Tinkerbell has some new friends to introduce, but they aren’t princesses this time. Disney is getting into the super-hero game by partnering with one of the biggest names in the comic book industry: Stan Lee. Variety reports that Stan Lee and his production company POW! Entertainment has signed an exclusive first-look deal with House of Mouse.
The deal is particularly lucrative because it extends beyond just movies. The idea is that POW! will develop characters and content for all areas that Disney deals in – and that’s a wide spectrum of entertainment options. Movies, DVDs, television, video games, computer software, printed word – you name it and Disney has some sort of connection with it, putting quite a few options out there. While neither side would give specifics, Lee offered up the following: "I can only say we're working on a number of things, and the one common denominator is they're all high-concept projects, and hopefully, they'll all lend themselves to being great franchises.”
Now this deal doesn’t give Disney access to the legacy of characters Lee has created, most of which are owned by Marvel Entertainment and already have movie rights optioned by some studio or another. To Lee, that’s one of the perks of the deal however: "The whole purpose is to come up with new things, and Marvel owns the old characters anyway. That's what makes it fun for me; if it was just resuscitating old things, I wouldn't have been that interested.”
This isn’t Disney’s first step into the super-hero industry. 2004’s The Incredibles really stepped things up for super-hero movies and might have done some damage to the movie adaptation of Lee’s creation, The Fantastic Four which had to compete with similar characters done better.
What this deal does add hope for is an extended franchise Disney can use to build a fanbase of boys. The Disney Princess line guarantees a continual source of entertainment for little girls, but Disney’s attempts to create a “Disney Heroes” line always seems to fizzle out, leaving nothing in particular for boys.
Personally, I'm incredibly excited about the idea of having Lee develop new characters and potential franchises for Disney. This is a heck of a lot better then Warner Brothers' attempt to turn their characters into super-heroes with that dreadful "Loonatics Unleashed" idea.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Disney-Deals-With-Stan-Lee-5375.html
