Interesting (and unexpected) news, I wonder what it will actually mean for the Marvel properties. The general consensus on talkbacks/etc. (like at Newsarama) seem to believe this is horrible news. I could see that side of it, I guess it depends how much Disney "interferes" with Marvel business. Many people have felt that is what holds DC back sometimes (particularly with movies, etc.), is its relationship with Warner Bros. That being said, it could mean next to nothing at all (particularly for actual comic books). Disney owns so much these days (ABC, ESPN, Miramax, etc.), and I don't know if you necessarily see a huge difference there. It will be most interesting to see what it means for the upcoming Marvel movies like Iron Man 2, Cap, Thor, Avengers, etc.
A few bullet points I read over at
CBR:
-Disney executives went to great lengths during the call to make the point that they don’t pretend to be more expert than Marvel is in handling their characters, citing the hands-off relationship Disney has had with Pixar since the acquisition of that studio. Disney said Marvel manages the properties from a business perspective very intelligently and trusts them to make the right decisions for these products for a long time to come.
-With respect to Paramount’s distribution deal with Marvel and the Iron Man franchise, Disney has every intention to respect the deal that’s in place, but noted that it’s in their best interest, overtime, to become the sole distributor of Marvel films.
-When asked if there was potential for cross-polination between Marvel and Pixar, Disney said that Pixar’s John Lasseter has met with key Marvel creative executives recently and the group got “pretty excited, very fast.” Disney will look at all opportunities and thinks there are some exciting product that could come from this sort of partnership.