Disney to get Spider-Man, Iron Man and other Marvel characters in $4 billion deal

Chicago Tribune, August 31, 2009 — The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee.

Hasbro banking on “Transformers” hitting it big

Film based on hit toys, �sort of opens another chapter for us,� executive says

MSNBC, June 18, 2007 — Hasbro hopes the upcoming release of "Transformers" — based on the company's "robots in disguise" toys introduced in the 1980s — will herald a new era for the company that in the past few years has remade itself from a toy maker to an entertainment company.