Super-Studios Join Forces as Disney Purchases Marvel

Instead of butting heads and trying to outdo each other in an industry that's getting tougher to dominate, Disney has agreed to purchase Marvel Studios, bringing characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including favorites such as the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee.

Disney CEO Robert Iger said Marvel's comic books, TV shows, movies and video games amounted to "a treasure trove of content." Iger said the deal would bring benefits like the ones Disney got from buying Toy Story creator Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion in stock in 2006.

"The acquisition of Marvel offers us a similar opportunity to advance our strategy," Iger said in a statement, and "to build a business that is stronger than the sum of its parts." Marvel Chairman Mort Handel called Disney "a perfect home for our great collection of characters."

The most hopeful outcome is for Disney to broaden its appeal to young men who have flocked to theaters to see Marvel superheroes such as Iron Man in recent years. Disney's recent successes have been largely devoted to young women such as the fans of Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers.

For Marvel, Iger said being in the Disney camp would mean better global distribution and better relationships with retailers to sell its products. Another storied comic book maker, DC Comics, has been under the wings of a major studio since 1969, when Warner Bros. bought the home of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Although it began producing its own movies starting with Iron Man last year, Marvel has several deals with other movie studios that Disney said it will honor and re-examine upon expiration.

For example, Spider-Man 4, set for release in 2011, is being made with Sony Corp.'s Columbia Pictures; Iron Man 2 will be distributed by Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures next year; and the upcoming X-Men Origins: Magneto and X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2, both due in 2011, are to be distributed by News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox.