Marvel Entertainment

• 1. Introduction

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  Marvel Entertainment's own owner once compared the company to Disney. "It is a mini-Disney in terms of intellectual property," said Ronald Perelman, describing Marvel's characters as action heroes rather than the softer, more recognized characters that built Disney's brand. He said the real business was creating and marketing characters, not just publishing them.

  That confidence did not stop the company from crashing through bankruptcy court, changing owners more than once, and eventually landing inside the very studio Perelman had measured it against. This is the story of how a comic book publisher survived corporate collapse, courtroom fights over its own characters, and a series of name changes, on its way toward becoming, and finally dissolving into, a subsidiary of a much larger entertainment company. How did Marvel end up in bankruptcy? Who fought over the film rights to characters like Spider-Man and Ghost Rider, and over the legacy of artist Jack Kirby? And what finally happened to the company's name and structure by the end of its story?

• 2. Building An Empire

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  On the 6th of January 1989, Ronald Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings bought Marvel from New World Entertainment. The price was $82.5 million. The deal excluded Marvel Productions, which stayed inside New World's television and movie business. On the 15th of July 1991, Marvel sold 40 percent of its stock to the public under the ticker MRV on the New York Stock Exchange. That offering sent $40 million to Andrews Group, Marvel's parent company at the time.

  Marvel then expanded fast. It bought the trading card maker Fleer on the 24th of July 1992. On the 30th of April 1993, it acquired 46 percent of ToyBiz, gaining the rights to manufacture Marvel toys. Andrews Group named Avi Arad, from ToyBiz, president and chief executive of the new Marvel Films division. Between 1993 and 1994, two holding companies, Marvel Holdings and Marvel Parent Holdings, issued more than half a billion dollars in bonds. Perelman directed the deals, and the proceeds moved upward as dividends to his other companies. Marvel also teamed with Acclaim Entertainment on video game licensing in the early 1990s; that partnership became the joint label Marvel Software in 1994.

  More acquisitions followed. Marvel bought the Italian sticker maker Panini Group on the 5th of July 1994. It acquired Malibu Comics that November 3rd, then the regional comic shop distributor Heroes World Distribution that December. On the 10th of March 1995, Marvel bought the trading card company SkyBox International, completing the purchase in May. The spending had consequences. Marvel's attempt to distribute its own products directly cut into sales. Losses grew when the comic book market itself collapsed. A Major League Baseball strike in 1994 hurt profits at the Fleer unit. Panini, whose revenue leaned on Disney licensing, suffered when Disney films underperformed at the box office. Not everyone agreed the comic market had actually collapsed; a minority of observers maintain no bubble ever existed.

• 3. Collapse And Bankruptcy

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  Late in 1995, Marvel reported its first annual loss under Perelman's ownership, blamed on the company's size and a shrinking market. On the 4th of January 1996, Marvel laid off 275 employees. Perelman proposed a rescue plan later that year: merge Marvel with Toy Biz after spending $350 million to buy out the Toy Biz shares he did not already own, then take newly issued Marvel shares to hold onto an 80 percent stake. Separately, in July 1996, Marvel filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise money for a new private entity, Marvel Studios, funded largely by selling off Toy Biz stock.

  On the 27th of December 1996, the Marvel group of companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Carl Icahn, an American businessman and investor, started buying up Marvel's bonds at 20 percent of their face value, then moved to block Perelman's plan. In February 1997, Icahn won bankruptcy court approval to take control of the company's stock. By June 1997, he had won the right to replace Marvel's board, Perelman included. In December 1997, Toy Biz reached an agreement to buy Marvel from its banks. That same month, the bankruptcy court instead appointed a trustee to run the company, replacing Icahn. In April 1998, with the legal fight still unresolved, the New York Stock Exchange delisted Marvel's stock.

  Perelman's exit did not end his legal exposure. In August 2008, he paid $80 million to settle a lawsuit accusing him of diverting $553.5 million in notes while he still controlled the company.

• 4. Reinvention As Marvel Enterprises

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  On the 2nd of June 1998, ToyBiz and Marvel Entertainment Group merged into a single company, Marvel Enterprises, bringing Marvel out of bankruptcy. In February 1999, Marvel sold its Fleer and Skybox trading card units to a company owned by Alex and Roger Grass, a father and son, for $30 million. Around the same time, rights to names like Spider-Man came under challenge, and Toy Biz hired an attorney to review its licensing agreements. Los Angeles patent attorney Carole E. Handler found a loophole in how the Marvel name had been licensed, and used it to reclaim Marvel Enterprises' movie rights to Spider-Man.

  Marvel Enterprises then organized itself into four units: Marvel Studios, Toy Biz, Licensing, and Publishing. In November 1999, it added a fifth, Marvel Characters Group, to manage its intellectual property and marketing. The following year, Marvel named Steve Milo president of Marvel New Media, tasking him with running the company's website.

  Expansion continued through the early 2000s. In 2003, Bill Stine bought back Quest Aerospace, a company Toy Biz had acquired in 1995. That summer, Marvel bid on Artisan Entertainment, but Lions Gate Entertainment won the deal instead. In November 2003, Marvel opened a new unit, Marvel International, in London, run by president Bruno Maglione, to grow the company's overseas business. The following month, Marvel bought Cover Concepts from Hearst Communications. In November 2004, Marvel folded its children's sleepwear and apparel licensing into American Marketing Enterprises. That same month it sued South Korea based NCSoft Corp and California based Cryptic Studios over the online game City of Heroes, alleging trademark infringement. In April 2005, Marvel settled a film royalties lawsuit with Stan Lee, its former editor in chief, publisher, and creator, paying him $10 million and ending his royalty claims. Four months later, in September 2005, Marvel Enterprises renamed itself Marvel Entertainment, a change meant to reflect its move into financing its own movies.

