Will Marvel Comics, Toys and Games be Absorbed Into Disney, En Masse?

According to reports by the New York Times and Variety, Marvel Entertainment – separate from Marvel Studios, and the part of the company that deals with comics, games, toys as well as live performances and theme parks – is to be absorbed into Disney en masse. And it is this which led to the sacking of Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter, co-president Rob Steffens and chief counsel John Turitzin, with Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Entertainment, staying and reporting into Marvel Studios CCO Kevin Feige.

This is the kind of event that people had expected Warner Bros. to pull with DC Comics. Looks like Disney got there first. Bleeding Cool has reached out to Marvel executives to try and understand how this will affect the Marvel Comics division especially, without response. It is quite possible that many of them will have learned the news reading it today. If past experiences are anything to go by, it will mean very little change for a few months, and then massive changes will hit about six months in when everyone is least expecting it and had gotten comfortable.

The big question is now, where Disney go, will Warner Bros. follow? Marvel senior staffers will be attending C2E2 this coming weekend, I wonder what they will say, when pressed on a panel?

Back in 2009, Bleeding Cool reported Bob Iger, then-President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company then speaking about the Disney purchase of Marvel for $4 billion, saying “this transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories. Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney. We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation”

While the now-fired-then-CEO Isaac Perlmutter stated “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 unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.” So much has changed since then…