Disney buys a 2% equity stake in WEBTOON

The two companies will also build a new digital comics platform under the auspices of their partnership.
September 16, 2025

Building on a recent deal to bring Disney content onto the world’s most popular webcomic platform, the studio has acquired a 2% stake in WEBTOON Entertainment—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The companies are developing a new digital comics platform that will bring more than 35,000 titles featuring brands from Marvel, Pixar, Disney, Star Wars and 20th Century Studios into a single subscription offering. This library will boast a variety of formats, spanning verticals, traditional archive titles, current comic book runs and originals. 

Based on this announcement and its role as the new platform’s operator, WEBTOON’s share value climbed by 30% in pre-market trading. It’s a major expansion on a multiyear agreement the companies announced last month that will bring nearly 100 reformatted Disney classics and original vertical-scrolling comics to WEBTOON.

Disney already operates Marvel Unlimited, a digital comics service specifically focused on its popular superhero universe. The new WEBTOON platform is billed as “an expansion upon Marvel Unlimited” in a Disney release, with no indication that Unlimited will be discontinued.

Disney is also laying a foundation for luring fans of its movies and TV series into the webcomic world. Disney+ subscribers will be given free access to a curated selection of comic titles on the upcoming service, intended as a perk for fans who might want to know more of the lore behind the franchises they love. It’s “opening doors to new audiences and deepening fan engagement,” added Disney Experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro.

This is WEBTOON’s latest push to harness other forms of entertainment. The company recently reorganized in order to be better-positioned to transform some of its most successful comics into TV series and movies, and it’s also getting into short-form video series.

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