Marvel Entertainment Group •
Marvel Films (1993–96) • Marvel Enterprises (1997–98) }} •
Marvel Productions (1986–89) •
Fleer (1992–98) • ToyBiz (1993–98) •
Heroes World Distribution (1994–97) •
Panini (1994–98) •
SkyBox International (1995–98) •
Marvel Studios (1996–98) }} }}
Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. (a.k.a.
Marvel), incorporated on , On January 6, 1989,
Ronald Perelman's
MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings bought Marvel from New World for $82.5 million. The deal did not include
Marvel Productions, which was folded into New World's television and movie business.
Public offering and acquisition Marvel made an
initial public offering of 40% of the stock (
ticker symbol NYSE:MRV) on July 15, 1991, giving $40 million from the proceeds to Andrews Group, Marvel's then direct parent corporation within MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings. In the early 1990s, Marvel began expanding through acquisitions and the formation of new divisions. It purchased the
trading card company
Fleer on July 24, 1992. On April 30, 1993, Marvel acquired 46% of
ToyBiz, which gave the company the rights to make Marvel toys. In 1993 and 1994, Marvel's
holding companies, Marvel Holdings, Inc. and Marvel Parent Holdings, Inc., were formed between it and Andrews Group. The companies issued over half a billion dollars in bonds under the direction of Perelman, which was passed up in dividends to Perelman's group of companies. Later on, Marvel and
Acclaim Entertainment teamed up to provide a video game license in the early 1990s, which eventually formed into a joint label,
Marvel Software in 1994. On July 5, 1994, Marvel acquired
Panini Group, an Italian sticker-maker, followed by
Malibu Comics on November 3 and
Heroes World Distribution, a regional distributor to comic-book shops, in December. On March 10, 1995, it acquired trading card company
SkyBox International with the acquisition being fully completed later in May. Marvel's attempt to distribute its products directly led to a decrease in sales and aggravated the losses which Marvel suffered when the
comic book bubble popped, the
1994 Major League Baseball strike massacred the profits of the Fleer unit, and Panini, whose revenue depended largely on Disney licensing, was hobbled by poor Disney showings at the box office. A minority of dissidents maintain no bubble existed.
Bankruptcy and Marvel Studios In late 1995, Marvel reported its first annual loss under Perelman, which was attributed mainly to the company's large size and a shrinking market. In late 1996, Perelman proposed a plan to save Marvel in which the company would merge with Toy Biz after Perelman spent $350 million for the Toy Biz shares that he did not already own. He would then receive newly issued Marvel shares to maintain his 80% stake. Much of the money to create Marvel Studios came from the sale of
Toy Biz stock. On December 27, 1996, the Marvel group of companies filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At this time,
Carl Icahn, an American businessman and investor, began buying Marvel's bonds at 20% of their value and moved to block Perelman's plan. In December 1997, during the post-bankruptcy reorganization phase, Toy Biz came to an agreement to purchase Marvel from the banks. Later, the rights to names like "Spider-Man" were being challenged. Toy Biz hired an attorney to review its license agreement. Los Angeles patent attorney
Carole E. Handler found a legal loophole in the licensing of the Marvel name and was successful in reclaiming Marvel Enterprises' movie rights to its character Spider-Man. Marvel Enterprises organized itself into four major units, Marvel Studios, Toy Biz, Licensing and Publishing, while in November 1999 adding Marvel Characters Group to manage Marvel's IP and oversee marketing. Marvel named its Marvel New Media president, Steve Milo, in November 2000 to oversee its website. In 2003, Bill Stine purchased back
Quest Aerospace, a 1995 Toy Biz acquisition, from Marvel. In summer 2003, Marvel placed an offer for
Artisan Entertainment, but it was eventually acquired by
Lions Gate Entertainment. A new unit, Marvel International, was set up in London under a president, Bruno Maglione, to extend the company's operation and presence in major overseas markets in November 2003. In December 2003, Marvel Entertainment acquired Cover Concepts from
Hearst Communications, Inc. In November 2004, Marvel consolidated its children's sleepwear-apparel licensing business with American Marketing Enterprises, Inc. In November 2004, the corporation sued
South Korea-based
NCSoft Corp. and
San Jose, California-based
Cryptic Studios Inc. over possible trademark infringement in their
City of Heroes massive multiplayer online game. Marvel settled a film-royalties lawsuit in April 2005 with its former editor-in-chief, publisher and creator,
Stan Lee, paying him $10 million and negotiating an end to his royalties.
