Disney Buys Marvel

Wow. I hope they let Marvel be Marvel. [Link]

The deal will give the House of Mouse the rights to all of Marvel's characters, but current licensing deals with movie studios like Fox (X-Men) and Sony (Spider-Man) will stay in place, according to this morning's investor conference call to discuss the sale. Despite reassurances on the call that the deal wasn't about acquiring the characters or stories but bringing in Marvel's talent pool ("No one knows their characters and stories better than the folks at Marvel" it was said at one point), Disney President Bob Iger sure made it sound like Disney was looking to take a firmer control Marvel's IP in this morning's statement:

This transaction combines Marvel's strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney's creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories.

Marvel's current management structure will stay in place despite the acquisition, and the company is expected to maintain its two main bases in New York and LA in a similar fashion to Pixar continuing to operate in Emeryville, CA, following their own acquisition by Disney in 2006.

Keep calm. [Link]

"G' morning, Marvel U!" tweets Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada. "Welcome to this moment in history. Everyone relax, this is incredible news and all is well in the Marvel U. ... Everybody take a deep breath, all your favorite comics remain unchanged and Tom Brevoort remains grouchy.
"If you're familiar with the Disney/Pixar relationship," he continues, "then you'll understand why this is a new dawn for Marvel and the comics industry."

But what about the theme parks? [Link]

Among the laundry list of questions raised by the Disney/Marvel deal is “What happens with the theme parks?” Presently, Marvel characters are featured at the Universal Islands of Adventure, Orlando’s biggest competition for the House of Mouse. Observers started speculating as soon as the news hit.

Industry reactions. [Link]

Wow, has it been a crazy morning in the comics industry! It was announced this morning that Marvel is being acquired by Disney, and your crack Blog@ team has been hustling to find reactions on this surprising development. Thanks go to Troy Brownfield, Lan Pitts, Russ Burlingame, and the rest of the team for cobbling together this extensive list — more will be added as we find them!

Update. This is just wrong. [Link]

Update 2. Jack Kirby draws Mickey Mouse. [Link]