Will Disney Ruin The Avengers 2?

Is the Mickey Mouse studio destined to ruin Marvel's leading film franchise?

Based on the quality of the first film, viewers might think that The Avengers is in goods hands. All parties involved (director Joss Whedon; the writers, Whedon and Zak Penn; Disney and Marvel; the great cast; the impeccable graphic artists who made the visuals come to life) deserve an immeasurable amount of credit. We could, however, say the same thing about most great films that fall under the Disney

banner. The problem is that Disney will keep releasing sequels until it runs a franchise -- any franchise -- into the ground. This is not my opinion. It is an

. Take a look at this

on Wikipedia. Can you find three that you genuinely love? Two, maybe? One, even? Few viewers can. On the live action side, Pirates of the Caribbean provides the greatest example of what Disney can do to a successful franchise. The first film was both profitable and popular. Moviegoers were mostly satisfied, hence the immense anticipation for a sequel. Since that time, the Pirates franchise has gotten progressively worse with each sequel. As a result, the third movie made less than the second, and the fourth movie made less than the third. The Santa Clause faced a similar fate. The first was profitable and popular, making $144 million. The second chapter made nearly as much money, pulling in $139 million. The third and final film made just $84 million and was considered by many to be the worst chapter in the series. (Nearly 9,000 IMDb users gave it a

.) The Princess Diaries 2 also made less money than its predecessor, and received lower scores from critics and moviegoers alike. The same can be said for Disney's straight-to-video sequels, such as White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf and 102 Dalmatians. But that's to be expected. Home videos rarely make as much (or more) than theatrical releases. What wasn't expected was Tron: Legacy, which proved to be far more successful (and a bit more popular) than its predecessor, even with inflation factored into the mix. But that's a rare example in a long line of crappy sequels that have done nothing but disappoint moviegoers, along with investors who were expecting to bank on their (presumed) success. In the area of animation, there's no denying what Pixar has accomplished -- the studio released not one but

critically acclaimed, award-winning Toy Story sequels, both of which were well received by moviegoers. And each sequel made more than the first -- Toy Story pulled in $191 million domestically, Toy Story 2 earned $245 million, and Toy Story 3 acquired a

. But that's the power of Pixar --

Disney. Contrary to popular belief, they are not one in the same. Granted, Pixar isn't infallible; Cars 2 was considered to be a box office dud in America, earning just $191 million against a $200 million budget. Worldwide, however, Cars 2 made $559 million -- nearly $100 million more than the first Cars' earned internationally. Thus, Cars 2 was still a success. Disney, on the other hand, has not been that lucky. The studio's release-a-sequel-until-we-kill-it attitude has carried over to its TV network, ABC, which will continue producing new seasons of its most popular shows until they are ruined. From the good-old-days of TGI Friday (Step by Step, Boy Meets World, etc.) to Rosanne and Home Improvement, ABC spent the '90s building and destroying great comedies. The network continued this trend during the last decade, at which time shows like Lost, Desperate Housewives and Boston Legal premiered. Lost was an anomaly -- it sold well on DVD and gained almost as many viewers as it lost each season. But it ended its run with fewer viewers than it had during the first and second season. The latter two shows were also well below their ratings highs by the time they came to a close. Now Grey's Anatomy, another ABC hit, is losing its luster. ABC's biggest comedies (Modern Family and The Middle) are too new to be affected. But give them time. If ABC can, it

find a way to ruin them. You can be certain of that. Granted, none of this means that The Avengers sequels are destined to fail. But with Disney in control, history is not on the side of this promising franchise.