Unpacking the Disney Deal
The House of Mouse joins the roster at Big Green, or is it the other way around?
The biggest news of the day isn’t the Q2 revenue report from WEBTOON, it’s a press release that’s been picked up by multiple outlets because… well, it’s more interesting.
WEBTOON Entertainment and Disney Team Up to Bring fan-favorite comics from Disney, Marvel, 20th Century Studios, and Star Wars™ to WEBTOON
You can see the release yourself here, but the headline is really simply: Disney, Marvel, and 20th Century titles are coming to WEBTOON.
Phase 1: Secret Invasion
There are two phases to this new partnership. The first will undoubtedly come quickly with non-exclusive titles being published digitally on the platform after they’ve been reformatted for scroll view.
Based on what we’ve seen recently, WEBTOON has gotten much btter at optimizing page view titles for the scroll format with “Fullmetal Alchemist” being a beautifully rendered title.
Regardless of their view count or their performance, the conversion work on mangas and comics on WEBTOON looks amazing. FMA in particular shines on the screen and compared to what has come before, WEBTOON really has set a new standard for how digital comics can be re-worked for scroll view.
The first set of launch titles for WEBTOON have already been announced as:
Amazing Spider-Man (2022 - present)
Avengers (2012)
Star Wars (2015)
Disney As Old As Time: A Twisted Tale
The stand out here is “Disney As Old As Time: A Twisted Tale” which is a western-manga based on a novel from one of Disney’s reimaginings of their classic fairy tale fare. Compared to the Marvel titles, this one should vibe better with Big Green’s native audiences, but we’ll have to see to know for certain.
As far as the superhero fare, I don’t anyone is expecting much in terms of revenue or even viewership on the WEBTOON platform. The possibility of existing superhero comic book readers migrating to WEBTOON isn’t likely. And while moving established superhero comics to WEBTOON gives them exposure to current generations, it’s really a stepping stone to something greater.
There is a case to be made for non-exclusives performing well on WEBTOON. The French WEBTOON platform was, for a long time, the only platform that actively published non-exclusive content. And, due to the declining sales on other platforms and general failure of the Korean webtoon platforms to penetrate the French audience base, these titles did well.
But I doubt Disney or WEBTOON care much about that. There are bigger fish to fry.
Phase 2: A Brand New Day
The real meat of the release is the announcement of original webcomic series’ from Disney, Marvel, 20th Century and Star Wars being developed for/with/at WEBTOON.
Marvel currently has their own slate of scroll comics through their Infinity Comics line. “It’s Jeff!” was a fan-favorite for a while and while the hype has diminished, there’s a case to be made that Marvel might be able to handle the bulk of the stories on their own.
But the reality is that Infinity Comics don’t have resources or experience to match WEBTOON. And while they might prefer to keep everything in-house, the road to success is paved in digital.
This isn’t WEBTOON’s first foray into developing stories with western comics IP with “Wayne Family Adventures” being a certified hit. There’s also been an Assassin’s Creed, Archie, and a handful of others. A mixed bag, to be honest, but some bangers among them.
More importantly, the Korean industry excels at two things: turnaround time and the ability to scale. WEBTOON, or the webtoon industry at large, doesn’t have to have a hit on the first try. They just have to have a hit eventually… and then scale it ad nauseum.
Marvel and DC have long had projects in Japan with manga and anime adaptations for eastern audiences. But WEBTOON represents the first time that Disney publishing will be meeting a production force potentially greater than their own.
Western print publishers like Marvel and DC publish ~100 ongoing titles per month. A cursory glance at AIPT’s August solicitations for August puts them at about ~80 titles, some of which are limited runs.
By comparison, Tapas launched over 20 new titles in July. Based on that estimate, they publish a minimum of 200 full-color ongoing titles a month with weekly updates. For comparison’s sake, LezhinUS is set to launch over 40 new titles in August. The ongoing estimate for them would be 400 full-color titles.
And don’t forget, there’s a reason I refer to Naver as Big Green.
What’s Next?
This is quite possibly one of the biggest possible gamechangers in the webtoon industry, not just for international markets, but for Korea as well. Naver is dominating internationally, but the limits of the webtoon industry as a whole are making themselves known at home in Korea as well as European markets. Bringing in recognizable IPs would give Big Green a chance at breathing new life into their platforms.
Traditional superhero fans are unlikely to be swayed into reading WEBTOON. But by producing original Marvel comics, WEBTOON has a strong shot at targeting the next generation. Regardless how long it takes, the future is digital. And so long as the webtoon medium is on the bleeding edge of digital comics, WEBTOON is in a prime position to capitalize on future markets.
Then, who knows? Studio N has had a lot of success adapting webtoons for K-dramas. I’m sure they’d love the chance to adapt a superhero story as well.
And, I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “All roads lead to Hollywood.”