I don’t get this whole Spider-man 2099 craze that’s going on right now. He’s a character who hasn’t been cool in what 10-15 years? But still, there he is in the new Spider-Man game.

Oh yeah, the new Spider-man game! Activision officially announced the Beenox developed Spider-man: Edge of Time this morning. The game places players in the role of both the original webhead and the 2099 version as they try to correct a serious error in the time-stream; the death of Peter Parker.

Ohhhhh….

Reportedly, the game has a “cause and effect” style gameplay, where something that happens in one time period will effect the other. More on the game is expected to be announced at Wondercon in San Francisco this week.

With Disney forking over $4 billion for some Marvel and its 5,000+ characters, we here at Blast thought we’d help the two companies think up ways to combine their portfolios.

Here’s what we came up with:

10. X-men meet the Seven Dwarfs

The X-men have always lacked just a little something, but by adding Dopey, Sleepy Grumpy and the gang they pick up seven little somethings in one fell swoop. And if you don’t think the dwarfs are mutants, you haven’t seen Grumpy eat soup.

9. Sub-Mariner meets The Little Mermaid

A couple of nights with Namor and Ariel would never pine for the surface world again.

Do you get the metaphor?

8. Donald Duck meets Howard the Duck

Oh, the (in)humanity!

You have heard of Howard the Duck, right?

7. Bambi meets The Incredible Hulk

Each an orphan in his own way, the purple panted one and the world’s most beloved deer would get along famously — at least, a helluva lot better than Bambi and Godzilla did!

6. Beauty & the Beast meet Wolverine

The two beastie boys battling over Belle? Put some protective covering on the furniture and an extra coat of scratch-resistant polish on the floors!

5. Deadpool meets Dumbo

Teleportation is so overdone. What better way to strike terror in the hearts of your enemies than to come swooping in on a flying baby elephant who cries if you criticize his ears?

4. Spider-man meets Aladdin

You gotta believe smart-alec Spidey and the jovial blue Genie would get along famously. Although with skyscrapers hard to find in the ancient middle east, the magic carpet could get a bit crowded!

3. Iron Man meets Wall-E

I’m sure each has a few spare parts the other would love to accessorize, and imagine the epic quests across the galaxy looking for a 220-volt outlet!

2. Daredevil meets Goofy

The blind leading the congenitally idiotic! At least Goofy could lighten the mood during some of those tense courtroom battles..

1. Captain America meets Toy Story

Could there be two more pompous crimefighters than Cap and Buzz Lightyear? By the time the two of them decide on a rallying cry/motto, all the super villains will have retired.

The Walt Disney Company announced Monday it has agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment, the comics powerhouse behind Iron Man, X-Men, Spider-Man and thousands more, for about $4 billion in cash and stock purchases.

“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and … unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, president and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, in a statement. “We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”

Under the deal, Marvel shareholders will receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own.

The gives Disney more than 5,000 new characters to work with.

It also gives Marvel a cash influx.

“This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world,” said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s chief executive officer.

In 2006, Disney bought Pixar Animation Studios, the creator of “Toy Story” and “Cars,” for $7.4-billion.

Both companies’ boards of directors approved the deal, which is pending governmental antitrust review.

In 2007, “Spider-Man 3″ topped the box office charts with a $336,530,303 intake. “The Dark Knight” followed last year, grossing an amazing $533,316,061, with Iron Man coming in second with a $318,298,180 total. Meanwhile the entire comic book industry, the original creators of these cash cows, made just under $500 million last year during the Hollywood comics boom.

This lack of financial recognition of one of the most original forms of American entertainment has caused film veteran and Newbury native Miguel Cima to create “Dig Comics” a 15 minute call to arms to comic fans to bring the ink and paper to the masses and have the general populace embrace the medium.

The documentary is one part history lesson about the American comic book and one part ideology speech. Cima begins by explaining the rise of comic book popularity in World War Two era America, when everyone from service men to housewives could openly enjoy any number of comic genres from monster stories to fluff romances. From there Cima dips into the McCarthy era of the Cold War, when a juvenile deliquesce scare caused Senate hearings to examine the comic book industry more closely. From that point onward, poor distribution, lack of invitation to the populace and stagnation of genres are put up as the main cause of the comic book industry’s shortfalls.