Marvel Entertainment In September 2005, Marvel Enterprises changed its name to Marvel Entertainment to reflect the corporation's expansion into financing
its own movie slate. In 2007, several
Stan Lee Media related groups filed lawsuits against Marvel Entertainment for $1 billion and for Lee's Marvel creations in multiple states, most of which have been dismissed. Additionally, a lawsuit over ownership of the character
Ghost Rider was filed on March 30, 2007, by
Gary Friedrich and Gary Friedrich Enterprises, Inc.
Disney subsidiary (2009–2023) On August 31, 2009,
the Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, with Marvel
shareholders to receive $30 and approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each share of Marvel they own. Shareholders from both companies approved the deal on December 31, 2009; it was finalised on the same day. The company was
delisted from the
New York Stock Exchange under its ticker symbol (MVL), due to the closing of the deal. On June 2, 2010, Marvel announced that it promoted
Joe Quesada to
chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment. In June 2010, Marvel set up a
television division headed by
Jeph Loeb as executive vice president. Three months later,
Smith & Tinker licensed from Marvel the character rights for a
superhero digital collectible game for Facebook and Apple's mobile platform. On October 1, 2010, Marvel moved its offices to a suite at 135 W. 50th Street, New York City, under a nine-year sublease contract.
Stan Lee Media's lawsuit against Marvel was dismissed again in February 2011. In March 2013,
Feld Entertainment agreed with Marvel to produce a
Marvel Character-based live arena show. Marvel was also launching a new pop culture and lifestyle web show, "Earth's Mightiest Show". On August 22, 2013, Marvel Entertainment announced that it was working with
Hero Ventures on The
Marvel Experience, a traveling production/attraction. In April 2014,
Hong Kong Disneyland announced the construction of
Iron Man Experience, the first Marvel ride at any Disney theme park. It opened in 2017 and was built on a location in the park's
Tomorrowland. On September 16, 2009, Marvel sought to invalidate those claims. In mid-March 2010 Kirby's estate "sued Marvel to terminate copyrights and gain profits from [Kirby's] comic creations." In July 2011, the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a
summary judgment in favor of Marvel, which was affirmed in August 2013 by the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Kirby estate filed a petition on March 21, 2014, for a review of the case by the
Supreme Court of the United States, but a settlement was reached on September 26, 2014, and the family requested that the petition be dismissed. Marvel president of television, publishing and brand
Dan Buckley was promoted to Marvel Entertainment president in January 2017 adding games, global brand management and the franchise groups to his current responsibilities. In October 2017, Ron Richards began working at Marvel Entertainment as vice president and Managing Editor of New Media. Marvel New Media expanded into a new field with the development of a scripted podcast series,
Wolverine: The Long Night, announced on December 5, 2017. Marvel and
SiriusXM announced on October 22, 2019, a multi-year deal for scripted and unscripted podcast series and themed live events. Marvel Entertainment announced a new pre-school franchise,
Marvel Super Hero Adventures, in September 2017 consisting of a short-form
animated series along with
publishing and merchandise during "Marvel Mania" October. On December 7, 2017, Marvel announced its
Marvel Rising franchise focusing on new characters as youngsters starting with animation in 2018. Marvel Comics is expected to publish material for Marvel Rising, but delayed any announcement on their material. In May 2018, the Walt Disney Company Australia purchased eight-year naming rights to
Docklands Stadium from Melbourne Stadiums Limited and selected the Marvel brand as part of the name. Since September 1, 2018, the stadium has been known commercially as Marvel Stadium. A Marvel retail store and other inclusion of Marvel would be added to the stadium. In October 2019,
Marvel Studios head
Kevin Feige was named Marvel's Chief Creative Officer, overseeing all the creative affairs within Marvel Entertainment in addition to Marvel Studios. Under the structure, Marvel Television and Marvel Family Entertainment (animation) moved to Marvel Studios, with Marvel Entertainment president Dan Buckley reporting to Feige. With the December 2019 announcement of folding of Marvel Television into Marvel Studios came the dismissal of executives of vice president level and above in television and animation under Feige, plus the removal of Brian Crosby as creative director of Themed Entertainment for Marvel Entertainment. On March 29, 2023, Disney laid off Marvel Entertainment's chairman
Isaac Perlmutter and the subsidiary's units were folded into Disney's other divisions. On April 14, 2026, Marvel Entertainment experienced more layoffs, this time under new Walt Disney Company CEO
Josh D'Amaro, that affected its comic division as well as corporate positions. == Units ==