I brought the point up on the site earlier this morning, but unfortunately haven’t had much time today to follow up with keeping up with the new addition and all, so I poked around tonight, and discovered a very good article on Reuters talking about the very same concerns I had in regards to the Disney/Marvel merger and how it could end up affecting toy makers, Hasbro in particular.
Reuters brings up some good points, mentioning that current licensing deals will stay intact, “Hasbro’s agreement with Marvel to make toys and games based on the latter’s characters extends through 2017”. However, from there on out, things may get murky, “especially since Disney has a longer history with Hasbro’s arch-rival Mattel Inc.”
Where Hasbro might feel an even bigger pinch, however, is in their recently announced television deal with Discovery Kids. Apparently, thought in industry circles is that Hasbro intended to offer a slate of Marvel related programming on that channel, but obviously with this new move, those programs would more likely drift over to Disney XD instead. Lots of legalese, and a lot of stuff that many of us don’t care about, but regardless, this could get interesting, and even though Hasbro will be cranking out Marvel figures for at least the next 7 years, they may feel the pinch in other areas, and it might be a big one.
Damn. Long time readers of my site know that back in the day when G.I. Joe news was a bit less constant and frenetic than it is now know that I used to talk quite a bit about Marvel, but mostly in regards to their cartoon and movie endeavors, and not so much about the comics themselves. See, I was a Marvel Comics fan for nearly twenty years until repeated retcons, convoluted stories, and annual massive “EVENTS” took the luster off my love for the medium. But I never lost my love for the characters. Spider-Man, Wolverine, the X-Men, Captain America, Daredevil…they’re all timeless characters that I really love, even if I was growing a bit tired of what was being done to them in the series of 22 pages every month.
And then a funny thing happened…while I was a devout comic fan I laughed and scoffed at the various cartoons, TV elements and movies based on the comic characters. They didn’t match the stories I was reading, they were never mature enough, and often written for the average attention span of a 5 year-old. Recently, though, I’ve done an about-face. While I don’t have the time, energy or inclination to read the monthly Marvel titles, I am a huge fan of the films, the cartoons (Wolverine and the X-Men ROCKS!), the video games, and the characters still ring very true.
So immediately this news hit like a ton of bricks. Is it a good thing? Will some Disney backing ensure more Marvel animated fare or better quality movies? I dunno, Marvel’s been doing a pretty damn good job on their own these days. Will there be any shake up in the Films or Entertainment division? Let’s hope not.
This is an interesting move that could prove to be very good for the future of the Marvel Comics enterprise, or could it also suddenly offer a frustrating series of legal impasses similar to how Warner and DC go about their Hollywood endeavors?
How will this also impact the toy world? Mattel is a long-standing Disney licensee for many of their toy offerings, while Hasbro has the license for all Marvel related action figures and associated toys. Will this offer any sort of conflict between the two?
At the risk of slowly approaching the “geekdom” line and then taking a running leap over it, this question came to my mind last night as I opened up my two latest acquisitions from ToysRUs.com. I have so far been unable to find any of the new Marvel Universe or Wolverine Origins figures locally, so I took the plunge and ordered Iron Man and Daredevil from ToysRUs.com. Yeah, they ended up costing me more than I would pay at retail, but I just had to see what the big deal was. And, well, I quickly saw what the big deal was. These figures kicked ass. For almost my entire toy collecting life I’ve dreamed of having Marvel comics characters who could seamlessly integrate with my G.I. Joe universe.
After I caught the latest “Creature Double Feature” as a youngster with the live action Spider-Man series on any given lucky Saturday afternoon, I would invariably pick up my ’83 Snake Eyes and use him as Spider-Man, swinging him around the living room. After all, even after I owned the Secret Wars figures, they couldn’t move like G.I. Joe’s, and Snake Eyes fit the bill. Well, now, not only do I have Marvel figures that are the same size and scale, but they can actually move. Nirvana. But, what’s the point of these Marvel figures integrating and moving like Joes if they can’t actually co-exist with the Joes? Well, as I thought about that last night, some various other thoughts sprang to mind. Be forewarned, this is an extremely nerdy exercise in alternate realities, and something I’m almost a bit ashamed to say I put that much time into thinking about last night…
This is hilarious… just a few months ago I posted about Marvel TV shows and I mentioned the immortal Japanese Spider-Man series, and even showcased the introduction to the overseas production. Well, Marvel.com has started posting episodes of the Japanese show, and promises a new episode every Thursday. Best part is, the shows have subtitles, so for the first time I can actually tell what the hell is going on. Classic!
Check out the 70’s cheeziness on Marvel.com here as well.
Yes, I know Wolverine and the X-Men has only barely started airing in the United States, and folks watching this excellent series on NickToons are only a few episodes into it. However, in other parts of the world (namely Canada) the series has been airing on a regular basis since last year, and they have broadcast all the way through episode 23. There are twenty-six episodes total in the first season (a full run down of the episode titles are available in the WikiPedia entry, but beware of spoilers in the episode titles and descriptions).
Anyone else even sorta looking forward to the new Iron Man Animated Series?
Yeah, me neither…at least not until I saw this trailer:
Okay, honestly the trailer is only sorta cool. It’s not mindblowing, it’s not amazing, and I’m still barely sold on the “Iron Man as hip teenager” concept. Actually, I’m not sold at all. But the animation looks nice and fluid, and I dig the dialog. Plus, so far with Spectacular Spider-Man and Wolverine & the X-Men, Marvel’s animated fare has been pretty damn good as of late, so I’ll give this one a shot. And that’s not even considering the 60 minutes of pure awesome that was Hulk Vs.
But this actually opens up a bigger can of worms, which is a YouTube channel that I’d never heard of before, one devoted to the Marvel Universe. This includes movie trailers, motion comics, promo’s for various animated series…and dude. Full episodes of X-Men: Evolution. Sweet!
