HWI 284

Hollywood What If Chapter 284

Most of the people knew that Marvel Comics was suffering from a bankruptcy 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 held the company at that time and it proceeded to the arrangements, selling the characters for a few million dollars. 

Well, the characters that Grey Pictures bought were mostly small superheroes that were not famous. Marvel's famous characters were Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and X-Men.

The X-Men that 20th Century Fox filmed two years ago was successful. Marvel was impressed, but not enough to be excited or elated. After all, the worldwide box office of the movie was only $296 million. 

However, the influence that Spider-Man created was far stronger. Nope, this was the most successful movie that came from Marvel Comics. 

Imagine a single character creating $900 million at the box office. Because of this, Marvel Comics gained a bit of confidence in their characters. 

The profits from comics kept getting smaller and Marvel Comics would reach its end if they didn't solve the problem. 

The solution they thought? Make a Cinematic Universe. Which was the right choice because Marvel Studios is worth billions in another timeline. 

Furthermore, Marvel Comics had a good example to copy. 

The Continental Cinematic Universe that Grey Pictures created was a massive 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 were going crazy just to get their action figure. 

On top of that, Grey Pictures was currently negotiating with some publishers to make novels and comics about CCU. They were also talking about possible animation 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 sure, Grey Pictures was doing well. 

Marvel Comics wanted the same treatment but they knew it would be hard. Unless Marvel Comics gained the same status as Grey Pictures. 

A few weeks ago, someone from Walt Disney contacted Avi Arad that 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...  particularly Spider-Man.

However, the characters that Walt Disney was looking for were Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk which were already acquired by Grey Pictures. 

Walt Disney was ready to pay tens of millions just to acquire their copyrights which was shocking but quite expected. 

Even Universal and Paramount were interested in their characters after the success of Spider-Man. 

So now, Marvel Comics was currently facing some problems. They need money. 

'We need to acquire those characters and resell or we can...'

Avi Arad stopped his thoughts. He was not sure of the outcome of this conversation. In the first place, he knew that this was just their initial talk and no promises would happen. Especially when Kazir Grey was famous for being cunning. 

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 in Spider-Man and he witnessed how the director build the foundation of the movie up to its release. 

In his opinion, Kazir was the biggest reason why the movie became successful. His clear vision towards the movie, and his strict but consistent filming. His authority and the respect he received from people. Even with 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 already proved himself and his credentials are unmatched in this aspect.'

Kazir could make another Cinematic Universe with a high chance of success. That was for sure. 

So yeah, the two higher-ups of Marvel Comics have their own opinions. 

Avi Arad wanted the characters back while Stan Lee hoped that Kazir would start working on Marvel characters just like what he promised. 

Note that for Grey Pictures to acquire the copyrights for a small amount, they made a contract Grey Pictures has to make a Marvel movie within 10 years, or else the characters would naturally return to Marvel Comics. 

Furthermore, 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 limitation was 2007. If the studio failed to make one Marvel movie, the characters would return to Marvel Comics. 

The two executives followed Kazir to the garden with nervousness but they hid their emotions well. 

Kazir stopped in his tracks and the others stopped as well. 

"I already have an idea about what we're going to talk about. So I want to make it clear, I'm very interested in making a Marvel movie. We can renegotiate the contract if you're interested."

"..."

Stan Lee weakly sighed in 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 already sold the copyrights but they could fight for the remaining benefits such as box office share, DVD sales, and peripherals profit. 

"I understand."

Kazir agreed. 

At first he only wanted the copyrights of Marvel characters because he felt like they would endanger the Cinematic Universe he envisioned. 

But now that CCU was successful and none could rival it, Kazir felt like creating the MCU was not a problem. 

"Kazir, before everything, I want to ask... Who's the first Marvel character you want to film?"

Since Kazir's already said his intentions, Stan Lee decided to ask more. 

"Hm, let's see... I'm interested in filming The Hulk and Iron Man. Although I prefer Iron Man first."

"Iron Man, huh..."

Honestly, Stan Lee thought Kazir would choose The Hulk because that was a famous character, equal to Spider-Man and X-Men. 

Well, Kazir was a talented director so he probably had a plan about it. 

+++++

[Honestly, I didn't expect that you guys are against breaking up with Angelina. I thought you guys would prefer more actresses on the way. Welp, the poll will be available for seven days and more than 70 patrons still haven't voted so let's wait for a while.] 

[I might write another chapter later, but I'm not quite sure about it. Let's see if the Spirit of Hardwork possessed me.]