The Curious Case of Spider-Man & Hulk Rights (Or Keep Hope Alive That the Rights Will Revert)

[InCali]

PLEASE tell me we're not going to start actively cheering for Disney to expand their monopoly again? Cause the "Screw competition, I want muh superheroes!" schtick is already stretched pretty thing.

I don't think most people are cheering on Disney buying Sony. In fact, Disney, in all likelihood, CAN'T buy Sony. It wouldn't be allowed. I think what most people are saying is that they want Spidey back in the MCU. Consider if Superman or Batman (probably a close equivalent to Spidey in MCU) movie rights were owned by another studio. Wouldn't people who love DC comic characters want them back in the fold? I know for sure that I would. Having Spidey back in the MCU isn't expanding a monopoly.

Are there some people out there who would like to see Sony bought by Disney? Maybe, but I think most people on this particular thread care WAY more about Spidey than Sony. Fair?

 

[Drunken Rider]

Consider if Superman or Batman (probably a close equivalent to Spidey in MCU) movie rights were owned by another studio. Wouldn't people who love DC comic characters want them back in the fold? I know for sure that I would. Having Spidey back in the MCU isn't expanding a monopoly.

I don't think that for a company buying the remaining parts of an IP that truly belongs to them like live-action film/tv rights back is considered a monopoly. But to some people, it's the same to them as buying a different studio/company in the same field.

 

[Detective Conan]

This image is apparently from Venom 2.

 

[InCali]

I don't think that for a company buying the remaining parts of an IP that truly belongs to them like live-action film/tv rights back is considered a monopoly. But to some people, it's the same to them as buying a different studio/company in the same field.

I agree with you and can't understand why someone would think otherwise.

 

[Dark Raven]

I don't think that for a company buying the remaining parts of an IP that truly belongs to them like live-action film/tv rights back is considered a monopoly. But to some people, it's the same to them as buying a different studio/company in the same field.

Agree with this. If your assets were scattered to the wind and you want to get them back all under one roof, that's not trying to monopolise things.

 

[psylockolussus]

PLEASE tell me we're not going to start actively cheering for Disney to expand their monopoly again? Cause the "Screw competition, I want muh superheroes!" schtick is already stretched pretty thing.

It is not disney's fault that Cats flopped, Dolittle underperformed, Birds of Prey is currently underperforming, and the other studios have more misses than hits...

Like I said in the other thread, those other studios would just need to compete better and come up with movies that the mainstream would want to see.

If there's such monopoly, Joker wouldn't gross a billion.

 

[Kuwolski]

PLEASE tell me we're not going to start actively cheering for Disney to expand their monopoly again? Cause the "Screw competition, I want muh superheroes!" schtick is already stretched pretty thing.

So is the complaining about the deal that is nearly 2 years old. Frankly, it's not even close to a monopoly. Disney had the biggest year in history at the box office in 2019, yet their market share combined with the Fox output only raised 1% from the prior year to 37%. So other studios improved as well and actually have a say in the matter. I wouldn't be surprised if WB takes the yearly crown in 2020, they'll own the summer this year with Tenet and Wonder Woman alone.

 

[MahvelBaby!]

If it was considered a monopoly so be it *sips tea* #evilempire

 

[Darkprime]

I do find it a bit sad that we as ************** fans are seemingly rooting for a major Hollywood studio to fail. Just because Marvel doesn't own one of its major characters. If Sony sell out it means one less voice, one less option for writers and directors and content creators to pitch their ideas to. Hollywood is becoming homogenized enough as it is. I know it sucks that one of marvels major characters aren't owned by them but actively rooting for a studio to fail and get bought out is a bit sad. I do wonder though why its seemingly ok for DC to own all their characters and not be considered a monopoly yet if Marvel owns all of there's they are apparently a monopoly lol. Is it because Marvel is so much more successful than DC? Idk if this is a rabbit whole worth going down but i'm just sharing my thoughts out loud.

 

[NotNickFury]

I do find it a bit sad that we as ************** fans are seemingly rooting for a major Hollywood studio to fail. Just because Marvel doesn't own one of its major characters. If Sony sell out it means one less voice, one less option for writers and directors and content creators to pitch their ideas to. Hollywood is becoming homogenized enough as it is. I know it sucks that one of marvels major characters aren't owned by them but actively rooting for a studio to fail and get bought out is a bit sad. I do wonder though why its seemingly ok for DC to own all their characters and not be considered a monopoly yet if Marvel owns all of there's they are apparently a monopoly lol. Is it because Marvel is so much more successful than DC? Idk if this is a rabbit whole worth going down but i'm just sharing my thoughts out loud.

