Marvel Comics has always been big as it is today. As Marvel Cinematic Universe is coming out with new superheroes, the time is not far when the franchise will completely destroy the box office. Having said that, not all the movies of the MCU are as heroic as expected. We bring you some of the disastrous mistakes that Marvel can never erase from its pages.
1. Film Rights
Marvel raised its capital in the early nineties by signing away the film rights to all their characters. Before 1989 Marvel didn’t gross well. During the 1990-directed video version of Captain America reported profits of just 10,000 dollars on the $10-million dollar budget. Then four years later, the first Fantastic Four was produced on just a shoestring just to legally attain the rights of the characters. Marvel ended up spending millions of dollars on the distribution in order to save the brand from being cheapened by a little budget flop.
2. Creator Mistreatment
There is no doubt that Marvel movies rake billions of dollars worldwide. The Marvel’s most questionable treatment about creatives is the case of Gary Friedrich of Ghost Rider. After the movie hit the theaters, Friedrich approached Marvel for the film’s merchandising. Well, things didn’t go well and he sued Marvel, alleging the copyrights used in the first Ghost Rider. Well, he failed to register the appearance of the character 1972’s “Marvel Spotlight” #5. Later, in 2010, Marvel countersued him for $17,000 and stopped him from selling anything about the Ghost Rider.
3. Atlas distribution
In the 1950s when Marvel was called Atlas comics, the American Publisher Martin Goodman, thought of public distribution. And you know what? The distribution company went bankrupt. Then he asked DC to distribute his books.
4. Ron Perelman
The American businessman, Ron Perelman, bought Marvel for just $82 million in 1989. Within next two years, Marvel was on the stock market. Perlman later went on buying shares in a company called Toybiz, snapping some trading card companies; Panini stickers and Heroes World. Well, this cost Marvel a reported $700m.
