Disney to Buy Marvel Comics

Walt Disney Co. announced today that it would buy Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, giving Disney ownership of a huge stable of comic book characters, including Spiderman, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, the Silver Surfer and others.

According to the NY Times, the deal “instantly makes Disney a partner with Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment and 20th Century Fox, all of which have long-term deals to make or distribute movies based on Marvel characters. Coming are new entries in Sony’s ‘Spider-Man’ franchise and Fox’s ‘X-Men’ series.”