Joss Whedon is back to creating great television. Only this time, it’s The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) stock that stands to benefit.
Hardcore fans remember Whedon for orchestrating seven seasons of the hit show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and another five seasons of the spinoff Angel, both produced by TV arm of 21st Century Fox . Fox also co-produced Firefly and Dollhouse, fan favorites that the network ultimately canceled.
The show is set in (and thereby, extends) the Marvel Cinematic Universe established in the five films leading up to The Avengers. Only in this show, it’s not Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America that propose to boost The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) stock. This time, a team of perfectly human field operatives leads the way.
Sources: YouTube, Marvel Entertainment.
I’m already convinced that The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has a ratings winner on its hands. How can I be so sure? I’ve seen the first episode. Whedon treated the thousands of us who showed up for a panel discussion at San Diego Comic-Con to an advance screening of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
For now, all I can say is that the show offers treats for fans of Marvel’s comics and movies while offering enough mainstream action to appeal to the same demographic that watched Buffy in its heyday, or which tunes in to USA Network’s action thriller Covert Affairs.
Importantly, Marvel appears to have given Whedon and the writers of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. the space to create something much bigger than a weekly TV show. When asked by a fan which comic book characters would appear in the show, Whedon coyly replied that he and his team may introduce “new people that are part of the Marvel Universe that is not yet cinematic.”
in other words, fans and The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) stock investors alike can expect Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to be a doorway to heretofore unseen allies and enemies, with actor Clark Gregg leading the way as team leader Agent Phil Coulson. He embraced Whedon at the panel when asked what it was like “put the suit back on” after dying on screen in The Avengers.
Clark Gregg returns as Agent Phil Coulson in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Source: ABC.
If Gregg loves the role as much as he purports to, it shows on screen in the first episode. Whedon, too, sees the show as a way to play with the entirety of Marvel’s vast assets. “This is a show that has so much history and so much to make … I guess I’m a little excited,” Whedon said at Comic-Con.
After paying $4 billion for Marvel in 2009, you can bet The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) CEO Bob Iger is thrilled with the prospects. Everyday investors should feel similarly: Thousands of Marvel characters have yet to show up in the MCU. Whedon, with a history of producing fan favorites, is about to change that.
The article Disney Stock Is About to Get Another Boost From “The Avengers” originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Tim Beyers is a member of the Motley Fool Rule Breakers stock-picking team and the Motley Fool Supernova Odyssey I mission. He owned shares of Walt Disney at the time of publication. Check out Tim’s Web home and portfolio holdings, or connect with him on Google+, Tumblr, or Twitter, where he goes by @milehighfool. You can also get his insights delivered directly to your RSS reader.The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Walt Disney.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
