Well, folks, a major tremor shook Geekworld last week when it was announced that Disney was indeed purchasing Marvel. Now, If I had $4billion laying around, the first thing I would do is buy Marvel (actually, I'd try to get them to settle for $3 billion).
To some of us, this wasn't as big a surprise as we'd like to pretend. I've known for months that Marvel was continuing to increase the number of monthly titles it produces. Conversely, DC comics (owned by Time-Warner) was decreasing the number of titles it is producing. You might think that's just capitalism in action, but DC has been routinely topping Marvel in the sales categories lately, and the critics have gushed over DC titles like Blackest Night, while panning or giving lukewarm response to Marvel events like Secret Invasion. So, how can Marvel pull this off? Either they have an a$$ load of money, or they expected to get an a$$load of money. And X-Men: Evolution and Spectacular Spider-Man recently appeared on Disney's XD channel.....from what I hear. I don't watch kiddie channels. I'm a man! I'm 40!
This was an interesting move for many reasons. One of those reasons is not to go to other blogs and forums to see how many people can post "I can't wait to see the Mickey Mouse/Wolverine crossover." That wasn't all that funny the first time someone said it. Know why? because we all thought it. Personally, I want to see a Donald Duck/Howard the Duck crossover. You'd have two ducks, and no pants. Hilaaaaaaaarious!
But seriously, There's some reasons to be concerned about this new Disney/Marvel amalgamation. The first, and most obvious, is the concern that this might "pussify" the upcoming Marvel movies, as someone put it on Facebook. I certainly hope not. Actually, the Marvel movies -- aside from Punisher -- aren't THAT violent. I have no qualms taking my son to see them, and he's six. I do, however, have major qualms of taking my son to see things like The Dark Knight or Watchmen (though he absolutely LOVED V for Vendetta, and totally saw how it was a satire of the Bush administration, not just a cool comic movie). The other thing to remember is that Disney also owns Miramax and Touchstone, two production companies that routinely turn out R rated movies. Heck, if I remember correctly, Miramax did "Pulp Fiction," and I always thought that movie would have been cooler if John Travolta had had the proportionate strength of a human-sized spider. However, I am concerned about the future of the impending Avengers-related movies.
If Disney is smart, which they generally are, they'll leave Marvel alone and let Marvel do their thing. The exciting aspect of this business move is that Marvel suddenly has the money and the technology of Disney backing their already awesome movies. Furthermore, Pixar had announced it wants to do a Marvel based film. How cool would it be to see Pixar do Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy? That sounds good to me. And, if luck holds out, we'll finally get to see the Mickey Mouse/Wolverine crossover everyone is hoping for.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
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