Who could have bought Marvel, other than Disney?

  1. Time Warner: Tops the list by default despite being a non-starter. Owns Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. and their respective character portfolios. But they also own DC.
  2. NBC Universal: Owned the Universal theme parks, which already had the rights to use the Marvel characters. Owned Sci Fi/Syfy, along with USA, which would have eventually proved a good fit for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But despite Universal's flair for marketing, NBCU had no kids' cable channels, and Despicable Me had yet to be introduced (and with it, the Minions). Also, at the time, Universal Studios was itself something of an also-ran straggler as opposed to the king it was in 2015.
  3. Viacom: Owned Nickelodeon, was already tied to Marvel via Marvel Studios's movies going through Paramount. But it's hard to see Marvel prospering much under them.
  4. Sony Corporation: Sony Pictures held the movie rights to Spider-Man and Ghost Rider, and Thor had to be reclaimed from them. Sony Computer Entertainment could have developed video games based on Marvel properties and made them exclusive to the PlayStation platforms. A long-shot, though.
  5. News Corporation: 20th Century Fox held the film rights to X-Men, Fantastic Four, Deadpool, and Daredevil. Otherwise, a non-starter.
  6. CBS Corporation: Non-starter.
  7. General Mills: Impressive character portfolio of its own, not to mention the ongoing narrative in the public mind of when the hell the were going to let the Trix rabbit just have a bowl of fucking Trix already.

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