Sci-Fi Storm

Disney’s first major benefit of acquiring Marvel may be in the distribution rights to the upcoming Marvel films The Avengers and Iron Man 3, with Paramount assigning the rights to Disney for a guaranteed minimum up front of $115 million against the distribution fees. Paramount will retain the rights on Thor and Captain America.

It appears that the big green guy’s alter ego will get a new face for the upcoming Avengers multi-superhero movie. Marvel has announced that Ed Norton will not return to the role of Bruce Banner that he himself took over from Eric Bana for The Incredible Hulk, with the producers opting to recast the role, alluding to wanting someone who might work better in an ensemble. Norton’s agent issued his own statement calling Marvel’s statement “offensive” and saying that Norton was “enthusiastic at the prospect of being a part of the ensemble cast.”

After Spider-Man 4 slipped in its release schedule due to an apparent impasse over the script and characters, Sony/Columbia have decided to jettison plans, along with Raimi and the cast, and instead go with a reboot of the franchise based on a script by James Vanderbilt, and getting back to the superpowers vs. teen angst angle. But if they already have the script, how long has the studio been planning this?

Disney is acquiring Marvel for about $4 billion in cash and stock. This will make for some very interesting interactions, as Universal Studios Theme Parks have rights to some of the characters…obviously those agreements will still be in place for the foreseeable future, but what happens when they expire is anyone’s guess.