I was able to get in on the investor conference call, the particulars of which I won't report on too much because I'm sure other comics sites will do a better job of covering the specifics. But I do feel obliged to comment on things in general.
First, I expect a lot of comic fans will voice concern (possibly outrage) about how Marvel will become part of the giant corporate machine that is Disney. Setting aside the assurances the execs made during the call, such concerns are entirely unwarranted. Why? Because Marvel itself has been a giant corporate machine since the 1980s. Not to the level of Disney, certainly, but Marvel really became a licensed property company under the helm of Jim Shooter. Secret Wars was, after all, an idea that came from Mattel for a toy line. Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends brought many Marvel characters to people's attention in a much more successful way than had ever occurred in prior cartoons. Shooter saw, I think, the direction where things needed to head for the company and steered in that direction. One can argue his and subsequent EIC's relative success, but that's clearly where the company's been headed for some time, and really came to the fore in the 1990s. Despite still having a veneer of "the house that Jack built" the friendly, devil-may-care approach that Stan Lee epitomized hasn't actually been in place for years.
The next issue I might bring up is that Disney has a great set-up currently. Not much to dispute there. But they're reached an effective saturation point. As one of the most globally recognized brands in the world, with one of the most globally recognized characters in the world, it's almost impossible to get further market penetration (i.e. growth). Think of them like Microsoft. Everyone who was ever planning to buy a computer with Windows on it has already done so -- they can't really sell you ANOTHER one. So they buy up companies that own another product you can purchase. Disney is pretty much in the same boat, in that they can't really get you to buy MORE movies or princess outfits or whatever. But they can partake of the profits from another company whose material you're already buying. From Disney's perspective, it's a pretty simple growth strategy and, if you could read between the lines, they essentially said that on the investor call.
There were questions brought up about company synergies and existing movie distribution deals and such, and everyone repeatedly said that the deal really wasn't about any of that. It was simply that Disney had seen Marvel do a great job with their characters from a business perspective (they seemed particularly impressed with how Marvel was able to turn Iron Man into a household name almost overnight) and they wanted in on it. I took note of Marvel becoming a "character-based entertainment company" instead of a comic book publisher almost a decade ago, but most people still seem to be under the impression that comics are still their main business. Disney isn't going to do anything with Marvel other than rake in profits. They might facilitate some new movies or TV shows down the road, and you'll likely see Marvel characters popping up in more retail outlets, but comics are the least profitable part of Marvel's business. Disney doesn't even have an incentive to screw around with that.
So, after you pick your jaw up off the floor from the announcement, just relax; Spider-Man and Wolverine aren't going to be doing anything different than they've been doing for the past decade or three.
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