• 5. Fighting Over The Characters

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  In 2007, several groups tied to Stan Lee Media filed lawsuits against Marvel Entertainment seeking $1 billion and claiming rights to Lee's Marvel creations. Courts dismissed most of them, and a further Stan Lee Media claim against Marvel was dismissed again in February 2011. On the 30th of March 2007, Gary Friedrich and Gary Friedrich Enterprises filed a separate lawsuit over ownership of the character Ghost Rider.

  A larger fight was already brewing over Jack Kirby's work. On the 16th of September 2009, the Kirby estate served notices of termination on Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Sony Pictures, aiming to reclaim control of Silver Age Marvel characters Kirby had co-created. Marvel moved to invalidate the claims. In mid March 2010, the estate sued Marvel directly, seeking to terminate copyrights and collect profits from Kirby's comic creations. In July 2011, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled for Marvel in a summary judgment, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling in August 2013.

  The Kirby estate did not stop there. On the 21st of March 2014, it petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States to review the case. A settlement arrived instead, reached on the 26th of September 2014, and the Kirby family asked that the petition be dismissed. By then, Marvel was already owned by a much larger studio: the Walt Disney Company.

• 6. Becoming Part Of Disney

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  On the 31st of August 2009, the Walt Disney Company announced it would acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. Marvel's shareholders were offered $30 in cash plus about 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they held. Both companies' shareholders approved the deal on the 31st of December 2009, and it closed the same day, ending Marvel's run on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MVL.

  Marvel kept building under new ownership. On the 2nd of June 2010, it promoted Joe Quesada to chief creative officer. That same month, Jeph Loeb took charge of a new television division as executive vice president. Three months later, the company Smith & Tinker licensed character rights from Marvel for a superhero digital collectible game built for Facebook and Apple's mobile platform. On the 1st of October 2010, Marvel moved its offices into a 60,000 square foot suite at 135 West 50th Street in New York City, under a nine-year sublease.

  New ventures kept arriving through the 2010s. In March 2013, Feld Entertainment agreed to produce a live arena show built around Marvel characters. Marvel separately launched a pop culture and lifestyle web show called Earth's Mightiest Show. On the 22nd of August 2013, Marvel announced it was working with Hero Ventures on The Marvel Experience, a traveling production. In April 2014, Hong Kong Disneyland announced it would build the Iron Man Experience, the first Marvel ride at any Disney theme park. It opened in 2017, built on a site in the park's Tomorrowland section. In May 2018, the Walt Disney Company Australia bought eight-year naming rights to Melbourne's Docklands Stadium and chose the Marvel name for it. Since the 1st of September 2018, the venue has been known commercially as Marvel Stadium, complete with its own Marvel retail store.

  Marvel's own leadership kept shifting too. In January 2017, Dan Buckley, already president of television, publishing, and brand, was promoted to president of Marvel Entertainment, adding games, global brand management, and the franchise groups to his role. In October 2019, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige was named the company's chief creative officer, putting him in charge of creative affairs across both Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment. Marvel Television and Marvel Family Entertainment's animation arm moved under Marvel Studios as part of that shift, with Buckley now reporting to Feige. When the folding of Marvel Television into Marvel Studios was announced in December 2019, the company dismissed vice president level and above executives in television and animation, and removed Brian Crosby as creative director of Themed Entertainment. That reshuffle changed one part of the business, but Marvel's presence outside comics and film had already been growing somewhere else entirely: its own website and podcast network.

• 7. Podcasts And New Media

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  Four flagship shows aired under Marvel New Media, also known as Marvel Digital, straight from the company's own website: THWIP! The Big Marvel Show, The Marvel Minute, Marvel LIVE!, and Marvel Top 10. In October 2017, Ron Richards joined as vice president and managing editor of New Media, while on-air host Lorraine Cink was hired as senior creative producer. On the 5th of December 2017, Marvel New Media announced its first scripted podcast series, Wolverine: The Long Night.

  The unit kept expanding its slate. On the 7th of April 2018, at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, Marvel New Media announced a new round of shows. In March 2019, Shane Rahmani became senior vice president and general manager of new media. On the 10th of April 2019, Disney+ revealed a slate of ten unscripted series, two of which came from Marvel New Media. After Rahmani left for Google, podcast host Ryan Penagos took over as vice president and creative executive.

  On the 22nd of October 2019, Marvel and SiriusXM announced a multi-year deal covering scripted and unscripted podcasts and themed live events. The first four scripted shows were built around Black Widow, Hawkeye, Star-Lord, and Wolverine, with a fifth planned to bring all four characters together. The partnership did not last. In early 2023, as part of cost-cutting across Disney, the in-house audio team behind Marvel's podcasts shrank from six people to three. The SiriusXM co-production deal ended at the same time, making Wastelanders its final series.

• 8. The Company Dissolves

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  On the 29th of March 2023, Disney laid off Marvel Entertainment's chairman, Isaac Perlmutter, and folded the subsidiary's remaining units into other parts of the company. Perlmutter had held that chairman role since the 1st of January 2017, after an earlier stint running Marvel between 1993 and 1995.

  The cuts did not stop there. On the 15th of April 2024, Marvel Entertainment saw further layoffs, described as an effort to gain efficiencies from folding the company into Marvel Studios and other Disney departments following Perlmutter's exit the year before. On the 14th of April 2026, Marvel Entertainment employees were laid off again, this time under Disney's new chief executive, Josh D'Amaro. By April 2026, the cuts had reached into the comic book division itself, the part of the business that had given Marvel its name in the first place.