Disney to Buy Marvel

In a surprise move this morning, the Walt Disney Company announced that it has agreed to purchase Marvel Entertainment for around $4 Billion. Marvel holds rights to around 5,000 super hero characters, including Spiderman, the X-Men, Iron Man, Fantastic Four and Thor.

Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said "We believe that adding Marvel to Disney's unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation".

As a personal observation, remember that Universal's Islands of Adventure currently has an entire land themed to Marvel. What will ultimately happen to this land? The addition of Marvel gives Disney a massive avenue of possibilities. Is this the beginning of something big at any of the theme parks?

Update: Universal does indeed hold the rights to exclusive use of the characters east of the Mississippi as long as their attractions are operating. However, with Disney throwing their identity onto Marvel, one has to wonder if Universal will be in a pickle. One one hand, yes they can keep their attractions, but on the other hand, people may begin to associate them with Disney. That would be a blow to Universal's very identity and they may make the decision to push back from the table and re-brand. Again, this is just a personal observation.