Go, Go Power Rangers. No, seriously, go, go.

Earlier this week, the news broke that Saban, the original license-holder of The Power Rangers, had purchased the franchise back from Disney. Saban sold The Power Rangers to Disney in 2001 as part of a larger deal involving the then-named Fox Family Channel.

Now, Saban has re-claimed control of his mighty-morphin' team of martial arts teens.

The Power Rangers have been a meet-and-greet fixture at Disney's Hollywood Studios for many years. This acquisition by Saban has many (including myself) wondering if (or more likely, when) The Power Rangers will teleport away from DHS forever.

With Disney no longer holding the rights, it has to be only a matter of time.

In the meantime, what could replace The Power Rangers as meet-and-greet options for the Streets of America portion of DHS?

The answer, in my own personal opinion, may come from Disney's newest partner: Marvel.

While there may be some legal issues to steer around, it would be a huge draw if meet-and-greets with Spiderman, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, the Fanstastic Four and more were available at DHS.

Sorry Red Ranger, but Spidey would be an enormous draw, far greater than The Power Rangers. And it fits - the streets of New York are Spidey's hangout anyway. Disney could add a few spider webs here and there to help enhance the Spiderman theme.

Of course, there's that little issue with Universal Studios to contend with.

As I understand it (and I'm no lawyer), the sticking point between Disney and Universal over the Marvel characters relates to attractions. Personally, I don't know that a meet-and-greet would count as an attraction. As I said, I'm no lawyer, so there may be other restrictions that would prevent major Marvel characters from coming to DHS.

There's always Captain Marvel.... SHAZAM!!!

Report: Marvel characters not likely at WDW

Don't look for Marvel characters to show up at any of the Florida-based Disney parks anytime soon.

Walt Disney Co. Chief Financial Officer Tom Scaggs told analysts today that the company will focus on the use of Marvel characters at other theme parks instead of Walt Disney World because of the existing licensing deal between Marvel and Universal Orlando. That deal gives Universal exclusive rights, east of the Mississippi River for several Marvel characters including Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Hulk.

More on this story from The Orlando Sentinel.

Top 10 Disney/Marvel crossovers

With the news today that Disney is purchasing Marvel (and its 5,000+) characters, I figured it would be fun to imagine some of the possible (well, maybe not-so-possible) crossover combinations.

And here we go...

10. Stitch joins the X-Men (Disney puts Stitch in everything else, why not the X-Men?)

9. The Fantastic Four and The Incredibles will work together (and realize they've all got the same powers!)

8. Monsters Inc. 2 will be a more extreme story with the Hulk, Wolverine, and Dr. Doom joining the scare floor.

7. Spiderman 4 will have Mickey Mouse playing the part of the Web-head.

6. Rapunzel will now be played by Mr. Fantastic in drag. No need for special effects now.

5. Mini-Mouse takes on a whole new meaning.

4. An Ape-Man attraction will show up at Animal Kingdom (along with any other Marvel characters even remotely related to animals)

3. The Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure will be replaced by the Avengers Race to Save the World (or something like that). Of course, Kim Possible will join the Avengers, though Ron Stoppable doesn't make the cut.

2. Fantasmic! will be changed to Magical Marvel!

1. Much like the infamous hidden Mickey, we now get to look for hidden Stans (as in Stan Lee) in every Disney/Marvel movie and the parks. He makes a cameo in all the Marvel movies, so why not slip in an animated Stan Lee in some Disney films?


What crossover do you see? Post a comment!!

Universal spokesperson says Disney/Marvel deal won't impact park

More from today's stunning news that Disney is purchasing Marvel:

Questions quickly arose over the future of Marvel-themed attractions located at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando.

Here's what a Universal spokesperson said to the Orlando Sentinel:
"Marvel Super Hero Island at Universal's Islands of Adventure and the Marvel characters are a beloved and important part of the Universal Orlando experience. They will remain so," said Tom Schroder, a Universal spokesman. "Our guests are going to get to meet Spider-Man and all our other Marvel characters. We believe our agreement with Marvel stands and that the Disney/Marvel deal will have no impact on our guest experience."

Disney CEO Bob Iger said the following on CNBC today:
"Marvel characters have already proven to be strong in terms of theme park attraction and we believe there are a lot of opportunities around the world, not in every one of our parks because there are some existing agreements that we obviously have to honor, but in a number of places for us to use the Marvel characters to basically help us grow our theme park business and better entertain people."

My take:
While it appears Spiderman, the Hulk, the X-Men and Doctor Doom won't be coming to Walt Disney World (Universal apparently has the east coast rights for as long as the attractions are operating), you can bet that no new characters will be coming to Universal. I wouldn't be surprised if a team of Disney lawyers also will be looking to find some holes in the deal. In the meantime -- it appears the doors are wide open for Spiderman and the rest of the Marvel cast to swing their way into any other Disney park, for instance, Disney's California Adventure. This also may be the concept Disney's been looking for to finally build the third California-based park.

This is all just guesswork right now. One thing's for sure, Disney is looking to the future and they've just grabbed one of the two major players in the superhero genre. I wonder what DC Comics thinks about this? Of course, DC Comics and Warner Bros. teamed up years ago.

Mickey and Spiderman to become corporate cousins

You read that right! Believe it or not, Mickey Mouse will soon be related to Spiderman, the X-Men and the Hulk.

Today, Disney announced they are purchasing the Marvel Entertainment Co. for four-billion dollars. Below is a news release from Disney:


Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009, Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. At closing, the amount of cash and stock will be adjusted if necessary so that the total value of the Disney stock issued as merger consideration based on its trading value at that time is not less than 40% of the total merger consideration.

Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, August 28, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.

"This transaction combines Marvel's strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney's creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories," said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. "Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney."

"We believe that adding Marvel to Disney's unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation," Iger said.

"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel's Chief Executive Officer. "This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney's tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world."

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney's global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel's properties.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Marvel have each approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, effectiveness of a registration statement with respect to Disney shares issued in the transaction and other customary closing conditions. The agreement will require the approval of Marvel shareholders. Marvel was advised on the transaction by BofA Merrill Lynch.