Disney Mum on Marvel Integration - Publishers Weekly

Disney Mum on Marvel Integration - 1/11/2010 - Publishers Weekly: "Although speculation over how Disney’s marketing juggernaut will take advantage of Marvel’s popular characters has been a hot topic since the deal was announced, both sides have remained completely mum about details of how the companies will interact. Most observers hope that Disney will treat Marvel as it has Pixar—an independent company that retains the style that made it successful in the first place.

While many of Marvel’s crown jewel characters are not available for Disney’s film division—Sony holds a virtual license in perpetuity for Spider-Man, for instance, and Fox has the rights to make spinoffs of the famed X-Men franchise—the deal unites the first and fourth biggest licensing brands, and Disney is likely to take advantage of Marvel’s characters in its immensely successful licensed publishing division.

With parallel changes taking place at Marvel’s biggest superhero rival, DC, which is set to announce a new publisher within the month and has rebranded itself as DC Entertainment, 2010 is certain to be a year of change for both companies, and the superhero publishing landscape will likely have a very different look in a year’s time."