The Big Disney and Fox Merger is a Done Deal! Marvel Studios is Getting a Bunch of Their Characters Back!

The deal has officially closed! The Walt Disney Company will acquire 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion dollars! This deal also includes other entertainment and sports assets. This is a historic merger and now Marvel has the rights back to several of their X-Men properties and hopefully The Fantastic Four, which is actually pretty amazing and exciting.

For years these Marvel characters have been locked out of the MCU because of deals made during the 1990s when Marvel was struggling and having major money issues. Now with this epic merger, Marvel is getting the rights back to a lot of those characters and you can bet your ass that Kevin Feige is going to take full advantage of it! 

Disney is also picking up properties like Avatar, The Simpsons, FX Networks and National Geographic will also fold into Disney’s portfolio according to the official release.

It's pretty insane that this deal actually went through! I remember when it was just a pipe dream that a lot of people didn't think would happen. Well, it happened and here are some of the key elements of the deal listed by Variety:

• The deal values the 21st Century Fox assets in the transaction at $66.1 billion, including $13.7 billion in 21st Century Fox debt, or $28 a share. The enterprise value of the deal is $69 billion.
• Disney chairman-CEO Bob Iger has extended his contract with the company for another two years, through the end of 2021, in order to oversee the integration of the assets.
• 21st Century Fox shareholders will receive 0.2745 Disney shares for each Fox share held, giving Fox shareholders about 25% of Disney.
• 21st Century Fox will spinoff Fox Broadcasting Co., Fox Sports, Fox News, Fox Television Stations and a handful of other assets into a new company that will have revenue of $10 billion and earnings of about $2.8 billion. The 20th Century Fox lot in Century City will also remain with the spinoff Fox company.
• 21st Century Fox will continue to pursue its acquisition of the remaining 61% stake in Euro satcaster Sky that it does not already own with the intention of Disney taking it over when the Disney-Fox transaction is completed.
• Disney expects to realize $2 billion in cost savings from combining Disney and Fox’s overlapping businesses within two years of the deal’s closing.
• Disney expects the regulatory review of the acquisition to take as long as 18 months.

Disney CEO Bob Iger had this to say in a statement:

“The acquisition of this stellar collection of businesses from 21st Century Fox reflects the increasing consumer demand for a rich diversity of entertainment experiences that are more compelling, accessible and convenient than ever before. We’re honored and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building, and we’re excited about this extraordinary opportunity to significantly increase our portfolio of well-loved franchises and branded content to greatly enhance our growing direct-to-consumer offerings. The deal will also substantially expand our international reach, allowing us to offer world-class storytelling and innovative distribution platforms to more consumers in key markets around the world.”

21st Century Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch added:

“We are extremely proud of all that we have built at 21st Century Fox, and I firmly believe that this combination with Disney will unlock even more value for shareholders as the new Disney continues to set the pace in what is an exciting and dynamic industry. Furthermore, I’m convinced that this combination, under Bob Iger’s leadership, will be one of the greatest companies in the world. I’m grateful and encouraged that Bob has agreed to stay on, and is committed to succeeding with a combined team that is second to none.”

There are obviously still a lot of things to iron out with this deal including the management plans of the operations that this merger entails. 

There is a lot going on here with this deal, but I'm just happy and excited about what the future holds for these Marvel characters as they come back to the fold. I can't wait to see what Kevin Feige has planned for them! As long as they allow Deadpool and X-Force to let them be the R-rated films they need to be, things should be fine.

What are your thought on all this!?