WILL the Incredible Hulk become the Incredible Duck?

Last week, entertainment giant Walt Disney Co, home to Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, announced it was buying Marvel Entertainment, creator of comic book superheroes like Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, for US$4 billion ($5.7billion).

The prospect of one day seeing Spider Mouse instead of Spider-Man has not gone down well with some fans.

Twitter was ablaze with anger last week after Mickey Mouse swooped on Marvel and made off with a clutch of muscle-bound superheroes, reported the Times.

'Thanks, Disney and Marvel. Now you gave me a reason to blow my brains out,' wrote one outraged fan.

Even in German, Twitterangst was hard to miss: 'Oh Gott, Disney hat Marvel aufgekauft!'

At the Forbidden Planet comic shop in Manhattan, Mr Joseph Chan, a 21-year-old student, explained the indignation to the Times: 'It's really depressing. I don't want to see Donald Duck versus the Hulk, and baby versions of all Marvel's characters.'

But among the business community, it is seen as a smart bet.

Disney already has a tight hold on the tweenage girl market with hits such as Hannah Montana and High School Musical. Marvel gives it access to hard-to-reach young males who spend most of their time on the Internet or playing video games, areas where Disney wants to grow.

The deal, which Disney CEO Bob Iger called 'a great opportunity at the right time', has the potential to yield billions of dollars for Disney by turning Marvel's library into movies, Internet properties, video games, merchandise, television shows and comic books.

But others say it is, at best, going to take some time to pay off and, at worst, may have increased some risks for the entertainment behemoth, reported Reuters.

'Did (Disney) management pay a large price? Yes. But I think we won't know if it's a good deal until two or three years down the road,' said Mr James Marsh, an analyst with investment bank Piper Jaffray.

In the short run, some analysts warn that Disney's stock may trend lower, as the studio battles a recession-hit consumer- and ad-spending landscape in addition to the lack of an immediate payoff from its Marvel division.

This article was first published in The New Paper.