Mickey Mouse is bringing in some muscle.
Significantly beefing up its stable of characters, Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that it had reached a deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment Inc., the comic book company whose superheroes have become Hollywood blockbusters, for $4 billion in cash and stock.
The acquisition hands Disney a treasure trove of pop culture figures, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Thor and the Fantastic Four, among a roster of 5,000 that it hopes will inspire countless movies, television shows and video games.
In recent years a risk-averse Hollywood has become increasingly reliant upon comic book-based stories that appeal to an established -- and heavily male -- fan base. With Marvel, Disney gets one of the heaviest-hitting creators of superheroes.
Marvel, despite its rich library of characters, has limited experience making its own movies. Until it produced last year's "Iron Man," the company licensed its characters to other studios. But Disney is betting that with Marvel it acquires the kind of brand-name recognition it gained when it bought Pixar Animation Studios in 2006, especially among teens and young adults, who are the core drivers of the box office. That's an audience segment Disney has struggled to attract, as it has been more successful with families.
"They've shown a tremendous skill at increasing the commercial appeal of characters like Iron Man that traditionally weren't well known outside of Marvel's core fan community," said Disney President and Chief Executive Robert A. Iger. "And we believe there's further opportunity to mine Marvel's rich intellectual property portfolio."
To be sure, Disney isn't the first studio to discover the power of Marvel comics.
Many of the best-known members of the publisher's muscle-bound lineup are locked up in deals with other movie studios. Sony Pictures owns the big-screen rights to Spider-Man in perpetuity, as does 20th Century Fox for the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Daredevil. Paramount Pictures will distribute five upcoming films set to be financed by Marvel, including "Iron Man 2," "Thor" and "The First Avenger: Captain America."
Even though Disney will not control those movies, it will reap some of the proceeds. Disney also will control much of the related merchandising, often a major profit source for motion pictures. And it will be able to create movies, TV shows and video games based on Marvel's other characters.
