Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) must be breathing a sigh of relief now that “Black Panther” opened to massive box office and generating excellent reviews. It may seem like there was nothing to worry about, but there actually was a great deal at stake with the film, especially for DIS stock.

For years, Marvel Studios – a subsidiary of Disney– had been building up the entire “Avengers” franchise. First came all the films about the individual superheroes, establishing their franchises, producing multiple sequels with each of the Avengers.

Then came the Avengers proper, with the first three films solidifying that franchise into place. The third film will launch this summer.

So Disney was now waiting to see how a non-Avengers movie was going to perform. The scenes shown at last year’s Comic-Con delivered a lot of enthusiasm, some of it unexpected. The tracking looked great, and the film delivered mega-box office.

DIS stock and the Future with Marvel

So now, Disney can enjoy the fruits of future Marvel labor in the form of Black Panther, but also drop the character into both existing films and new ones, just like building a lateral group alongside The Avengers.

In other words, Marvel is mixing-and-matching characters just as the comic books did. This means Marvel literally has generations worth of content, and as actors age out or move on, they can be easily replaced just as the James Bond franchise has done for 50 years.

The film also came as a relief because some of Marvel’s recent outings have not been as strong as far as critical or fan-boy acclaim. Don’t get me wrong – most Marvel films are easily three stars or better to this viewer. However, sequels are never as interesting as origin stories, so the occasional two star effort has been disappointing.

Yet this is also important for DIS stock inasmuch as Disney is looking to LucasFilm assets as the next base from which to launch. Disney has started to exploit the “Star Wars” franchise with five new films, which have received mixed responses, though generally leaning positive.

Now, two more sets of films have been announced, so DIS stock hopes to enjoy the benefits of ramping up this franchise.

The mix-and-match strategy may work here as well. The animated series’ “Rebels” and “Clone Wars” has taken that approach and it works beautifully. The trick here is quality control. As much as I love Rian Johnson as a director, he’s got storytelling problems in all his films, and I worry about the new trilogy that has been entrusted to him.

DIS stock could suffer if the public feels that the franchise has been squandered. It sounds silly, but “Star Wars” is a core piece of American popular culture that has influenced movie studios for the past forty years and become a mythological touchstone and cultural icon for people around the world.

For now, things seem to be going exceptionally well for Disney and Walt Disney stock. I think it will stay that way for some time to come. I think DIS stock is a core holding in any long term diversified portfolio.

Lawrence Meyers is the CEO of PDL Capital, a specialty lender focusing on consumer finance and is the Manager of The Liberty Portfolio at www.thelibertyportfolio.com. He owns shares of DIS. He has 23 years’ experience in the stock market, and has written more than 2,000 articles on investing. Lawrence Meyers can be reached at TheLibertyPortfolio@gmail.com.