, DeathBlast

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Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988081)
Posted by freaky777 on September 1st, 2009 @ 10:22pm CDT

Hannah Montana vs. Wolverine, the most epic crossover.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988099)
Posted by Shadowman on September 1st, 2009 @ 10:47pm CDT

It'll be fine. Seeing as how Marvel wasn't in any real financial trouble, they could turn down the offer if they wanted to. Yeah, $4 billion is a helluva lot, but you have to give Marvel more credit than this; if the contract said "And also we get to change everything we want" Marvel would have walked away.

On the other hand, Deadpool vs. Hannah Montana is now fully possible...

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988112)
Posted by Convotron on September 1st, 2009 @ 10:56pm CDT

Hotrod wrote:I hope so. But I also have to admitt Lionsgate has done a great job with the animation projects. I really liked Doctor Starange and Iron Man. I have not seen the Hulk vs Movie yet but I hope to soon.

Oh, I forgot about those two. I thought that Doctor Strange had some nifty ideas like the magic combat. I liked Iron Man for giving all those different armours cameos. If you liked those two animated features, I think you'll enjoy the Hulk vs movies. I believe that the voice actor for Strange is also the voice actor for Bruce Banner in the vs movies.

freaky777 wrote:Hannah Montana vs. Wolverine, the most epic crossover.

You know, I bet hardcore Marvel fans would be fuming over that kind of joke but as I see it, Wolverine has been Marvel's "lady of the night"(to put it politely), I could see something like that happening. Actually...Wolverine and Mickey Mouse have a few things in common. Both are dark haired characters in a world that often pays more attention to the fair coifed celebrities. They both have similar head silhouettes, what with Mickey's ears and Wolverine's Flock of Seagulls on steroids hairstyle. AND they both seem to be the number one character of their companies to throw out into the world and see what they stick to.

"I'm the best at what I do. And what I do isn't very nice...now give me your hard earned money. You know you want to. Bub. Ha-ha!"

Check out John Struan's blog, Super Punch, to see Mickey-rine!

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988115)
Posted by Hotrod on September 1st, 2009 @ 10:58pm CDT

Shadowman wrote:It'll be fine. Seeing as how Marvel wasn't in any real financial trouble, they could turn down the offer if they wanted to. Yeah, $4 billion is a helluva lot, but you have to give Marvel more credit than this; if the contract said "And also we get to change everything we want" Marvel would have walked away.

On the other hand, Deadpool vs. Hannah Montana is now fully possible...

The more I think about it I am thinking this is pure win for Marvel.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988128)
Posted by ShGarland_1383 on September 1st, 2009 @ 11:18pm CDT

Shadowman wrote:It'll be fine. Seeing as how Marvel wasn't in any real financial trouble, they could turn down the offer if they wanted to. Yeah, $4 billion is a helluva lot, but you have to give Marvel more credit than this; if the contract said "And also we get to change everything we want" Marvel would have walked away.

On the other hand, Deadpool vs. Hannah Montana is now fully possible...

I think it'll be fine too. I heard mentioned in one of the reports I've heard about this that DC's been owned by Warner Brothers since the 60s, and what few Blackest Night books I've been able to read so far have been awesome.

Best case scenario: Marvel will be able to maintain Earth-616 (the Marvel Universe as we know it) with the worst happening that Marvel will have to create a Disney imprint (obviously geared towards younger readers and Disney fans).

Like Shadowman said: if the contract said Disney could change whatever they wanted, Marvel woulda walked away.

Don't really see Deadpool/Hannah Montana coming, though. (Don't think I saw Archie Meets the Punisher coming either, however, and I've still got that one-shot around here somewhere...)

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988155)
Posted by Shadowman on September 2nd, 2009 @ 12:16am CDT

ShGarland_1383 wrote:Best case scenario: Marvel will be able to maintain Earth-616 (the Marvel Universe as we know it)

Not just Earth-616. Unless I'm mistaken, EVERY piece of the Marvel multiverse will stay. It's been said before, Disney won't interfere with the Marvel Universe, and I assume that means removing pieces of the multiverse.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988157)
Posted by Megatron Wolf on September 2nd, 2009 @ 12:26am CDT

Yeah when i heard about this i thought i was gonna cry. This could either ruin what we've come to know and love out of marvel or could be a blessing in desguise. Think about it, if disney is willing to leave marvel alone then we'll get the same material that we've been getting plus more. Disney has deep pockets. So that means way more movies. I do fear for the marvel based cartoons though. We've finally been getting some good cartoons again likewolverine & the x-men and fantasic 4 but now i fear we're going to be getting less comic like cartoons and more kiddy ones like the new Spider-Man and Iron Man. And the cross overs are inevitable. I wouldnt mind seeing an X-Men/Gargoyles crossover though.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988174)
Posted by Dr. Caelus on September 2nd, 2009 @ 1:30am CDT

3 Things:

1) Supreme Convoy's point about Miramax was well made, and has resolved my concerns that Disney will put constraints on the content in Marvel Comics.

