Hollywood What If Chapter 248
Kazir met the producer for the first time, it was a meeting with some of the Marvel staff. They were choosing the costume designs for Spider-Man and Green Goblin.
At first the meeting was peaceful, the Marvel Comics staff had a nice conversation with Kazir... They wanted to know what Kazir intended to do with the superhero characters that Grey Pictures had bought from them.
Marvel Comics was at its lowest point and they were trying to find a way to turn things around. They felt that movie adaptations were the way to go. After all, this generation preferred movies than comics.
The Blade movie had a great response and Marvel Comics found that their superheroes had what it took to be on the big screen. They made a profit on the movie as well. Unfortunately, the adaptation rights was bought by New Line Cinema and Marvel Comics couldn't maximize their profit.
Note that Marvel Studio, the production company responsible for the MCU, had not yet been formed.
However, profit was still profit.
So yes, these employees wanted to know if Kazir was going to sabotage them or not.
At first they wanted to buy back the copyrights of their superheroes, but Marvel had to buy them in a significant amount, and as if Grey Pictures would sell them easily.
But the success of the Continental Cinematic Universe made them realize that Kazir Grey definitely had a plan for their superheroes. As for what it was, they hoped it was something positive.
In fact, Marvel Comics pushed the idea of working with Kazir Grey and Sony-Columbia supported their desire because Kazir was a great director.
He had experience with adaptations, as The Bourne Identity was based on a novel, and Kazir did a good job with that project.
Anyway, the situation in the meeting room turned sour when a costume designer showed up to present her work. The woman wanted to be a fashion designer, but breaking into the fashion industry was not that easy. She is currently working as part of the costume design team.
When the crew saw her designs, they nodded and knew that her art sheets were the best yet. They were also detailed.
Most of the crew on this project were not from Grey Pictures, but were hired by Sony-Columbia, so Kazir did not know the woman.
"I think this is the best we have so far."
He admitted, and everyone around him agreed. Except for the producer.
"Um... Actually," Jezebel Salome, the producer of this project, nudged her glasses and said her opinion.
"I think the Green Goblin looks silly. The audience will make fun of our villain if we make the Green Goblin look like this. We should go with the earlier one, his designs are great."
Jezebel smiled at the designer, but her eyes were not so sympathetic.
"..."
Kazir stopped speaking for a second. He looked at the designs instead.
'This is actually the costume that Willem Dafoe wore in the movie. Except for some color schemes, they are basically the same,' Kazir recalled.
Now the question was. Should Kazir go along with the producer?
'As expected, working with people you don't know will have some complications.' He thought.
"Jezebel, the designs are very close to the comic counterpart. Although I agree with you."
"I'm glad we have the same idea..."
"We should drop the purple color and make the suit all green, shiny green."
"..."
Jezebel stopped talking. She looked down at the art pages and nodded weakly.
"Okay... Okay, we can do that."
The mood in the room improved after that. Now they have costume design references. They should now look for the cast who would use these costumes.
Kazir knew that keeping the original cast was the right thing to do. The original movie was successful and he admitted that the cast was part of the reason.
So Kazir personally invited Willem Dafoe to audition. Willem Dafoe was the late Marcus in the Continental Cinematic Universe and he now had a status in Hollywood.
Many fans expressed their sadness when Marcus died and Willem Dafoe's image was good because of that.
So when he received a call from Kazir that the director wanted him to play the villain in a superhero movie, the actor was hesitant. Actors must maintain their image. If he accepted the role, it might affect his public image.
After all, people hate villains. His status as a protective father was still raring.
However, after reading the script, Willem Dafoe admitted that he was interested in the role. Norman Osborn/Green Goblin was not a 2-dimensional character. He had a good reason for turning evil. That got Willem's attention.
In the end, Willem Dafoe did the audition. The agent was against it, but not that much. The director of this project was Kazir Grey, who was responsible for Willem's recent fame in Hollywood. Maybe Willem wanted to return the favor. Besides, who wouldn't want to work with Kazir?
Hell, more and more actresses were trying to flirt with him just because they wanted to work with the director.
Reese Witherspoon, Cameron Diaz and Angelina Jolie worked with Kazir... There was a rumor that in order to have a chance with the guy, you had to work with him first.
So, yeah, it affected the auditions for the female roles.
"Willem, there's no need to test your acting. Everyone here knows you're a great actor. I can testify to that."
"Thank you, Kazir."
"I guess we both have an agreement then?"
2/3 of the people in the audition room were from Sony-Columbia and Marvel Comics and they didn't have a problem with Kazir's decision. They all saw Willem Dafoe's audition and it was amazing. Plus, his look fits the Norman Osborn they had in mind.
"I'm going to call my agent."
"I hope we can finalize this as soon as possible."
"I hope so too."