Marvel Characters Could Prove to Profitable for Disney
Figuring out how much any one Marvel character is worth to Disney is tricky. Much depends on how the characters are used and on fans embracing or rejecting the new ventures. The nature of the various agreements means some revenue could be shared with other companies too. But as Marvel’s current use-of-character agreements with Disney rivals expire, licensing experts firmly believe the Mouse House will enjoy an increased stream of revenue built off the Marvel characters’ backs.
Besides the myriad content plays, the fans are rabid. Comic-book aficionados are “the people who are at the movie on the first Friday night when they open. They’re the first ones on line at the DVD store when DVDs come out,” said Michael Uslan, the comic-book writer who produced “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight.” “They keep buying the same products over and over again in many different formats.”
Can any of these characters generate enough to justify $4 billion — the price Disney paid for Marvel? Below we try to sketch as much as possible what money’s at stake when a Marvel character hits the big screen. Thor and Captain America are already slated to appear in films produced by companies other than Disney, but at present Spider-Woman would seem to be ripe for development.
The deal, Disney’s biggest since its acquisition of animation house Pixar three years ago, will combine the comic book giant and its huge stable of action heroes with the Disney entertainment empire.
“Adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,” Disney president and chief executive Robert Iger said. “We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”
The deal, which caught analysts and the market by surprise, was announced shortly before the opening bell on Wall Street.
Besides Spider-Man, Iron Man and the X-Men, Marvel’s cast of over 5,000 characters includes Captain America, the Fantastic Four and Thor.
Marvel chief executive Ike Perlmutter said Disney is “the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses.
“This is an unparallelled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organisation and infrastructure around the world,” he said.
Disney and Marvel said Perlmutter would continue to oversee the Marvel properties, which include Marvel Studios, Marvel Animation and Marvel Comics. Perlmutter will “work directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel’s properties”, their joint statement said.