2) If Disney can throw some weight around and get the Spider-Man and X-Men movie franchises brought back under Marvel's control without losing the associated personnel, more power to them.

3) Thank goodness Marvel will finally be able to compete with the ever famous, fan-favorite juggernauts that are the Justice League / Looney Tunes crossover comics! (Sarcasm aside, I'd still like to see the Duck Dodgers GLC episode.)

4) Sincere concern - Disney doesn't usually seem to go outside themselves for toy licensing (much to their detriment) - could this mean Hasbro is likely to loose their license when the agreement eventually comes up for renewal? (Oh well, the Marvel Universe figures are the best I've ever seen, and I'm still not buying them, so I suppose it doesn't really affect me...)

5) Darkwing Duck, Kim Possible, and Incredibles have been testament to the comic-book-geekiness of some of Disney's personnel over the years, and Marvel has a number of characters better suited to light hearted, almost farcical treatment than to serious, heavy story telling. What I'm saying is, I wouldn't mind watching a Disney-produced Power Pack cartoon with my nephew and niece.

Okay, so that turned into five things, whatever.

Additionally, the Spider-Man cartoon as youthful animation, but I think a better (more compelling) storyline than the old 90s cartoon, and a Gargoyles crossover would be great.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988177)
Posted by Dead Metal on September 2nd, 2009 @ 1:44am CDT

It would be cool if Ghost Rider battled Chernabog at one point.

We could have crossover stories like, Carnage in Neverland, Uncle Scrooge vs Tony Stark - who has more money- and of course the all time favourite Venom vs Stitch survival of the fittest.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988201)
Posted by Ultra Markus on September 2nd, 2009 @ 3:03am CDT

I will hold judgment until things start happening
hopefully It will be as successful as the warnerbros/DC comics merger
only time will tell

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988236)
Posted by Blackstreak on September 2nd, 2009 @ 4:49am CDT

OMG! Now we get superheroes that are politically correct, family oriented, and talk/act like Mickey Mouse. Marvel should never have sold.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988249)
Posted by Cyber Bishop on September 2nd, 2009 @ 6:53am CDT

Blackstreak wrote:OMG! Now we get superheroes that are politically correct, family oriented, and talk/act like Mickey Mouse. Marvel should never have sold.

Read the post above yours (and all the articles that have been supplied in this thread)..
Here, let me quote it for you.

Ultra Markus wrote:I will hold judgment until things start happening
hopefully It will be as successful as the warnerbros/DC comics merger
only time will tell

And people please try reading the articles before making silly comments.. It just makes you look foolish.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988264)
Posted by megatrina on September 2nd, 2009 @ 7:31am CDT

There should not be an apostrophe in "buys" in the headline to this article.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988282)
Posted by Sabrblade on September 2nd, 2009 @ 8:24am CDT

First they acquire Saban, and now this! What's next? DC? Microsoft? Nintendo? The WORLD!!!

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988284)
Posted by rpetras on September 2nd, 2009 @ 8:32am CDT

Methinks this is just a way for Disney to tap into characters that appeal to a boy audience.

They own the girl audience with the princesses, and even the pre-K kids with Mickey and friends, but they never had a strong appeal to boys.

I'm actually kind of surprised they didn't buy DC instead, I would think it would have been cheaper.

I'm curious to see what this does to the theme parks, what with Universal having the Marvel stuff in Islands of Adventure.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988309)
Posted by Rastamus Prime on September 2nd, 2009 @ 9:22am CDT

Marvel was better of going down the firey pits of recession than have Disney ruin its name.

I have spoken!

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988344)
Posted by Shadowman on September 2nd, 2009 @ 10:22am CDT

Rastamus Prime wrote:Marvel was better of going down the firey pits of recession than have Disney ruin its name.

I have spoken!

