Disney to buy Marvel?
It looks like Walt Disney is to buy Marvel Entertainment in a $4bn (£2.5bn) deal (subject to board approval). This means that Disney will take over ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters including Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Thor and the X-Men. Some how I don't think this will be a great partnership or good for either brand. Disney have long been associated with animated children's films. With profits down 26% on last year they needed to add something new to their products. There's only so much Mickey Mouse merchandising a company can sell after-all. Marvel aims at an older market, a 'typical' Marvel comic reader average age is 21-25 (taking 36% in a recent Marvel online age poll). So, for Disney they have access to a wider audience. And for Marvel? Well, with the backing of Disney it may guarantee a future for the comics company in a declining market and it will certainly help profits through merchandise sales. It may even lead to more movi