What has long been expected is now finally official — the pending merger between Marvel Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company is a done deal.
According to an official press release from Marvel Entertainment, a special meeting held this morning between Marvel stockholders resulted in the approval of the deal that was first announced at the end of August.
While the press release notes that the merger's completion "is subject to satisfaction of remaining conditions" of a previously filed statement by Disney, the hard part is certainly over. Barring something unforeseen and catastrophic, Marvel will be owned by Disney as soon as "today after the close of the market."
The earlier announcement that Marvel would be purchased by Disney was easily the biggest comic book news story of the year, if not the entire decade. Just the thought of Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and more joining the entertainment juggernaut that houses Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and their pals is enough to provoke plenty of positive, negative and mixed reactions alike from the comic book community.
It's still far too early to know exactly how Disney's acquisition of Marvel will effect the comic book publisher and its many properties — even if some minor details are already public — but it's only appropriate that the last day of 2009 brought about the finalization of the biggest comic book news story of the year. Here's hoping that 2010 is similarly epic.