Sony & MARVEL are friends again; Spider-Man is back in the MCU

Mike S

Well-Known Member
I would agree with you, except I would expect this to be Hollands movie 100%. I'd expect most of the multiverse characters will just have a very limited roll, if not just glorified cameos. I just don't see Feige not having a good plan here. With DC and flashpoint, I can see it going off the rails for sure. But I don't think that will be the case here.
If anything the other Spider-Men are a one movie deal and at the end they return to their respective universes.
 

brodie999

Active Member
Yeah. It's not like they're gonna make a fourth Spider-Man film or third ASM film with Sam Raimi or Marc Webb. Their stories could be nicely wrapped up in the MCU Spider-Man 3.
 

brodie999

Active Member
If true, that would make a lot of sense.

Or they could just buy Sony, too. :D
Yeah, that'd be a great idea. Then they'd regain Spider-Man permanently. Not only that, but they'd also gain the rights to Ghostubsters, Men in Black, Jumanji, Charlie's Angels, Stuart Little, Zombieland, Resident Evil, Underworld, Madhouse, Insidious, and Bad Boys and animation franchises like the Smurfs, Hotel Transylvania, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and Open Season as well. As well as video game franchises like Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, Uncharted, Sly Cooper, the Last of Us and God of War. Then they'd merge Sony Animation into Walt Disney Animation Studios.
 

AnotherDayAnotherDollar

Well-Known Member
That would be a horrible idea, actually. While some franchises have some real good potential long term, others do not. Resident Evil also is owned by Capcom and Sony cannot mine it for merchandise and licensing. Same with Smurfs and Cloudy, both of which are owned by 3rd parties. Sony also is in a lot of markets that make zero sense for Disney to be in. I am honestly kind of confused why you keep thinking Sony would be a good acquisition target for Disney.

More importantly though, Disney's Debt to Equity and leverage ratio are at a historical high due to the Fox acquisition.


It would be financially irresponsible to take another huge acquisition before getting the house in order. SNE market cap is currently ~100B and would get DIS in much further debt. Even if you are just talking about SPE, which you aren't, that's still a 10B+ acquisition, which is something that would guarantee further downgrades of DIS stock into Junk territory. Disney has to deleverage at this time and get back to AA/A+ credit rating that they have historically been in. The stock has surged due to Disney+, but they are still very much in a historically bad place when it comes to leverage.

They have been recently downgraded to BBB+ at S&P due to covid. While Christine McCarthy mentioned last year that they'll still invest in the company while they get the leverage down I would be very surprised if they took on a huge amount of debt in doing so.

That said, they are very serious about streaming and have said they are looking into investing big time on Disney+. They have mentioned the revenue generated from Disney+ is going right back into it, and I assume they mean mostly originals, but I wouldn't put it past them to acquire the streaming rights to IPs they own, but not the distribution, to certain movies/tv shows (Marvel (Spider-Man, Hulk, Lionsgate), Muppets, Indiana Jones, Titanic, etc) so to that end I can see how this report is believable.

However let's wait for a more reputable source to report on this supposed DIS - SNE deal for Spider-man extension. It is not specifying if Disney would acquire or license the streaming rights to the properties (the latter would just be kicking the can down the road). Also, I have never heard of geekosity, so to me it's like a reading a random Youtube comment.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
That would be a horrible idea, actually. While some franchises have some real good potential long term, others do not. Resident Evil also is owned by Capcom and Sony cannot mine it for merchandise and licensing. Same with Smurfs and Cloudy, both of which are owned by 3rd parties. Sony also is in a lot of markets that make zero sense for Disney to be in. I am honestly kind of confused why you keep thinking Sony would be a good acquisition target for Disney.

More importantly though, Disney's Debt to Equity and leverage ratio are at a historical high due to the Fox acquisition.


It would be financially irresponsible to take another huge acquisition before getting the house in order. SNE market cap is currently ~100B and would get DIS in much further debt. Even if you are just talking about SPE, which you aren't, that's still a 10B+ acquisition, which is something that would guarantee further downgrades of DIS stock into Junk territory. Disney has to deleverage at this time and get back to AA/A+ credit rating that they have historically been in. The stock has surged due to Disney+, but they are still very much in a historically bad place when it comes to leverage.

They have been recently downgraded to BBB+ at S&P due to covid. While Christine McCarthy mentioned last year that they'll still invest in the company while they get the leverage down I would be very surprised if they took on a huge amount of debt in doing so.

That said, they are very serious about streaming and have said they are looking into investing big time on Disney+. They have mentioned the revenue generated from Disney+ is going right back into it, and I assume they mean mostly originals, but I wouldn't put it past them to acquire the streaming rights to IPs they own, but not the distribution, to certain movies/tv shows (Marvel (Spider-Man, Hulk, Lionsgate), Muppets, Indiana Jones, Titanic, etc) so to that end I can see how this report is believable.

