13 Years Ago Disney Bought Marvel for a Bargain

In the time that Bob Iger was the CEO of The Walt Disney Company he became very well known for expanding Disney’s robust portfolio of brands with notable acquisitions. Though the first of these was Pixar in the early 2000s, on August 31, 2009, Disney announced what would become one of their biggest purchases ever, Marvel Entertainment. Bought by Disney in a deal valued at around $4 billion, the House of Mouse picked up the House of Ideas and walked away with what was probably the bargain of the century (at least until they bought Lucasfilm a few years later). 

Marvel has long had a history of bad financial problems, and has been on the verge of bankruptcy more than once. When Disney bought Marvel it came after the Marvel Cinematic Universe was just two movies deep, but also when the film rights to their stable of characters were still scattered across Hollywood and while Marvel Studios had already signed a distribution deal for the MCU with Paramount Pictures. It wouldn’t be until 2012’s Marvel’s The Avengers that Disney would begin releasing all of Marvel Studios’ movies and since then their success has only been magnified.

Starting with The Avengers, and not counting the co-produced Spider-Man movies with Sony Pictures, Marvel Studios has released 21 feature films and brought in over $21 billion at the global box office. The next four years will see the continued expansion of the MCU with over thirteen movies from Marvel Studios already scheduled to debut between now and 2027.

“Did I in my right mind think [Marvel Studios] would deliver the kind of value that’s delivered? Ya know, I’d have to say honestly that it’s exceeded my expectations,” former CEO Bob Iger told The Old Man and the Three in a previous interview. “Looking back, it probably shouldn’t have. I mean, they [Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, other Marvel Studios creatives] are so talented that I should’ve known that, if we provided them the resources, they would produce at even greater heights, and they have.”

That number is also only accounting for the feature films released by Marvel Studios. Disney has also expanded their Marvel reach into countless toys, merchandise, apparel, television shows, theme park attractions, home media releases, and so much more. In short, the return on investment with Marvel is seemingly incalculable, but can be set to the tune of billions of dollars.