Featuring the opinions of comic greats like Jehb Loeb, Scott Shaw and Dame Darcy, the movie goes on to explore the possibility of the comic culture becoming a dominating feature of the American entertainment industry once again. Sighting the popularity and recognition of comic properties from their movie adaptations, the 9 billion dollar manga industry of Japan, and the varying styles and genres of the comic industry that can appeal to most if not all tastes, Cima ideal is straight and to the point.

The short documentary will be next made into a full length documentary by Olmos Productions, in the coming months. More information on Dig Comics can be found at digcomics.com.

Tune to Blast in the coming days for an interview with Cima.

Blast had the chance to chat with Josh Keaton, the voice of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, himself, for Disney XD’s Spectacular Spider-Man animated series.

Keaton’s career has spanned over many types of media, and he was kind enough to let us in on what its like to play Spider-Man, along with some thoughts on video games and comic books.

Sci-Fi and comic book geeks rejoice!

So you’ve been working on the voice of Peter Parker in The Spectacular Spider-Man — what’s is it like to be the voice of one of the most popular comic book heroes?

It’s awesome. Speaking as a geeky comic book reader and gamer, its something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m glad it turned out this way. It’s daunting, because I know how popular (Spider-Man) is, so I wanted to put forth something I as a fan would want to watch

Do you have to get in character, or do you prepare before going into the studio?

Yes, we get scripts a few days in advance, but now that I’ve got to see how the show is put together, I can visualize how it’s going to be (while in the studio). I kind of go back to how I was in high school. I was a total dork and couldn’t get a date-but I was also a child actor … so I guess I have experience with that double life.

And you’ve been doing voice over work for quite some time now, correct?

I’d been doing on camera, it was how I got my start. I did animation for a while, and then focused on screen and music. Then after Hercules, I got a specific voice over agent.

What has been your favorite role so far?

Spider-Man without a doubt! For one, I was a lifelong reader as a kid. They way they write the story is not just for kids, and I love how it’s serialized and the supporting characters are just as interesting. But I’ve enjoyed a lot of characters.

No to mention you were in Alex Mack. I know a lot of people from my generation loved that show!

It was great, it was awesome. Larissa was great. I was supposed to be playing‚  someone older than Meredith (Annie Mack), and she was older than me … ways remember Alex Mack because I didn’t have a drivers license, but my character had to drive a stick shift. I kept thinking, “I hope I don’t stall, I hope I don’t stall!” … and I didn’t!

As for video games, what types of games do you like to play?

I like to play everything. I’m a recovering World of Warcraft addict. I like character based games and first person shooters … driving games are huge for me. I’m currently playing Fable 2. I like games with stories and, aside from driving, I’m a big fan of the Resident Evil series and the survival story. There aren’t many games I don’t like. If its a good play and a good story, I’m game.

And since you’ve been doing work with comic book stories, and you mentioned how you enjoyed reading them as a kid. What are your favorite comic books?

Spider-Man, Batman, Superman. I loved Wolverine. He was probably my second favorite, and the Logan/Wolverine stories. They’re short guys. I’m 5’9″. It’s always cool to see the short guys kicking ass. Plus, Peter Parker uses his brain and his brawn.

Your work really spans over all types of media, from music to voice-over to acting. What are your aspirations for the future?

I would like Spider-Man to do as many seasons as they can, and maybe go to DVD for more storylines. As for music, I’m in the studio working on my own stuff and there are some groups I’m working with. I love to do projects that relate to something I’m passionate about. SciFi, history, I love to do cool characters and character work.

Keaton has appeared in several films including: “Newsies,” “Horror High,” “All I Want For Christmas,” “Judge and Jury,” and “Chimera House.” His has lent his voice to “Hercules” with James Woods and Danny Devito, “The Wild” with Keifer Sutherland and Jim Belushi, and “Doctor Strange.” He has appeared in several television shows, including a role in Jerry Bruckheimer’s Skin. He has also voiced several video games besides Spider-Man titles, including Metal Gear Solid, X-Men Legends, SOCOM, Ninja Gaiden, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Area 51, Spider-Man, and several others.

By the way: Because of a reporting error, we incorrectly listed The CW as the network of record for the Spider-man animated series. It’s actually Disney XD.