"Fantastic Four" May Live On-Screen, Disappear From Comics

[Zeitgeist]

Co-signed.

[pageturner]

I think you'll find DISNEY makes the movies. Disney have to protect their own ass against rival film studios as well. Marvel is under Disney umbrella, so they benefit.



If the lill kiddies that make up most of the revenues on such films latch onto another shiny Marvel product, as the current one is not there, i say it will alter things. What do you think keeps momentum and interest in these projects in the 2/3 years between films? No toys? No comic books? No cartoons? It's a fickle business.

You talk about`Ghost Rider and Blade yet these were small hits, not blockbusters making 100's of millions. Blade Trinity worldwide B.O made 10's of millions less than Iron Man 3's first weekend. They were also aimed at the adult market, and didn't cost 150,000,000 dollars to make. They relied on their star names. that's the difference. Nobody gives a crap about Blade or Ghost Rider. Marvel wouldnt even bother if they never got the rights back to these guys. lol. They can't even sustain a monthly. They could both get killed off and it wouldn't even make 10th page on the Daily Bugle. They dont affect anything in Marvel U , unlike FF or Wolverine. Are you really equating GR and Blade with Wolverine and FF?

When you spend upwards of 150,000,000 on a movie you need merchandising publicity and comicbook interest ( as a guage to see if the character is worth spending millions on a sequel) to keep the momentum going. If Blade bombs it's not a great loss, minor character aimed at smaller market,( R Rated as opposed to moneymaking PG13) if 250,000,000 Avengers bombs, it could bankrupt a studio. Merchandising is essential for a blockbuster

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1646640.stm




What do you mean 'will try to get the rights back someday'? How? What if Fox says no? In these instances hands have to be forced. Here i found these article it supports my theory.

http://www.denofgeek.com/books-comic...red-conspiracy

http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/06/...,manual#!UVN3l

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/foru...Movie#21049120

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/05/...r-to-snub-fox/

You might not agree, but it makes perfect business sense.

Agree with what you did not say anything but whine about what I posted?

Someday Superhero movies will be out of fashion and at that time the rights could lapse and Marvel/Disney could try and bring them in house. If Fox or Sony lets things lapse then saying no is not an option. Or Marvel could buy them when they are out of fashion and would cost less. The gluttony of 2015 could cause a downward spiral.

Ghost Rider and Blade are both in monthly books as we speak so I don't know why they do not affect the MU but that is for you to decide. I am not equating them in popularity to any other characters, and never stated I was, so I don't get the snark although that is your style I suppose. GR is back in house I believe (no idea about Blade) so they cared a little I guess. They are examples of movies that did well for them financially and spawned sequels and helped build the company that became attractive to Disney. They provided revenue stream to company with no real outlay of capital.
Movies Studios are much more cooperative than they are rival. They distribute each others movies, coproduce them, rent equipment and departments to each other. The bottom line is the thing either you make money and all the movies done by other studios make Marvel and by extension Disney money. That money is all pure profit too with no cost involved. Unlike say John Carter which was Disney all the way and loss is all theirs to enjoy. They continue to make pure profit every time they make movies.
Whatever change they make on comics is so far right on the balance sheet it does not really matter. Merchandising does matter not so much for toys but the money you get companies to pay so Tony Stark is driving a certain car or wearing a certain watch. That is real money, toys is a niche market from which you can make a little money but it is not game changing on these movies. Thor2 did not have toys but Marvel still made decent money I think. That lack of toys did not undercut the position Thor has in the comics or cartoons.

What do I think creates interest in the films between films? You mean why people have been interested in James Bond movies for 50 years without toys for each movie? The movies generate most of the interest on their own not because of whatever cash they can squeeze out of tie ins. Don't believe everything you see in Spaceballs, merchandising is not the only driving force. People are not going to see super hero movies because they liked playing with the dolls.
Oh and when I say Marvel makes the movies I know they are owned by Disney. They are still one of the Disney production houses like all the others. Marvel makes the movies for Disney as part of Disney. It is not so different then Minute Maid making Juice while being owned by Coke or Burger King and Pizza Hut making different types of food but owned by the same company. Anyone with even a basic understanding of Business should know this.

[pageturner]

because people are clueless and melodramatic

and people will argue about anything and try in vain to help the clueless. Or in other words welcome to the internet.

[pageturner]

Honestly, I'm getting tired of the moving goal posts.

Marvel isn't promoting Fox Merch!
People show you that they have things like mini-mates, hot toys, Master Replicas and a bunch of other non- traditional action figure stuff.

Well Marvel isn't promoting Fox characters on their 75th!
Someone shows that they are on this huge wraparound

Well Marvel isn't promoting Fox characters on future covers!
People point out AXIS, Marvels 100th Anniversary and future covers that do have them.

Oh yeah, Well down the line Marvel won't be promoting Fox characters! Ha! See!



I don't understand what more you guys want?
It's as if people NEED these rumors to be true.

Put this is bronze and call it a day.

[Spider-Chan]

If there is no credence to this....why are we on page 21 and counting?

For the same reason this thread in a skeptic forum has 411 pages of people discussing wether the Patterson Bigfoot footage is authentic or not.

