Disney Could Buy Spider-Man Back, But Would They Actually Do It?

There has been a lot of speculation and memes about Disney potentially buying Sony to get full rights to the Spider-Man franchise. But is this actually possible? Let's break down the reality of such a scenario.

Disney Already Owns Spider-Man

It's important to note that Disney already owns the rights to Spider-Man because they previously bought Marvel Entertainment. However, the specifics of these rights are crucial to understanding any potential future changes. Sony owns the rights to the movie versions of the Spider-Man characters and related video games, but not the cartoons and comic book iterations of him, as these are part of Disney's Marvel Comics.

Only the Movie Studio Would Be Needed

If Disney were to pursue acquiring Spider-Man, they would not necessarily need to buy the entire Sony corporation. The real focus would be on purchasing Sony Pictures, the division that holds Spider-Man's film rights. Current estimates value Sony Pictures around $30 billion. However, a previous purchase by Disney, 20th Century Fox, cost an astounding $71 billion. This makes a full Sony acquisition seem highly unlikely without a major financial or operational crisis at Sony.

Merger or Future Possibilities

A merger is one possibility, but given Sony's current financial and operational stability, this seems highly improbable. A more realistic scenario might be that Sony faces financial difficulty or makes multiple major strategic blunders, leading them to sell the rights back to Disney. However, given Sony's current size and strong position in the entertainment industry, this is a highly unlikely event.

Furthermore, Sony has ownership over numerous other characters and properties in addition to Spider-Man, making a full acquisition by Disney impractical and highly unwise. Even in a hypothetical scenario where Sony were to conside selling Sony Pictures, Disney would likely only be interested in the specific assets related to Spider-Man, not the entire studio.

Disney Will Continue Dealing with Sony

Disney is currently content to deal with Sony as they do now, getting the Spider-Man characters back on a case-by-case basis. Spider-Man is a cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), consistently delivering high box office returns. Therefore, any potential future dealings are likely to remain as simpler and more pragmatic as possible for both companies.

In conclusion, while there is some speculation about Disney potentially buying Sony or just Sony Pictures, the reality is that such an action would require significant risk and justification. Given the financial and operational stability of Sony, Disney is likely to continue their current approach of managing these rights through existing deals and potentially minor acquisitions of specific assets rather than a full-scale acquisition.