Sony has Spider-Man (2002-2007) and Ghost Rider (2007), Paramount has Iron Man (2008), Universal has The Incredible Hulk (2003-2008), Lionsgate has The Punisher (2004-2008), and Fox has Daredevil (2003), Elektra (2005), Fantastic Four (2005-2007) and the X-Men series (2000-2009).
Warner doesn’t have any Marvel Comics properties, since they already own DC Comics — but their sister studio New Line Cinema did produce the Blade trilogy (1998-2004).
The one major studio that’s missing from this list? Disney. Which makes it all the more surprising that Disney announced today that they are acquiring Marvel Entertainment and its roster of over 5,000 characters for approximately $4 billion.
Presumably the existing movie franchises will stay right where they are, until the deals with all the various studios expire.
But with all the acquisitions Disney has made over the years, presumably it won’t be long before we get a cross-over between Marvel’s superheroes and Pixar’s The Incredibles, as performed by Muppets in the Oscar-bait art-house stylings of a Miramax film.
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