By now you've already heard that the Walt Disney Co. has agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. What does the deal mean for Marvel's stable of over 5000 characters?
Sony has the right to make at least three more Spider-Man films beginning with Spider-Man 4 [SPID4]. They've already hired screenwriter James Vanderbiltto script sequels 5 & 6.
Fox has the right to the X-Men series with three films currently in development: X-Men: First Class [XMEN4], X-Men Origins: Magneto [MAGNT] and Wolverine 2 [WOLV2].
Paramount retain the distribution rights for the upcoming films: Iron Man 2 [IRNM2], Thor [THOR], Captain America [CAPAM], Avengers [AVNGR], and Iron Man 3. Since these films are produced by Marvel, Disney will likely to take over the distribution for sequels made therafter.
Other superhero character set up at various studios are likely to revert back to Disney once their current agreements expire. Once that happens, Pixar could produce an animated Silver Surfer or Jerry Bruckheimer could produce the next Incredible Hulk. The possibilities are boundless.
Tag(s): SPID4, XMEN4, MAGNT, WOLV2, IRNM2, THOR, CAPAM, AVNGR