Daily Comics Digression #33: Marvel, Disney, and Fox's Mé·nage à Trois
Daily Comics Digression #33: Marvel, Disney, and Fox's Mé·nage à Trois
Marvel has had a long history of ups and downs. It seems that at times, they've had to sell the furniture to try and keep the lights on. Back before it was self evident that superheroes would be cinematic money machines, Marvel sold the film rights of some properties to Sony and Fox. Unfortunately, these contracts were not easily undone. Fox, for example, can basically keep the rights to the Fantastic Four as long as they try to make a movie every seven years.
Some fans despaired that Marvel would never recover these film rights, and we would never see a united cinematic universe where all the Marvel heroes could be together. Recently, however, Disney has begun a deal to acquire Fox's movie division. Comic book fans have expressed excitement over this prospect, though it seems that it's far from being a sure thing. The government may even get involved due to a potential monopoly forming.
And this is the point that needs to be considered. On the one hand, I would love to see Dr. Doom and the Fantastic Four show up in an Avenger's film. But it would be foolish to thoughtlessly let a desire for short-sighted gratification allow a mega corporation like Disney gain even more power and dominance over the media marketplace. Imagine what it will be like when every major summer blockbuster comes from only one company. Creativity will not flourish in the shade of one company and its intellectual property lawyers.
Now, more than ever, it is of the utmost importance that we create new properties and stories so that the future of media is not solely built upon the house of mouse.
Some fans despaired that Marvel would never recover these film rights, and we would never see a united cinematic universe where all the Marvel heroes could be together. Recently, however, Disney has begun a deal to acquire Fox's movie division. Comic book fans have expressed excitement over this prospect, though it seems that it's far from being a sure thing. The government may even get involved due to a potential monopoly forming.
And this is the point that needs to be considered. On the one hand, I would love to see Dr. Doom and the Fantastic Four show up in an Avenger's film. But it would be foolish to thoughtlessly let a desire for short-sighted gratification allow a mega corporation like Disney gain even more power and dominance over the media marketplace. Imagine what it will be like when every major summer blockbuster comes from only one company. Creativity will not flourish in the shade of one company and its intellectual property lawyers.
Now, more than ever, it is of the utmost importance that we create new properties and stories so that the future of media is not solely built upon the house of mouse.
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