However let's wait for a more reputable source to report on this supposed DIS - SNE deal for Spider-man extension. It is not specifying if Disney would acquire or license the streaming rights to the properties (the latter would just be kicking the can down the road). Also, I have never heard of geekosity, so to me it's like a reading a random Youtube comment.
Just to be clear when everyone is talking about Disney buying Sony they are talking about Sony Pictures, not the entire Sony Corp. And the reason why most want Disney to buy SPE is because of regaining Spider-Man rights (while some also wants SPEs catalog of other films). There have been rumors for a number of years now that Sony Corp would be putting SPE up for sale, so most think Disney should buy it.

However I'm still of the opinion that Disney could get Spider-Man rights back if the sale happens without buying SPE. That has been up for debate on these boards before, but I still think the contract leaves it open to a possible reverting of the rights back to Marvel.

Anyways, just wanted to clarify its not the entire Sony Corp that people are talking about.
 

AnotherDayAnotherDollar

Well-Known Member
Just to be clear when everyone is talking about Disney buying Sony they are talking about Sony Pictures, not the entire Sony Corp. And the reason why most want Disney to buy SPE is because of regaining Spider-Man rights (while some also wants SPEs catalog of other films). There have been rumors for a number of years now that Sony Corp would be putting SPE up for sale, so most think Disney should buy it.

However I'm still of the opinion that Disney could get Spider-Man rights back if the sale happens without buying SPE. That has been up for debate on these boards before, but I still think the contract leaves it open to a possible reverting of the rights back to Marvel.

Anyways, just wanted to clarify its not the entire Sony Corp that people are talking about.

We have already disagreed on if the rights revert, so no need to revisit that topic.

The other poster mentioned Disney gaining franchises such as Ratchet and Clank, God of War, Uncharted, TLOU, et.al. which are under SIE, not SPE, which would imply a full acquisition of SNE. Regardless I also addressed if they were to acquire just SPE it would still be a 11 figure acquisition and not feasible or the best use of capital at this time. I can see Disney using capital to buy some catalog rights, if only streaming rights, as I mentioned, but I don't see it going further than that.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
We have already disagreed on if the rights revert, so no need to revisit that topic.

The other poster mentioned Disney gaining franchises such as Ratchet and Clank, God of War, Uncharted, TLOU, et.al. which are under SIE, not SPE, which would imply a full acquisition of SNE. Regardless I also addressed if they were to acquire just SPE it would still be a 11 figure acquisition and not feasible or the best use of capital at this time. I can see Disney using capital to buy some catalog rights, if only streaming rights, as I mentioned, but I don't see it going further than that.
I wasn't speaking about that individual poster. I'm pretty sure they don't understand the Sony corporate structure. You weren't quoting any specific poster in that post, so I was speaking in just generalities.

As for Disney, they have less debt than both AT&T and Comcast. So while maybe not the best use of capital today, in the next couple years (2022/2023 and beyond) they could be in a much better position to make a run at SPE.

Anyways, I'm not in the "Disney needs to buy Sony Pictures" camp. You know my position on the rights stance. So I still expect there to be a determination on that in the near future.
 

AnotherDayAnotherDollar

Well-Known Member
I wasn't speaking about that individual poster. I'm pretty sure they don't understand the Sony corporate structure. You weren't quoting any specific poster in that post, so I was speaking in just generalities.

As for Disney, they have less debt than both AT&T and Comcast. So while maybe not the best use of capital today, in the next couple years (2022/2023 and beyond) they could be in a much better position to make a run at SPE.

Anyways, I'm not in the "Disney needs to buy Sony Pictures" camp. You know my position on the rights stance. So I still expect there to be a determination on that in the near future.

CMCSA and T having current bad leverages and high debt has nothing to do with the debate at hand, so not sure what that has to do with anything. Furthermore comparing debt to equity ratio of IP providers to media companies is not really apples to apples.

If and when Disney gets back to historically good leverage ratio there are way better acquisition targets for them than SPE.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
CMCSA and T having current bad leverages and high debt has nothing to do with the debate at hand, so not sure what that has to do with anything. Furthermore comparing debt to equity ratio of IP providers to media companies is not really apples to apples.

If and when Disney gets back to historically good leverage ratio there are way better acquisition targets for them than SPE.
Comcast and AT&T are now media companies, despite the fact they have other large business segments outside of media. So comparing the debt loads of similar companies is always going to happen. Especially when topics of acquisition targets come up, given the fight that Comcast and Disney just went through over Fox. So its always going to be part of the conversation.

Also I'll repeat again and make it more clear, I'm actually in agreement with you, I don't think Disney should buy SPE. So in reality we're not really disagreeing here, so not sure why you're trying to debate me when I agree with you.
 

