Did Disney buy Marvel to spite WB?

At this point the enmity between Disney and Warner Bros. is well known so what are the odds that Disney bought the only real competition for the WB owned DC comics for at least slightly spiteful reasons? I know profit was a huge reason for the purchase but my question is would Disney have been interested enough to spend what they did on Marvel if Warner Bros. didn't own DC?

i don't think it was out of spite it was just a good move on their part

I can see them picking it up to appeal to the pre-teen, teen male demographic. They are seen as a kiddy company and their older sitcoms appeal to teen girls more, like So Random or Shake it up and what not.

I think it was a factor, but ultimately Disney would of bought Marvel even if Warner Bros didn't buy DC. Disney has shown time and time again, if a company has potential for mass amounts of money, they will buy it.

They bought Pixar, Marvel, and Starwars.

Nah, they did it to capitalize on Marvel's big names.

I doubt it, they didn't buy Star Wars to spite Star Trek.

they realized that Avengers was going to make a billion, and they were in a position to purchase them.

@w0nd said:

I know profit was the primary motivation but I just wonder if the spite thing may have played a small role. I know Disney isn't run by people who are dumb enough to spend a few billion on a petty squabble but I have to think there was at least a hint of spite at the very least afterwards.

I think it was mainly a buisness move, but do I think Disney the move had a tad bit of spite in it.

Disney sucks anyway, Idk what happened.

That's an expensive purchase just for spite.

I think Disney is just enlarging their pantheon of copyrights in the entertainment industry.

Spite? No. Greed? Perhaps.

No. And thats coming from someone who dislikes Disney (as a corporation) a LOT.

Its just a smart business move plain and simple. Marvel owns some of the most iconic characters in the world, and if Disney knows anything its maximizing the profits of IP. I'm sure they watched WB's purchase of DC closely to see the outcome. But no spite involved imho.

just for Spite? No.

To take up a position of permanent dominance. Yes.

Then apply thick Layer of Star Wars to finish and Voila!

Considering Warner has owned DC since the late 1960's and Disney didn't buy Marvel until 2009, unless it was a grand scheme four decades in the making to annoy Warner Bros, I doubt it.

Disney saw how much money the Fox and Columbia Marvel movies made and wanted a piece of the pie, simple as that.

@turoksonofstone: Not saying it was purely spite, I just wonder if maybe spite played a role

Business can be spiteful by nature of competition. So in that context -- Disney did purchase Marvel spitefully because of Warner Brothers owning DC because comic characters has been profitable.

House of Mouse wants to make money.

When you're one of the top dogs in Disney, I don't think you'd give to much care as to who you buy and what it might look like, aslong as it is a solid business move which will payout well in the future then that's all that counts.

Do you honestly think any of the board members of Disney even care about comics in general? At the end of the day, they are businessmen and it was a business move, which has proven to be a good one for Disney, that's all.

Whether it has any repercussions on WB or not it doesn't matter, Disney is a money machine, just like WB.

No, they don't need to. All they need to do is show WB their animated film track record in the 90s (Cats Don't Dance, Quest for Camelot, The King and I, e.t.c)...And the 2000s for that matter, Ant Bully was horrendous.

Disney is too boss for that shit. It's all business to them.

Disney bought Marvel? Oh god... Wolverine: C'mon Mickey Mouse, lets go defeat the evil magneto! Mickey: First lets sing a song!

@supernategames: Are you just finding this out? It happened a couple years ago

@joshmightbe:

Yep, I just found this out. I'm more into DC so I don't pay much attention to marvel.

I think Disney bought Marvel based on sound business principles not to spite Time-Warner.