(PCM) Did you know Marvel is at war with Fox? Sure it is. You just haven’t been paying attention or don’t read comics. When it comes to superheroes on film, Marvel screwed up. That’s putting it in politically correct words.
Years ago, before Superheroes were a big money maker on the big screen Marvel sold its soul, but they didn’t realize it.
In the mid 1990’s Marvel made both the smartest and dumbest move it could have in taking its properties to the big screen. They carved up the Marvel superhero universe and sold the ‘rights’ to specific franchises to various studios. For instance Spider-Man’s rights for his cinematic universe were sold to Sony. Fox was sold X-men (mutants), Daredevil, and The Fantastic Four among others.
Since the time Marvel sold those franchise film rights it’s built it’s own Marvel Studios (parent company Disney is hands off), and Marvel top brass have come to regret ever selling any rights on film to any character it owns.
What does this mean to you as a film goer or comic book reader? It should be obvious. You won’t see Spider-Man join the Avengers as he does in print. You won’t see Deadpool in a fight with Hulk or Ironman.
How does Marvel get it’s properties’ rights back? Well in business, anything goes. When it’s about the money, if Sony and Fox don’t keep producing films for characters within time lines, the rights revert to Marvel.
This is the key to Marvel’s strategy. Rumor has it Marvel is ending The Fantastic Four in 2015 and similar plans are in the works for it’s mutants, but they may just be renamed – ‘inhumans’. Whatever happens, Marvel doesn’t want it’s writers to create any new mutants because with the term ‘mutant’ that character’s rights for film immediately transfer to Fox. Marvel can create new superheroes and clearly it will. What about Spider-Man and others?
Marvel could just broker an arrangement with Sony or Fox allowing both parties to make independent or cross overs with Spider-Man visiting a Marvel studios film in return for profit sharing or maybe have Ironman exist in a Sony Spider-Man film. Anything is possible.
With all this backstory established what is the landscape of today? Many bloggers and news sites are finally catching on from some comic book writers repeating at Comic book convention podcasts an interesting Marvel marching order. No new X-men.
Yes, that’s right. Last summer (2014) Chris Claremont was making the rounds on comic book conventions such as the Phoenix Comicon which was recorded on a podcast on the Nerdist Network – that is Marvel has instructed its writers not to create any new mutant superhero characters.
If you take the time to listen to Chris Claremont in the podcast you’ll find him outspoken and candid about his views on characters and the industry he operates in. And since that time of his quoting Marvel’s instructions to writers, others have joined in.
The week of October 6th 2014 running up to the New York Comicon Convention, Rob Leifield one of the creative forces behind Deadpool has been quite vocal about Marvel being at war with Fox.
It is becoming clear that if comic book writers are voicing this information openly, that Marvel is not stopping them. What does that mean? It means Marvel wants them to reveal this information. It seems Chris Claremont’s comments at Phoenix Comicon were not getting enough traction and now with Rob Liefeld sending out rapid fire tweets on the subject, it’s very clear Marvel wants the world to know.
This also tells us that comic book writers on on board with Marvel in the effort to call open season on Fox. Could this be because Fox has finally greenlit Deadpool on the heels of it’s highly successful X-Men Days of Future Past movie? Remember, Chris Claremont wrote the original print story of Days of Future Past. All these players have a dog in this race.
I have an interview scheduled at NY Comicon with Chris Claremont. I’ll follow up with enough info after the event to really clarify all this speculation. One thing is certain, Marvel is at war with Fox.
The post Comic Book Writers Take Sides in Marvel Fox War also appeared on PCM Reviews.