Will Disney Disrupt the Marvel Universe?

The Walt Disney Co.'s acquisition of Marvel Entertainment on Monday was a keen business move and could signal an improving economic climate, but I hope the $4 billion deal doesn't also mean the loss of compelling comic-book storytelling. I'm not a longtime comic-book fan, as are my husband and brother. I didn't store comic books in crates like my brother (my guilty pleasures were Harlequin romances and romantic suspense novels), but I have a special affection for Peter Parker and the tribulations of Spider-Man. And because my husband has continued to school me about the ins and outs of the Marvel Universe, I wonder about the potential Disney-fication of the Marvel characters. Will Disney dampen the dramatic voice of superheroes like Thor? Will Marvel compromise realistic characters for pixie dust?

Don't get me wrong. I was weaned supercalifragilisticexpialidociously on Disney -- from "Mary Poppins" to "Peter Pan" and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks." I yelped and hollered at the Pirates of the Caribbean when the pirates were features of a Disneyland ride -- not characters in movies with Johnny Depp's trademark eyeliner. When I was babysitting years ago, I was more touched watching "The Lion King" than the kid was. But Disney joining up with Marvel is like a collision of galaxies. Pinocchio and Iron Man? The Hulk and Tinker Bell? Aladdin vs. Galactus? The Fantastic Four and Hannah Montana?

Disney President and CEO Robert Iger said the goal "is not to rebrand Marvel as Disney." I hope he enforces that point of view. As my husband said, "You can't wuss-down" the characters of the Marvel Universe. You can't push them into a small world after all. If Marvel's story treasures are conformed to a Mickey Mouse template, the Magic Kingdom won't just lose the coveted audience of young males. They will lose me.

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