I'm with CB on this one. Could people PLEASE actually read the thread before posting your comments? It's one thing to have an opinion, but a lot of people are posting opinions based on only the thread title, rather than the actual thread.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988363)
Posted by Cyber Bishop on September 2nd, 2009 @ 10:56am CDT

Shadowman wrote:
Rastamus Prime wrote:Marvel was better of going down the firey pits of recession than have Disney ruin its name.

I have spoken!

I'm with CB on this one. Could people PLEASE actually read the thread before posting your comments? It's one thing to have an opinion, but a lot of people are posting opinions based on only the thread title, rather than the actual thread.

Thanks for the assist..

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (988591)
Posted by Galvatronus on September 2nd, 2009 @ 4:13pm CDT

You know it has just amused the heck out of me reading all the "The world is going to end" type stuff coming out of you guys. Calm down folks nothing is going to be changed, at least not that drastically, in the near future.

As for why they didn't buy DC Comics, well that is because WB already did.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (989244)
Posted by 80sgeek on September 3rd, 2009 @ 2:24pm CDT

I too will keep all judgment until the dust settles. Disney is smart enough not to mess with the cash cow that is Marvel. Just imagine, now they really CAN do Spider-Pig, well Spider-Piggy (Disney owns the Muppets as well).

I personally see this as a plus for Hasbro. I mean Takaratomy already has 2 Dis/TF crossovers in the can. So this could open the door letting them easily make more and for the fans who like the product, Hasbro might be able to pick up the line for the US market. I mean I wouldn't buy Mousimus Prime, but my friend that it was "So cute".

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (989402)
Posted by Coughler on September 3rd, 2009 @ 6:31pm CDT

Dead Metal wrote:I've been trying to think of Spider-Man for the past hours but damn all I can see in my mind is Mickey in a Spider-Man costume fighting Doc Ock who's trying to steel Christmas presents.

I know they did this to charter to an older audience but f**k I just can't imagen Spider-Man or the Hulk as now being Disney.
Please tell me this is just a bad dream?

Im imaging mickey mouse wearing wolverines mask *shutters and crys*

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (989417)
Posted by Cyberstrike on September 3rd, 2009 @ 7:04pm CDT

Hotrod wrote:
Convotron wrote:I totally understand! Yeah, it doesn't take much to get things off track and then trouble brews.

Back to the topic, I wonder what, if any, affect this new ownership will have on Marvel's animated work. I mean, Disney is a premiere entity in the world of animation(though I'm not a big fan of its work within the last decade or so).

If there's one big advantage that DC has over Marvel is the quality of their animated media. DC has produced better quality animation and have amazing development staff like the legendary Bruce Timm. The worst of the DCAU rivals the best of the Marvel animated works. People will cite X-Men Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men, which are good but nowhere as great in my opinion as Justice League and JLU in terms of animation and story.

Superman The Animated Series and Batman TAS both tapped into the essence of the title characters while bringing them into contemporary settings(though both contain graphic elements that hearken to past periods such as the use of art deco in BTAS). All of the Marvel animated efforts seemed to be on the same path of kind of knowing the core of the source material but tries to re-invent without a strong sense of direction. The X-Men series always go on the mutant vs human thing, which is a vital element of the comics but it's the single note that every X-Men cartoon plays over, and over, and over again. Justice League and JLU had variety in their stories and were able to work single episodes as well as multiple episode story arcs, dealing with a fair variety of plot ideas.

The only recent animated work by Marvel that stands out in my mind as an equal to DC efforts is the Hulk vs Thor and Hulk vs Wolverine animated features. I really enjoyed both on the animation and story sides. They really got to the center of the characters' origin and gave them a nice current twist. They're recognizable but fresh. Now with Disney's ownership, backing, and resources not only financially but in terms of animation studios...will we see a Marvel animated renaissance?

I hope so. But I also have to admitt Lionsgate has done a great job with the animation projects. I really liked Doctor Starange and Iron Man. I have not seen the Hulk vs Movie yet but I hope to soon.

I can't wait for the Iron Man anime from Madhouse Studios

I might check out Wolverine even though the designs are kind of weird.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (989555)
Posted by Evil_the_Nub on September 4th, 2009 @ 12:20am CDT

Ironman looks awesom, Wolverine looks like an abomination.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (989573)
Posted by Convotron on September 4th, 2009 @ 1:25am CDT

Cyberstrike wrote:I can't wait for the Iron Man anime from Madhouse Studios

I might check out Wolverine even though the designs are kind of weird.