AnotherDayAnotherDollar

Well-Known Member
Comcast and AT&T are now media companies, despite the fact they have other large business segments outside of media. So comparing the debt loads of similar companies is always going to happen. Especially when topics of acquisition targets come up, given the fight that Comcast and Disney just went through over Fox. So its always going to be part of the conversation.

Also I'll repeat again and make it more clear, I'm actually in agreement with you, I don't think Disney should buy SPE. So in reality we're not really disagreeing here, so not sure why you're trying to debate me when I agree with you.

I am not trying to debate you, I'm replying to your assertion that - and I'm paraphrasing here - "maybe in the next couple of years they'd be in a better position to make a run at buying SPE".

You can compare whatever you want btw, but it's not an apt comparison to compare telecom company's finances to media ones. T and CMCSA have large media assets, but their bread and butter still lies in telecom - by far - and they are telecom companies no matter how one tries to spin it.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
I am not trying to debate you, I'm replying to your assertion that - and I'm paraphrasing here - "maybe in the next couple of years they'd be in a better position to make a run at buying SPE".
Not saying that I think they SHOULD, just that they COULD once in a better position. There is a difference. And I would think you would be able to understand that.

Once again my personal opinion on the topic is that I don't think Disney SHOULD buy SPE. I agree there are better targets out there.

So lets just agree that we agree here.

You can compare whatever you want btw, but it's not an apt comparison to compare telecom company's finances to media ones. T and CMCSA have large media assets, but their bread and butter still lies in telecom - by far - and they are telecom companies no matter how one tries to spin it.
Well its a comparison that comes up on every major financial news networks, so its financial analysts that are doing it. Again it was part of the conversation when Comcast and Disney fought for Fox. So whether you don't think its a good comparison or not doesn't mean its not happening. Also I'll just add in the world of business diversification you're going to have companies that are in very different business segments being compared more often, especially in the world of media. Its the reason why tech companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Apple are now being compared to old school media companies.

The lines have become blurred, like it or not.
 

AnotherDayAnotherDollar

Well-Known Member
Not saying that I think they SHOULD, just that they COULD once in a better position. There is a difference. And I would think you would be able to understand that.

Once again my personal opinion on the topic is that I don't think Disney SHOULD buy SPE. I agree there are better targets out there.

So lets just agree that we agree here.


Well its a comparison that comes up on every major financial news networks, so its financial analysts that are doing it. Again it was part of the conversation when Comcast and Disney fought for Fox. So whether you don't think its a good comparison or not doesn't mean its not happening. Also I'll just add in the world of business diversification you're going to have companies that are in very different business segments being compared more often, especially in the world of media. Its the reason why tech companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Apple are now being compared to old school media companies.

The lines have become blurred, like it or not.

I certainly can and hence why I replied that there would be better targets. As you stated, you agree with that.

The comparison is not a good one and when CMCSA made a counterbid to buy FOX that was actually brought up multiple times on why CMCSA could have a worse leverage than DIS. It's actually pretty common knowledge due to the nature of the core business and one only has to look at their 10K or quartely financials to see that.

Tech companies are still tech companies at their core while diversifying to tend to a growing market. You wouldn't call Google a gaming company because they launched Stadia, would you? There's no reason to call T, CMCSA, AAPL, AMZN media companies when they aren't. In the case of the former two they have media subsidiaries. Comparing them is an incorrect way to compare two very different companies, but I digress. Old school media companies are the ones changing and either adapting (i.e. Disney) or being acquired (i.e. Universal/Warner) by telecom companies (and probably soon tech companies).

Anyways, this conversation is getting off topic, so I'm seeing my way out. You can erroneously
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
I certainly can and hence why I replied that there would be better targets. As you stated, you agree with that.

The comparison is not a good one and when CMCSA made a counterbid to buy FOX that was actually brought up multiple times on why CMCSA could have a worse leverage than DIS. It's actually pretty common knowledge due to the nature of the core business and one only has to look at their 10K or quartely financials to see that.

Tech companies are still tech companies at their core while diversifying to tend to a growing market. You wouldn't call Google a gaming company because they launched Stadia, would you? There's no reason to call T, CMCSA, AAPL, AMZN media companies when they aren't. In the case of the former two they have media subsidiaries. Comparing them is an incorrect way to compare two very different companies, but I digress. Old school media companies are the ones changing and either adapting (i.e. Disney) or being acquired (i.e. Universal/Warner) by telecom companies (and probably soon tech companies).

Anyways, this conversation is getting off topic, so I'm seeing my way out. You can erroneously
You trailed off there at the end.

So anyways I'll just say its not me that is making these comparison, its financial analysts that are doing it. And even the companies themselves are changing how they define themselves, for example Comcast considers itself a media and tech company. Every time one of these acquisitions happen it blurs the line more and more, making the comparison more apt.
 

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