What to learn from Marvel's great revival in on-screen comic book adaptations?

World
Europe

Founded in the 1930s, Marvel dominated the comic book industry for decades. However, with the rapid development of media such as television and movies, people gradually lost interest in comics, for Marvel, falling sales was discouraging and debt was a matter of concern.

VCG Photo

Marvel, however, was well aware of the problems it faced. The shift in the direction of consumer entertainment had led to a decline in comic book sales, but the company recognized that new entertainment products were badly needed.

Consequently, Marvel has begun a renaissance.

Giving rights of the comics to film companies

Marvel Films was founded in the 1990s, so as to give Marvel’s rights to film companies instead of making their own films. "X-Men"'s rights were sold to the 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, "Blade" to New Line Cinema, and "Spider-Man" to Sony Corporation.

"Spider-Man" /VCG Photo

But for Marvel Films, there was no control over the movies that were licensed.

Avi Arad, the former chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, said that products such as "Erica" failed because the company had no access to creative control.

Avi Arad, the former chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment /VCG Photo

In addition, when the "X-Men" series and "Spider-Man" made billions of profit worldwide, Marvel shared only a small percentage, less than 0.1 billion.

Through film licensing, Marvel received royalties to pay off the debt, while perceiving the massive power of the movie industry.

Marvel Cinematic Universe founded

In 2006, Marvel decided to make its own films to control its own future. In a bold move Marvel raised its own money to launch the production of blockbusters as an independent movie company, and as a result, Marvel Cinematic Universe was born.

Marvel Cinematic Universe /VCG Photo

Marvel planned to bring superheroes like "Iron Man", "Hulk", "Thor" and "Captain America" etc. to the big screen separately, and then rally them together via "The Avengers".

In the first phase from 2008 to 2012, Marvel made 37.4 billion US dollars worldwide box office following an investment of 1 billion dollars.

Viewers were crazy about Marvel even in the midnight. /VCG Photo

The great success attracted famous studios in Hollywood. After working with Paramount, Marvel dominated the comic film market, the only rival for them, even now, is DC.

Acquired by Disney

Marvel caught the attention of Disney, and in 2008, the company was officially acquired. Disney ensured relative independence for Marvel and provided financial support, a distribution network and infrastructure.

VCG Photo

Additionally, Disney drove the supplementary industry in toys, theme parks and so on, greatly increasing the copyright value of Marvel and shifting its focus from licensing to film-making to make its way in Hollywood.

What to learn from Marvel?

Marvel has been a miracle in the comic film industry. For those who are still struggling in comic films like Chinese comic films, there are a few points that may be worthy of reference.

Build IP systematically. At the beginning of setting up IP, Marvel created a huge network of characters and complicated storylines.

Marvel has a whole set of operational ideas about the IP value chain, giving the characters or stories a full extension. It’s easy to see that the purpose of the layout of Marvel series of films is very obvious, and each film serves the whole frame.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe usually includes post-credits scenes as a teaser for the next Marvel story.

Thanos /VCG Photo

For example, in the post-credits scenes of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" in 2015, Thanos wears his gauntlets and says “Fine, I’ll do it myself,” thus setting up their next release, 2018’s "Infinity War". Such post-credits enrich the viewers’ understanding of characters and stories.

2018's "Infinity War" /VCG Photo

Why not try setting up Chinese systematic IP?

Undoubtedly, almost everyone in China has heard the story of "Journey to the West".

Monkey King in China /VCG Photo

One of the most famous characters, the Monkey King, is a worthy Chinese superhero, and there are many other interesting characters not only in the Journey to the West but in other works like "The Legend of Deification", a wonderful Mythology in China as well.

Although these are not comics, they are as operational as comics.

A child warrior, Nezha, is a character both in "Journey to the West" and "The Legend of Deification". /VCG Photo

Nevertheless, there are only everlasting remakes of such rare super IP, without universe interactions like Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Probably through the character of Monkey King, we can build a worldview with Oriental characteristics and create a Chinese universe. On this basis, various characters’ story branches are developed to fill the story of this IP.

As each branch matures, through the interplay of each branch, it is possible to build a world that rivals the Marvel universe and create Chinese superhero stories.