Announced today, Disney has made an offer to buy Marvel Comics in the amount of $4 billion.

Under the terms of agreement, share holders will receive $30 a share in cash and about 75 cents per Disney for every stock in Marvel they own. Both boards a... Click here to read more...

So Disney would then own the rights to Marvel which is one of the main themes in Universal.
How does that work?

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Great Business move. But doesn't universal own these rights? With spiderman and the hulk in florida?

It really doesn't say in the article what they are going to do with Islands of Adventure. Most likely Universal will have to start paying for license rights to Disney. And I am sure it will cost a pretty penny. Unless they work out a deal. Should be interesting.

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Universal pays licensing fees to Marvel for use of the characters at Islands of Adventure. With Disney now owning the characters, Universal will have to pay Disney. I don't know when the licensing agreement expires, but I'd expect a re-theme for that island sooner than later. Not long after that announcement, I wouldn't be surprised to see Disney take advantage of the Marvel characters and do a bit of tweaking or expansion to the Disney Studios as well.

Marvel had deals for many of their top characters with Paramount and that won't change immediately either. Obviously Disney stands to profit from now owning the Marvel Studios aspect of the equation. Really kind of a nice gig when you look at the list of movies Marvel Studios is producing currently and realize that Disney won't have to front any of the money for production of any of them.

I might have to pick up some Disney stock.

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This is great! I am already thinking of the possibilities Disney now has in the world of thrill rides and more, now that they have this ownership. Truely a great buisness move and one of the best moves Disney has ever made in a long time!

Also, can they tell Universal they can't have the rights anymore, or do you think they would take the money?

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Well they have to keep the licensing agreement for as long as Marvel did. So depending on how many years or per year it is, after that agreement, Disney can say one of two things....we want to re-theme ourselves and you can't use these names anymore...or you have to pay this much for a licensing fee, take it or leave it.

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I'm curious how this will affect the movie side of things. Spider-Man is under Sony Pictures and X-Men is 20th Century Fox. I believe Hulk has been by Universal with other studies behind various other characters. Will future films of these characters be made by Disney? This is probably a great move by Disney.

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I'll be the first one to say that this is NOT a good move. It sounds to me like Disney wants to take over Orlando, even if it means cut-throating IOA and Universal Studios. It sounds like Disney is being selfish.

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This deal has very little to do with theme park operations. Disney buying Marvel will do nothing to the contracts in place with other studios with character rights to Marvel properties either. If you look at the IMDB page for movies in development with Marvel Studios, Disney just bought into what are likely some of the hottest movie properties coming out in the next 3 years and they won't have to contribute a penny to any of them aside from the purchase price of Marvel.

As to theme park operations, Universal will likely be the one looking to exit the agreement sooner than Disney. Every time someone buys a Spiderman t-shirt at Universal, Disney takes the profits so why not let them keep it as long as they want. I'm sure there's a clause in their marketing agreement that allows them to pull out if a competitor buys the rights.

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This is an all around great move by Disney. It makes sense in all aspects of its operation. Marvel basically does what Disney does, except on a smaller scale. Disney has a publishing unit that will surely bring cost savings to the comics. Disney, of course, does animation and Marvel has many animated DVD movies and series'. Marvel character merchandise is huge, from toys to art and collectibles which also mirrors what Disney does with its own characters. The licensing is a big one and make no mistake about it, once the licensing agreement with Universal Island of Adventure is up, they can kiss the Marvel characters goodbye...'cmon they're both in Orlando for goodness sake?! IOA can easily re-theme The Hulk Coaster to say 'The Green Machine' and change some signs and colors, but they can't do that with their signature ride 'The Amazing Spider-Man'. Steven Spielberg directed the film used for that attraction and its queue is The Daily Bugle. That whole ride will need to be overhauled without the Spider-Man license. IOA should be fine with the Harry Potter section opening up soon, but again Disney may end up dealing a jab to Universal with this move which is probably "sauce for the goose" with this purchase.
The big fish in this deal is the movie rights, or Marvel Studios. Again, once the currently negotiated agreements expire with Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Universal and Sony (which will all be expired by 2013) then Disney has the film rights to the Marvel characters. I for one would love to see Disney/Pixar do a Silver Surfer movie...that would be epic!
Finally, there is the Disney 5th theme park speculation...what if the whole idea to buy Marvel came about in discussions on how a 5th park should be an answer to IOA. "Well, we've got the Power Rangers, but we can't theme a whole park around them, and Warner Bros. uses the DC characters at the Six Flags parks so we can't use that license...Hey, wait-a-minute...how much would it cost to BUY Marvel?!" Nah, the idea probably came from the movie unit, but that aside, there is now the possibility that a 5th Disney park could be themed to the Marvel Universe (kingdom?)
At any rate, this was a great move by Disney and when it's all said and done $4 billion will seem like pocket change vs. the returns.

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