Last I checked, and I can't tell if you're serious or not, DC doesn't own several studios under its own umbrella, as Disney does, which is where the whole "monopoly" argument comes into play. That and, to my knowledge, DC/Warner Bros. didn't sell the film rights to some characters to other studios.

 

[Darkprime]

Last I checked, and I can't tell if you're serious or not, DC doesn't own several studios under its own umbrella, as Disney does, which is where the whole "monopoly" argument comes into play. That and, to my knowledge, DC/Warner Bros. didn't sell the film rights to some characters to other studios.

Sure dc doesn't own several studios under its umbrella but AT&T does much like Disney. And I am being serious. Marvel getting its characters back being bad thing is a argument that was thrown around a lot in 2018 when the Fox deal was going through. A lot of critics kept throwing around the argument how we wouldn't get unique films like Logan or First Class anymore. Crying about the death of the r-rated movie and what not.(Because apparently Fox was the only studio doing r-rated movies? lol) And how all Marvel movies becoming MCU was a bad thing. Because everything will look the same. etc etc. Obviously I dont agree with that argument because its a ridiculous notion but the complaints were out there.

 

[psylockolussus]

At&T also owns HBO, several cable networks like Cartoon Network, owns half of the CW, has successful videogame companies, WarnerMusic (part of the big three in the music industry which Disney doesn't have), New Line Cinema. Walt Disney isn't the biggest company. Comcast is also bigger than them.

 

[Kuwolski]

Sure dc doesn't own several studios under its umbrella but AT&T does much like Disney. And I am being serious. Marvel getting its characters back being bad thing is a argument that was thrown around a lot in 2018 when the Fox deal was going through. A lot of critics kept throwing around the argument how we wouldn't get unique films like Logan or First Class anymore. Crying about the death of the r-rated movie and what not.(Because apparently Fox was the only studio doing r-rated movies? lol) And how all Marvel movies becoming MCU was a bad thing. Because everything will look the same. etc etc. Obviously I dont agree with that argument because its a ridiculous notion but the complaints were out there.

I mean, the majority of people want Spider-Man back, the critics against it are a minority and just use any excuse to say why it's bad for a majority of reasons. The R-rated one feels hollow to me, because Disney have made many R-rated films in the past and will again under 20th Century. I do believe DP will be rated R, but I understand the skepticism until we see it. Will it be under the 20th Century banner or MS? We'll see. Or won't.

As for Disney v AT& T. The way I see it, AT&T is a faceless, boring old phone company with little to no emotional connection to it's customers, except for when they are complaining about the services they offer. That isn't a joke, that's literally the biggest emotional investment customers have with the company. The definition of the faceless corporation that offers services. Disney's whole DNA since Walt started the company was about building an emotional experience and relationship with the audience that expanded beyond the frame of an animation or film, hence Disneyland (as one example). They've also cultivated an image with people, ie the opposite of the faceless corporation. So one reacts more emotional (or irrationally) to them (good or bad) when certain news items are presented. I'm certain it's why many people think Disney has more influence on things then they actually do, or are bigger then they actually are (emotional projection). What they have more then anyone is a loyal customer base and built-in legacy (and acquired legacy) of fans. Love that or hate it, but it is what it is.

Also, if people think they dominate the cinema landscape, take a look at the licensed revenue they make on their characters and franchises per annum. It'll make your head spin. Nobody is even close.

 

[Kuwolski]

At&T also owns HBO, several cable networks like Cartoon Network, owns half of the CW, has successful videogame companies, WarnerMusic (part of the big three in the music industry which Disney doesn't have), New Line Cinema. Walt Disney isn't the biggest company. Comcast is also bigger than them.

Comcast is actually smaller then Disney. AT&T is slightly bigger then Disney (AT&T 275 billion market cap v Disney 260 billion), but in fairness to the discussion, I expect Disney to move past them quite healthily in the coming years unless AT&T can leverage their assets to make them a dominant force in 5G.

 

[InCali]

Man, I don't even know what to say, but, naturally, I'm going to give it a try.

First off, I'd like to point out that it doesn't matter whether someone is or isn't rooting for Sony to fail. 99% of people out there don't give a $#!t one way or the other. Anytime you get a fairly large group of people together, you're going to find people whose opinions are outliers. There are people who want Sony to fail for whatever reason; some of them think it may help get Spidey back in the MCU, but, even if Sony DID fail, that isn't necessarily the logical outcome.

The bottom line is that most reasonable CBM fans want the MCU and DCEU whole. Wish away....let me know how that works out for you.

