In a sort of surprise, Disney and WEBTOON have entered into a “non-binding term sheet” to develop a new digital comics platform that will feature current comic book runs and include decades of past comics from across Disney’s portfolio including Marvel, Star Wars, 20th Century Studios and more.
Disney also has moved to acquire a 2% equity interest in WEBTOON Entertainment. The proposed equity investment and the commercial collaboration are subject to the parties entering into definitive agreements on mutually agreeable terms and customary closing conditions.
More than 35,000 comics from Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, Pixar and 20th Century Studios will be available in a single digital comics service with one convenient subscription, adding more stories than ever before in one location. As an expansion upon Marvel Unlimited, Marvel’s current digital comics subscription service, the new platform which will be built and operated by WEBTOON Entertainment, will provide decades of iconic comics for current Marvel Unlimited subscribers and bring in even more fans to experience storytelling from across the Disney portfolio along with a selection of WEBTOON Original stories. The new platform will include a mix of vertical and traditional formats for archived comics, current comic book runs and original stories.
As part of the Disney+ Perks program, Disney+ subscribers who want to further explore the stories behind some of their favorite franchises will be able to access a curated selection of comic titles in the new app at no additional charge.
WEBTOON Entertainment and Disney has previously announced a multi-year collaboration featuring nearly 100 reformatted classics and all-new original series tailored for WEBTOON’s vertical-scroll format.
The new digital comics platform will target a wide distribution. Select comics will also be localized for WEBTOON’S Korean and Japanese platforms.
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Source: Graphic Policy
