![A portion of the debate team’s flier advertising their duct tape fundraiser. Debate team captain Delaney McClure said she hopes the fundraiser will raise the necessary funds to aid next year’s team with their expenses as the formerly debate class-exclusive team transitions into a club. “It costs money to do certain things that clubs have,” McClure said. “I just wanted to make sure that [the debate team] is all set up for next year and start doing fundraisers so we can get to that position as a club.” (Photo Courtesy of @debate_cphs on Instagram)](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Screenshot-2023-05-12-234723.png)
![Soundwave poses for a picture after performing in the Legislative Prayer Breakfast for Texas politicians. Multiple audience members, such as State Rep. Terry Wilson, approached the students afterwards or requested to take photos with the singers. “[A woman] told us that it reminded her of singing when she was younger,” Ferguson said. “She said she sang the same song, but a different version and that it was one of her Dad’s favorites. She was really proud and really liked the performance.” (Photo Courtesy of Kyra Cox)](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG-4017-900x600.jpg)
![Starting the early morning practice, new swim and dive coach Kyla Gargiulo informs her student-athletes of their next set, giving them tips to help along the way. Gargiulo looks forward to keeping the swim team competitive and improving throughout the year. “The thing I love most about coaching is getting to be a part of the sport that I fell in love with,” Gargiulo said. “[I also love getting to] help the current team achieve and surpass their goals while having fun.” Photo by Kaydence Wilkinson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/swimcoach.jpg)
![Standing in front of the DigiPen Institute of Technology sign in Redmond, Washington, senior Simon Moss visits the college campus on a trip to Seattle. While visiting the school, Moss got to see what different programs DigiPen offers more in depth and meet new people. “[DigiPen] is going to be great because everyone that was accepted got invited to a discord [server] and everyone has been able to talk to each other and get to know everyone,” Moss said. “I don’t want to be in a campus where they have too many fields and people have different interests, but here everyone is very like minded.” (Photo courtesy of Simon Moss)](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/simon-moss-900x675.jpg)
![Leaving his opponent on the ground after a quick and precise maneuver, sophomore running back Trae Hill sprints toward the end zone. The varsity football team will play against Round Rock High School tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Gupton Stadium. “[Being on varsity] made me work a lot harder,” Hill said. “It’s a lot more mental, [too]. People don’t understand that if you’re not in the right headspace, then you won’t be at your best. I hope we make a lot of memories [this season]. We’re confident and we practice hard for sure. We realize that we have a good team this year, [that] we have potential.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Tylie-1871-1200x801.jpg)
![Striking a pose in front of the Tiger-Rock Martial Arts National Championship banner, junior Brooklyn Collinsworth shows off her flexibility and blue belt. The tournament was held at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio from July 20-23. “I end[ed] up getting bronze in the overall board breaking competition,” Collinsworth said. “My opponents were much older and had a lot more experience.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kickin.jpg)
![One of the few stick vehicles in the school parking lot, senior Alex Trebilco’s 1970 Ford Maverick is a restoration project he worked on with his dad. He and his father have worked on cars together for all of Trebilco’s life, and have several finished projects because of it. “[My favorite memory with my car is] honestly just cruising with my dad in his truck and my car,” Trebilco said. “Both of the [cars] are restored. He did the truck and we did the Maverick, so it’s cool to roll down in two cars that we made run together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Ford-Maverick.png)
![Leaning back on her right, varsity tennis member junior Mia Petty prepares to receive the ball with the traditional racket swing. For student athletes, the heat has caused many changes to previously created habits involved in sport practices, but it can also be a tool, according to Petty. The heat is definitely annoying, Petty said. There are so many things that you have to do to avoid exhaustion and it feels excessive at times. [However], I think the heat further encourages me to get outside. [I want to] be exposed to the heat as much as possible so I can better acclimate to being hot and tired.](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Natalia-Varsity-Tennis-Mia-Petty-50.jpg)
In a surprise move at the end of August, the Walt Disney Company announced that it was going to buy one of the largest comic distributors in the world, Marvel Comics. At $4 billion, the company will be sold for full asking price. Because of this, Disney now owns the rights to many superhero favorites, including Spiderman, the X-Men and the Hulk. Besides use of the characters, Disney also acquired the right to deny rival companies use of the Marvel superheroes, a very strategic move on Disney’s part.
This announcement is slightly reminiscent of a previous buy-out announced by Disney where in 2006, they bought out Pixar Animation Studios for a hefty $7.4 billion. Similar to the Pixar acquisition, this will provide Disney with many profitable rights, and while the benefits aren’t reported to be immediate, stock experts predict that Disney will see the profits of the merger to roll in by the 2012 fiscal year.
While this may seem a bit scary for fans of the masked superheroes, Disney has made a promise to keep the original design and direction of characters. Disney Corp. is also keeping Marvel CEO Isaac Perlmutter in charge of Marvel to ensure this happens. So, luckily for fans of the dark heroes like Iron Man and the Hulk, none of these characters will be teaching young children how to spell “cat” anytime soon.
The merger isn’t immediate, as many issues about the full rights of Marvel characters and brands are now coming to the surface. Marvel had previously made a deal with Universal to allow the exclusive use of its characters in Universal theme parks and attractions, leading to the Incredible Hulk Coaster and other rides in Universal Orlando. Disney has announced that they intend to honor these rights, but will also be receiving the profits from the attractions that would have normally gone into Marvel’s pockets.
While Disney has gained the rights to create Marvel attractions now, it has stated that no superhero rides will be built in their Orlando attractions. Instead, Disney CFO Tom Staggs has said that Disney will be looking at building Marvel-themed rides in its other theme parks around the world.
Besides roller coasters, many movie studios also held claim to the use of the Marvel characters before the Disney buy-out. The Sony Corporation owns the rights to the Spiderman franchise, and already has a May 2011 release slated for Spiderman 4. 20th Century Fox also owns movie rights to a large stable of Marvel superheroes, such as the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Since these contracts guarantee rights “in perpetuity”, they will only lose their rights when they stop making movies for their said franchises. Paramount Pictures also has a five-movie contract with Marvel. The first of these will be Iron Man 2, which will be releasing in May of 2010.
Disney has stated that they will honor these studio agreements as well and, at expiration of these licenses, will possibly extend any profitable ones.
Many speculate that the purchase of Marvel was due to Disney’s recent loss at the box offices. While movies like Up! were a moderate success, they had trouble competing with the blockbuster epics like Star Trek and Transformers. Disney itself has stated that they intend to use this merger as a method to re-acquaint themselves with the males of this generation (Disney has already made great investments in appealing to females with princess movies and TV shows). Disney CEO Robert Iger describes the Marvel heroes as “right in the wheelhouse for boys”. Marvel TV shows are already shown on the Disney XD channel intended for young boys. Hopefully with the edgier addition of heroes like Wolverine, it will provide a pleasant alternative to Hannah Montana for many young boys.
While movie-goers may not see Mickey and Spidey teaming up to fight the Green Goblin and Ursula anytime soon, this sudden purchase may yield significant profits for both companies. Stock market experts are already predicting a rise in Disney stock, a healthy change for the company after reporting a significant amount of debt. So until the dust settles and the companies begin working on integrating the two franchises, dreams of Spiderman hanging from the Magic Kingdom castle and the Silver Surfer circling Space Mountain will have to satisfy for now.
