It was an exciting time a few months back when it was reported that Disney had purchased Marvel, speaking for myself of course. So you can imagine how disappointed I was when Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that Disney was "content" with the rights to some of Marvel's heavy hitters being under long term contracts to other studios. He continued by saying that, "Disney is fine with focusing simply on the licensing aspect for franchises out of their direct control." With the popularity of comic characters steadily on the rise and movies being optioned at every turn, this deal makes perfect sense for Disney. But it amazed me that they would be "content", even for the time being, with other studios holding the rights to characters like Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Daredevil and The X-Men.
Not to mention certain secondary characters, villains or weapons/elements (not being able to say adamantium in Iron Man 2) involved with the main characters. I was sure they would go out and flex the Disney muscle, or at the very least the Disney money, and bring these rights back home to Marvel Studios. With the exception of another solo Wolverine movie, none of the characters in question have a direct sequel planned at this time. Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four are being re-booted. The X-Men franchise is being shifted in another direction with X-men: First Class. Daredevil, Elektra and Ghost Rider will likely collect dust for the near future. With Marvel Studios producing films for their own characters, it would make sense for Disney to at least try to renegotiate these contracts to bring them into the current Marvel Universe being created. With Iron Man and Hulk in the bag, Captain America, Thor and The Avengers on the way, and almost all other Marvel characters being re-booted, now is the time for action.
It would be nice to see cameos of our favorite characters in each others movies, even if it's just an article in a paper someone is reading. A report on a TV in the background. Being mentioned in conversation between two main characters. You would think these other studios would benefit from tying in their movie to a an established ongoing story. Not that ignoring the other superheroes in THE SAME CITY has hurt them up to this date. What do you say?
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