It’s time to dust off that old pair of Mickey Mouse ears you have buried in your closet because the Disney universe just got a whole lot bigger.Last Monday, The Walt Disney Co. acquired Marvel Entertainment for — everybody together in their best Dr. Evil impressions — $4 billion. This acquisition is the biggest since the family-friendly conglomerate bought Pixar Studios for $7.4 Billion in 2006.This move was huge for Disney — the company now owns the rights to all of Marvel characters, about 5,000 total superheroes. Move over, Mickey. Wolverine and Spider-Man are coming through.Marvel can benefit from this developing acquisition as well. Although Marvel’s movie rights are all but locked up for the next few years with other companies, Disney has the clout to take almost anything in the future and, with proper marketing and air time, make it the next great sensation, i.e. the Jonas Brothers.However, the exact opposite may happen as well.With movie reboots featuring heroes such as Iron Man and The Hulk, Marvel had big plans down the line for cinema-goers. With future releases of movies containing heroes Thor and Captain America, as well as a sequel to the 2007 “Iron Man” movie, Marvel was leading up to release a film about “earth’s mightiest heroes,” superhero group The Avengers, to Hollywood.While heroes such as Hulk and Iron Man are two of the more popular Marvel stars, those movies were not cheap to make and ultimately put Marvel in the red with the banks. The upcoming Thor movie has an estimated budget of $100-150 million. Disney might see such a high price tag for a movie centered on a small niche audience and decide not to go through with the project possibly killing all hopes for an Avengers movie as well.
Although some of your favorite Marvel characters may not make it to the big screen, possibilities are high on running into Captain America or the Fantastic Four on your next trip to Walt Disney World.I have a strong feeling in the next few years, the Disney parks will become flooded with Marvel-themed rides and attractions similar to all the DC characters you see when you go to a Six Flags Amusement Park.Take that, Universal Studios!Another mash-up I’m really looking forward to when this purchase is finalized is a Pixar/Marvel film. From “Toy Story” to the recent tear-jerker “Up,” everything Pixar has created has turned to gold. Why not take some of Disney’s new characters for a spin?Disney is also making a move to capture more of the young male audience it has lost during the past few years. Lately it seems Disney has been catering to the young girl audience, with shows and merchandise coming largely from Hannah Montana and, again, the Jonas Brothers.I don’t know what young boy didn’t enjoy seeing Miley Cyrus grind on that pole at the Teen Choice Awards, but I digress.Overall, I see this merger benefitting both companies. Although Marvel fan boys are probably crying out in agony, I don’t think Disney would go and change the Marvel universe. That would not be a wise business decision on their part. The Marvel universe is just too popular.All we can do is see how all this pans out during the next year or two and hope Wolverine doesn’t tear Goofy’s head off in the process.Adam Arinder is a 19-year-old electrical engineering major from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.–Contact Adam Ardiner at [email protected]