[thetrellan]

Actually, come to think of it, it is pretty irritating that Fox holds on to these rights when they they've done such a bad job with them. I have long thought that Marvel should do something about it. But this would be pretty extreme. I can think of better, more profitable ways of doing this. Buy the rights back, for one. Hell, buy Sony if they must. I know there must be reasons why they can't do either, but one has to weigh in lost revenue into the equation as well, and if there are obvious methods that don't work, there must be not so obvious ways which will.

My point is that this rumor seems designed to make fans panic, nothing more. Cancellation is not a viable option, not for any real length of time. Plus it's not a strategy worth pursuing, as it would have little impact on Sony. For crying out loud, it would literally take years for such a strategy to have any results, and those are pretty sketchy at that. No one is going to just forget the FF.

[Carabas]

Actually, come to think of it, it is pretty irritating that Fox holds on to these rights when they they've done such a bad job with them. I have long thought that Marvel should do something about it.

What could they possibly do about it?

[thetrellan]

What could they possibly do about it?

If that question were easily answered it would have happened already. Knowing that something should be done isn't the same as getting it done. I'm just saying it should. I realize it's about as useful as saying Marvel shouldn't have sold the rights in the first place.

Even if I were a lawyer, I couldn't answer that question without reading the agreement.

I think you know this too. Is the purpose of your question to point out that I don't have any useful answers? Hell, I thought that was a given.

[Mark]

If there is no credence to this....why are we on page 21 and counting?

Trust in what the marvel editorial staff says in interviews is low for many. You never know when they are being serious, joking or just poking the fans with a stick to get them mad. For myself I believe that marvel will do anything they can to get more money and if they can get more money by getting the rights this way they will. What we think does not and never has mattered.

[Tiamatty]

No Wolverine or FF in this? Really? Why would they be left out?

I believe it's 100% to do with movie rights. Really by producing FF/Wolverine comics and merchandise , Marvel were practically doing publicity for Fox studios films to make hundreds of millions off their backs. This would give Fox licence to keep the movie rights for years. This i believe is forcing Fox's hand. Cheapen the brand, marginalise them until these products are no longer viable moneymakes for Fox in the long run. Marvel is owned by a film studios now. Helping a rival studios make money out of YOUR product is not good business. Look at the ' cant use them like this or can't call them that' debacle of Quicksilver and Scarlet with regards to the Avengers X Men films. It must piss Marvel/Disney off that they are being dictated to over use of their OWN characters. It's at the point nowwhere the general public are unaware that these characters, FF Wolverine and Spidey are even from the same company, despite the Marvel Logo shown at the start of the films.

Oh, that cover is most likely a bit of spite. (It's also awful. Greg Land is a giant hack.) But the stories being spite? I doubt it.

And the idea that cancelling the comic would have any effect at all on the movies is absurd. No one reads comics any more.

[cyberhubbs]

Why would he say otherwise? They also said that Peter Parker is dead for good and new generation of fans will grow up with Superior Spider-Man or that Peter Parker revealing his identity during CW won't be brushed away by some magic trick. I could go on, point is that they always say only beneficial things.

I believe the CW quote was from an artist not working on Spider-Man at the time. Some old Wizard Magazine article.

[md62]

For me Marvel canceling Fantastic Four would be like DC canceling Superman.

[SeanHarry]

In the sixties, DC got very close to cancelling all of the Batman comics. By my understanding, it was a foregone conclusion within DC that Batman was going to be cancelled, when they were approached about the possibility of a Batman TV series.

Back to the topic at hand; when I first started collecting comics, The Fantastic Four, under the stewardship of John Byrne, was one of Marvel's highest profile and selling titles. Yet somehow over the past 20 years this title has seemingly lost it's spark and relevance within the Marvel Universe. It has had some poor runs, and since Hickman left the series it has been struggling. And with the exception of Dr Doom, none of them feel very much a part of the Marvel Universe anymore.

Fantastic Four was one of the first comics I started reading as a kid (the first comic I ever read was Super Villain Team Up issue 3, a spin off from FF), so I'd be sad to see it go.

But beyond that, it was the comic that started the Marvel Universe.

[jphamlore]

In the sixties, DC got very close to cancelling all of the Batman comics. By my understanding, it was a foregone conclusion within DC that Batman was going to be cancelled, when they were approached about the possibility of a Batman TV series.

Back to the topic at hand; when I first started collecting comics, The Fantastic Four, under the stewardship of John Byrne, was one of Marvel's highest profile and selling titles. Yet somehow over the past 20 years this title has seemingly lost it's spark and relevance within the Marvel Universe. It has had some poor runs, and since Hickman left the series it has been struggling. And with the exception of Dr Doom, none of them feel very much a part of the Marvel Universe anymore.

Fantastic Four was one of the first comics I started reading as a kid (the first comic I ever read was Super Villain Team Up issue 3, a spin off from FF), so I'd be sad to see it go.

But beyond that, it was the comic that started the Marvel Universe.

The problem comics-wise is that the Fantastic Four became the Fantastic One, Reed Richards. Once Reed Richards started to create pocket universes and be the one initiating the accident that caused the Fantastic Four in the first place, he basically became a god compared to the other members of the team. The Fantastic Four died a long time ago, and it took Hickman to write its eulogy.

[thetrellan]

On the other hand, this could all be just Marvel's way of saying "Do you love me?"