Hollywood What If Chapter 284
Most people knew that Marvel Comics went bankrupt a few years ago. And while Marvel Comics was in their deepest shit hole, Grey Pictures approached them to buy some of their characters.
The bank owned the company at the time and they made the arrangements and sold the characters for a few million dollars.
Now, the characters that Grey Pictures bought were mostly small superheroes that were not famous. Marvel's famous characters were Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men.
The X-Men that 20th Century Fox made two years ago was successful. Marvel was impressed, but not enough to be excited or elated. After all, the film only grossed $296 million worldwide.
The impact of Spider-Man, however, was far greater. No, this was the most successful movie to come out of Marvel Comics.
Imagine a single character making $900 million at the box office. Because of this, Marvel Comics gained a little confidence in their characters.
The profits from comic books were getting smaller and smaller, and Marvel Comics would go out of business if they didn't solve the problem.
The solution they came up with? Create a Cinematic Universe. Which was the right decision because Marvel Studios is worth billions in original timeline.
Also, Marvel Comics had a good example to copy.
The Continental Cinematic Universe created by Grey Pictures was a huge success. Now every character in this Cinematic Universe has become well known, Bryan Mills, John Wick, Jason Bourne and Wesley Gibson.
There was nothing special about their appearance, but boys and men went crazy just to get their action figures.
In addition, Grey Pictures was negotiating with several publishers to produce novels and comic books about CCU. They were also talking about possible animated series.
It was still a rumor, but Stella Willow, the General Manager of Grey Pictures, was very busy because of these rumors.
One thing was for sure, Grey Pictures was doing well.
Marvel Comics wanted the same treatment, but they knew it would be difficult. Unless Marvel Comics got the same status as Grey Pictures.
A few weeks ago someone from Walt Disney contacted Avi Arad and said they were interested in buying some of the characters from Marvel Comics.
Perhaps Walt Disney was trying to copy the recent success of X-Men and Spider-Man... especially Spider-Man.
However, the characters Walt Disney was looking for were Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Hulk, who were already owned by Grey Pictures.
Walt Disney was willing to pay tens of millions just to acquire their copyrights, which was shocking but expected.
Even Universal and Paramount were interested in their characters after the success of Spider-Man.
So now Marvel Comics was facing some problems. They need money.
'We need to acquire these characters and resell them, or we can...'
Avi Arad stopped thinking. He was not sure of the outcome of this conversation. First of all, he knew that this was just their first conversation and no promises would be made. Especially when Kazir Grey was known for his cunning behavior.
While Avi Arad was busy thinking about business, Stan Lee's thoughts were all about the hopes of Marvel characters having their own movies.
Stan worked with Kazir on Spider-Man and saw the director lay the groundwork for the movie to be released.
In his opinion, Kazir was the main reason for the film's success. His clear vision for the film and his strict but consistent shooting. His authority and the respect he got from the people. Despite his achievements, Kazir was perfect for his career.
'If we are really serious about making a Cinematic Universe, then Kazir is the best option we have. He has already proven himself, and his credentials are unparalleled in that regard.' the old comic creator thought.
Kazir could make another Cinematic Universe with a high chance of success. That was for sure.
So yes, the two higher-ups at Marvel Comics have their own opinions.
Avi Arad wanted the characters back, while Stan Lee hoped that Kazir would start working on Marvel characters as he had promised.
Note that for Grey Pictures to acquire the copyrights for a small amount, they made a contract that Grey Pictures has to make a Marvel movie within 10 years, or else the characters would naturally return to Marvel Comics.
In addition, Grey Pictures must invest at least $50 million in the Marvel movie or the contract would be void.
Grey Pictures acquired the copyrights in 1997 and the deadline was 2007. If the studio failed to make a Marvel movie, the characters would return to Marvel Comics.
The two executives followed Kazir nervously into the garden, but they hid their emotions well.
Kazir stopped in his tracks, and the others stopped as well.
"I already have an idea of what we're going to talk about. So I want to make it clear, I'm very interested in doing a Marvel movie. We can renegotiate the contract if you're interested."
"..."
Stan Lee sighed weakly with relief. He was the co-creator of many Marvel characters and he hoped to see them in theaters.
"Kazir, I think we can talk about this seriously."
Avi Arad frowned. He had no problem with that, but he wanted the best for Marvel Comics. They had already sold the copyrights, but they could fight for the remaining benefits such as box office, DVD sales, and peripheral profits.
"I understand."
Kazir agreed.
At first, he only wanted the copyrights to the Marvel characters because he felt they would jeopardize the Cinematic Universe he envisioned.
But now that the CCU was successful and no one could compete with it, Kazir felt that creating the MCU was not a problem.
"Kazir, first of all, let me ask you this. Who's the first Marvel character you want to make a movie about?"
Since Kazir had already stated his intentions, Stan Lee decided to ask more.
"Hm, let's see... I'm interested in doing The Hulk and Iron Man. Although I prefer Iron Man first."
"Iron Man, huh..."
Honestly, Stan Lee thought Kazir would choose The Hulk because it was a famous character, on par with Spider-Man and X-Men.
Well, Kazir was a talented director, so he probably had a plan.