LOS ANGELES — Moviegoers have shown a willingness to be entangled by Spider-Man’s web over and over again. Now, as Disney prepares to buy the comic-book powerhouse Marvel, it faces the question of whether fans will also get attached to characters as obscure as Nova (left), Ant-Man and Iron Fist.
The Walt Disney Co. is making a $4.2 billion bet they will as it nears completion of its acquisition this week. Disney is constrained by the fact that big-name Marvel superheroes such as Spider-Man are already locked up in long-term deals with rival movie studios.
“With Marvel, it’s not just about ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Hulk,’ ” Caris & Co. analyst David Miller said. “It’s all about the other 5,000 characters that you and I don’t even know about yet.”
The Associated Press