I hope that Marc Worden reprises his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man. He's the perfect voice actor for the character. I'm assuming Steve Blum is going to voice the English language version as he was apparently given the role of Wolverine "for life" by Craig Kyle, the VP of Marvel Animation. Fred Tatasciore was also given the role of the Hulk for life too, apparently.

Warren Ellis is the big selling point for me. I love his work, especially Planetary.

The Iron Man teaser looks cool, though the antagonist was a bit Captain Harlock until he transformed/armoured up. Madhouse always delivers in the animation department. The teaser actually made me think of how cool it would be to do something like an updated Bubblegum Crisis. Boomers in modern animation would be super cool.

I'm not sold on the Wolverine anime. The character design and action are both a bit too pretty and clean for my liking. I think the character of Wolverine is best portrayed in a visceral and gritty manner. A super anime mullet and shaggy eyebrows can't cover up the bishonen looks. The magical rays of light in the wake of his claws don't help either. Take a shorter, scruffed up Himuro Gemma from Ninja Scroll and you'd have a good anime Wolverine. Jet Black with a full head of hair would be better. Heck, get Heihachi Mishima with some adjustments and there's a grumpy, growly Wolverine.

If the action must be stylish, I think Ninja Scroll/Jubei Ninpucho is a good example of stylish action contrasted by brutal violence, which is not always necessarily shown to make an impact. I hope the anime isn't full of "slice and dice a million times and then the enemy falls to pieces cleanly in the background". Wolverine action isn't done right if he doesn't shed some blood.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (989684)
Posted by Cyber Bishop on September 4th, 2009 @ 8:50am CDT

Cyberstrike wrote:I might check out Wolverine even though the designs are kind of weird.

Ick..
IMHO this is a fail..

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (989802)
Posted by Dead Metal on September 4th, 2009 @ 1:02pm CDT

Evil_the_Nub wrote:Ironman looks awesom, Wolverine looks like an abomination.

ditto.

Re: Disney Buys Marvel : Possible Impact on Hasbro's Joint Project (1000393)
Posted by Coughler on September 20th, 2009 @ 3:07pm CDT

Cyberstrike wrote:
Hotrod wrote:
Convotron wrote:I totally understand! Yeah, it doesn't take much to get things off track and then trouble brews.

Back to the topic, I wonder what, if any, affect this new ownership will have on Marvel's animated work. I mean, Disney is a premiere entity in the world of animation(though I'm not a big fan of its work within the last decade or so).

If there's one big advantage that DC has over Marvel is the quality of their animated media. DC has produced better quality animation and have amazing development staff like the legendary Bruce Timm. The worst of the DCAU rivals the best of the Marvel animated works. People will cite X-Men Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men, which are good but nowhere as great in my opinion as Justice League and JLU in terms of animation and story.

Superman The Animated Series and Batman TAS both tapped into the essence of the title characters while bringing them into contemporary settings(though both contain graphic elements that hearken to past periods such as the use of art deco in BTAS). All of the Marvel animated efforts seemed to be on the same path of kind of knowing the core of the source material but tries to re-invent without a strong sense of direction. The X-Men series always go on the mutant vs human thing, which is a vital element of the comics but it's the single note that every X-Men cartoon plays over, and over, and over again. Justice League and JLU had variety in their stories and were able to work single episodes as well as multiple episode story arcs, dealing with a fair variety of plot ideas.

The only recent animated work by Marvel that stands out in my mind as an equal to DC efforts is the Hulk vs Thor and Hulk vs Wolverine animated features. I really enjoyed both on the animation and story sides. They really got to the center of the characters' origin and gave them a nice current twist. They're recognizable but fresh. Now with Disney's ownership, backing, and resources not only financially but in terms of animation studios...will we see a Marvel animated renaissance?

I hope so. But I also have to admitt Lionsgate has done a great job with the animation projects. I really liked Doctor Starange and Iron Man. I have not seen the Hulk vs Movie yet but I hope to soon.

I can't wait for the Iron Man anime from Madhouse Studios

I might check out Wolverine even though the designs are kind of weird.

The wolverine look does like odd. Perhaps we can put that out of our mind and try to consider that its just a different take on wolverine. Cuz the trailer is pretty cool. Pretending its not wolverine/xmen and i bet ur interested.

And my jaw dropped at the iron man trailer gorgeous animation.