 

[NotNickFury]

Sure dc doesn't own several studios under its umbrella but AT&T does much like Disney. And I am being serious. Marvel getting its characters back being bad thing is a argument that was thrown around a lot in 2018 when the Fox deal was going through. A lot of critics kept throwing around the argument how we wouldn't get unique films like Logan or First Class anymore. Crying about the death of the r-rated movie and what not.(Because apparently Fox was the only studio doing r-rated movies? lol) And how all Marvel movies becoming MCU was a bad thing. Because everything will look the same. etc etc. Obviously I dont agree with that argument because its a ridiculous notion but the complaints were out there.

You're right, those are ridiculous notions. As ridiculous as thinking that this discussion has anything whatsoever to do with Marvel and DC's success rates and how WB/DC has access to all of its characters.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I do find it a bit sad that we as ************** fans are seemingly rooting for a major Hollywood studio to fail. Just because Marvel doesn't own one of its major characters. If Sony sell out it means one less voice, one less option for writers and directors and content creators to pitch their ideas to. Hollywood is becoming homogenized enough as it is. I know it sucks that one of marvels major characters aren't owned by them but actively rooting for a studio to fail and get bought out is a bit sad. I do wonder though why its seemingly ok for DC to own all their characters and not be considered a monopoly yet if Marvel owns all of there's they are apparently a monopoly lol. Is it because Marvel is so much more successful than DC? Idk if this is a rabbit whole worth going down but i'm just sharing my thoughts out loud.

No one is saying Marvel having all of their characters is a Monopoly. However, people are saying that Disney owning all the studios is a monopoly. If Marvel could acquire those rights without having to buy Sony, then I don't think anybody would complain. But that also seems unlikely given the history between the companies. Therefore the bad outweighs the good in this case.

People trying to spin it as people are arguing that Marvel having all their characters is a monopoly or either willfully misrepresenting what people are actually saying or just don't understand the core argument.

 

[InCali]

No one is saying Marvel having all of their characters is a Monopoly. However, people are saying that Disney owning all the studios is a monopoly. If Marvel could acquire those rights without having to buy Sony, then I don't think anybody would complain. But that also seems unlikely given the history between the companies. Therefore the bad outweighs the good in this case.

People trying to spin it as people are arguing that Marvel having all their characters is a monopoly or either willfully misrepresenting what people are actually saying or just don't understand the core argument.

Well, there was one person who was saying something to the effect that people wanted marvel to expand their monopoly. In my opinion, most people just want Spiderman back in the MCU. Most people are not rooting for Disney to buy Sony pictures And understand that that’s not going to happen. Sorry if this is coming out a little bit off, but I’m using voice recognition on my iPhone

 

[Spider-Fan]

Well, there was one person who was saying something to the effect that people wanted marvel to expand their monopoly. In my opinion, most people just want Spiderman back in the MCU. Most people are not rooting for Disney to buy Sony pictures And understand that that’s not going to happen. Sorry if this is coming out a little bit off, but I’m using voice recognition on my iPhone

Honestly, unless I'm missing a post the only time I ever see it referred to as Marvel expanding their Monopoly it is when someone is trying to misrepresent what other people are saying about Disney buying studios. I'd be happy to admit I was wrong if someone could post some examples.

 

[InCali]

You’re not wrong. That was the one Person I was talking about. Carp. I’m getting off this damn iPhone

Phew....this is better. No wonder people argue with each other so much when they are on their phones. What's the world coming to? When I was a kid....LOL.

Anyway, I think the following post is a straw man argument. "Oh, please don't tell me we're back to saying X", when, in fact, the vast majority of people don't feel that way and don't care.

"PLEASE tell me we're not going to start actively cheering for Disney to expand their monopoly again? Cause the "Screw competition, I want muh superheroes!" schtick is already stretched pretty thing (sic)."

The idea that any reasonable person would believe that Disney would be allowed to buy Sony is, well, unreasonable. Even if they DO want Disney to buy Sony, the FTC doesn't care what they think and their desires are irrelevant. Most CBM fans want Spidey in the MCU, don't give a hoot about Sony and saying otherwise is reflective of, IMO, a personal bias and a nitpick.

 

[MahvelBaby!]

I've already beat that Tom Rothman horse to death I'll wait for him to give me a reason to hate again

 

[Dark Raven]

I've already beat that Tom Rothman horse to death I'll wait for him to give me a reason to hate again

There are other horses of more concern to talk about like Beta Ray Bill.

 

[MahvelBaby!]

That's a horse I'd love

 

[Dark Raven]

That's a horse I'd love

A much more stable topic!

 

[InCali]

That's a horse I'd love

I know I'm in a minority here, but I'm not all that jazzed about seeing Beta Ray Bill. First off, I think it's a lame name. Secondly, it's visually very bizarre. Don't get me wrong, I like bizarre....it's just that....

So, to Beta Ray Bill, I say neigh....