I remember, in 2009, when I heard the news that Marvel was purchased by Disney. I felt as bad as I did when I heard Chris Farley had died. Why let a "family" company, that produced movies like High School: The Musical and the "Buddies" movies, have control of what an elite comic book company can release. Marvel took a huge risk transitioning from one relatively small medium to a relatively huge one. Although Howard the Duck wasn't the highest grossing film ever, it was a start. The risk did pay off, though. In 2000 one of the highest grossing comic book movies ever was released, X-Men.
I remember when I was a child, getting home from school and watching X-Men everyday. The animation was the best I have ever seen on television and the stories were borderline adult material. I can't tell you how excited I was when I heard that X-Men was being released. This would be the start of many times I would count down a movie's release date.
Since X-Men was released, Marvel continued to produce blockbusters. Spider-Man (1, 2, and ,3) and Iron-Man to name a few. Sure there were some duds but they never made me feel disappointed. I guess Last Stand made me feel like they didn't finish what they started. I really hope they go back and do a four horsemen and Apocalypse movie. But, it did remind me of how the animated series ended. With Professor X trapped in the Astral Plane. So, for me, Marvel released a few great movies and a few movies worth watching.
The reason I brought up the subject is, my mom went to Malaysia and came back with some gifts for her family. She knew my son loved comic books and got him a Spider-Man key-chain. But not just any Spider-Man key-chain, but one that looks like a mouse in a Spider-Man costume. Here's a picture of it:
It was strange at first, I didn't think any thing about it. Later, I realized this was the impression made to other countries. You could blame this on sneaking around a copyright, but I don't buy it. If I lived in another country and I wanted to make a Spider-Man toy, I would. My guess is that something was lost in translation. They don't know the difference between Disney and Marvel. Is that where we as Americans are headed? In 10 years are we not going to know the difference either?
Since Disney bought Marvel there have been some good movies and some still worth watching. So not a big difference in quality and keeping a captive audience. But, what could have been? I think Captain America could have been more gritty and authentic. I felt as though, were risks could have been took they took the safe route. I have felt that with all the movies released since Iron Man with the exception of Iron Man and Wolverine in FC. I blame this on Disney and the notion that the broader the audience the better. Marvel wasn't built on that. I like the darker storylines and risk taking.
I just hope we never have to make the decision between Spider-Man and Mickey and the Avengers.
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