Has Disney Bitten Off Too Much?
When Disney purchased Marvel in 2009, people started to see the inklings of an empire. Then Disney purchased Lucasflim in 2012 and we knew that Disney was trying to take over the damn world. When it was rumored, and now confirmed, that Disney was going to buy 20th Century Fox, that empire seems to have come to fruition. If the purchase goes through, Disney would be the owners of a large portion of the studio market. The major studios would include Disney (including Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox), Universal, Warner Bros., and Sony. Sure, there would still be three other major studios, but Disney would essentially be four studios in one.
Most of us are okay with that since they’ve been cranking out bomb ass movie after bomb ass movie for years now. Not only that, but with the acquisition of Fox, X-Men and Fantastic Four movies that aren’t absolute trash would be on the horizon. The thought of those heroes slotting right into our current Marvel Cinematic Universe is a mouth-watering fantasy of our nerdiest dreams.
Despite all the hype from our corners of the universe, those on the Hill have taken notice of this deal and could be on the hunt to shut it down.
You see, there’s this little thing called antitrust law that is in place to stop companies like Disney from ruling the world. While we all like to think that the House of Mouse would never violate laws and participate in malicious business practices, you simply never know when it comes to businesses. (I mean, have you see the prices of churros at Disneyland?!) That is exactly why antitrust laws exist. To keep us from even reaching a situation where a company can start ruling the market so much that it harms the market.
Unsurprisingly then, top politicians have called for hearings to discuss the Disney-Fox merger. When you take a step back and think about it, this move makes a ton of sense.
While all we see with this is adding more heroes to our already incredible MCU, politicians see a major move by Disney. Honestly, major move is probably putting it lightly. This is a move that would shake up the industry in a big way. As Representative David Cicilline (D-R.I.) pointed out, “Disney will gain more than 300 channels, 22 regional sports networks, control over Hulu, and a significant portion of Roku.” Yikes.
The TV portion is something that slipped my mind when I first heard of this move since I rarely even consume anything on TV these days. This move wouldn’t just be about movies. Disney would now own TV and news outlets. These guys in Washington D.C. may be onto something here.
As much as I love Disney, they certainly are approaching monopoly territory. They had been heading in that direction for quite some time, but this move would tip the scales farther into that direction than we’ve ever seen in this industry.
I think that we will likely see this deal restructured a bit after the government gets involved. Especially when I’d have to believe that the main reason Disney is even going after this is for the comic book properties. Although that could again be my rose-colored glasses talking. They’re well aware what they’d be getting with a deal of this magnitude.
After it’s all said and done, I have a feeling that Disney will still walk away with the rights to the comic book characters that they desire, but leave the rest on the table. That way they can continue to bolster the MCU without threatening to cripple the entire industry.
Whatever ends up happening, one thing is quite clear: Disney wants to be our one-stop shop for just about everything. Whether they are allowed to do so is a question we could soon find out the answer to.