*Marvel's $1.4b hero

That would be CEO Ike Perlmutter who controls almost 37 percent of Marvel Entertainment shares - and who stands to clean up on today's purchase by Disney. From DealBook:

With Disney valuing its cash-and-stock offer at $50 per Marvel share, that would value Mr. Perlmutter's holdings at more than $1.4 billion. About 60 percent of the sale price is expected to be in cash, Disney said Monday.

Overall purchase is valued at $4 billion, which is a hefty 29 percent premium over Marvel's closing price on Friday. Perhaps too hefty? From Deal Journal:

Marvel has successfully turned its comic-book franchises-such as Spidey and X-men-into block bluster Hollywood films. But many of those storylines may he tapped out.

Whether the acquisition turns out to be a good move is nothing more than a guess at this early stage. Yes, the movie business is in rocky shape, and yes, audiences can be a fickle bunch. But Marvel has roughly 5,000 characters, which would seem to provide lots of possibilities.

*At this morning's conference call, Disney executives stressed that they will largely leave Marvel and its creative operation in place. That's what all acquiring companies say at this early stage, though it's worth remembering that another Disney acquisition, Pixar, has been allowed to do its own thing too - largely because of the conditions set forth in the merger agreement. Here's CFO Tom Skaggs:

"This was not a deal that Marvel had to do or a deal that Disney had to do. We are acquring a premiums company and a premium assets and we had to pay a fair price. But having said that we still think we will create more value."