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What is Marvel to you? A comic? An action figure? Or, like a majority of people from my generation, a Movie?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU for short) has managed to save not only the careers of many actors that have been a part of it but also the comic version of itself.
The Marvel Comics History tells us that Marvel Comics, formerly known as Timely Publications, was started by Martin Goodman in 1939 in hopes of taking advantage of the growing popularity of comic books at that time.
Towards the end of the 1940s, the growing popularity of superheroes and their comics started dying down. As a result, Timely started branching out to other genres, such as horror and even comedy and also changed their name to Atlas Comics.
Finally, in the 1960s, they changed their name to Marvel Comics as we all know them today, with the addition of Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, and Stan Lee to help ride the again rising wave of superheroes. This was a key moment in Marvel Comics History.
Cut to the 1980s; Marvel was enjoying the success of the superhero industry. The Marvel Success Story had taken off. Ron Perelman, a millionaire businessman, was interested in them and bought the Marvel Entertainment Group, now owned by New World Pictures. During this time, he acquired shares of ToyBiz, to produce stickers, toys, figurines, and more.
However, this success soon came to an end in the 1990s when Marvel filed for bankruptcy in 1996 because of a number of reasons, including rumors of their comics declining in quality.
This was a turning point in Marvel Business transformation. They even started selling the rights to their characters to various companies. Finally, they partnered with Avi Arad, the former head of Marvel Movies, to help them out of their slump. Even though the Blade, X-Men, and Spiderman Movies saw success, Marvel did not get much of the share as they had sold off most of their rights.
Finally, in 2003, they were approached by David Maisel, a talent agent, who gave them the idea for Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it today, and thus, Ironman was born in 2008, produced by Kevin Feige. He was even the president of Marvel Studios in 2007 before having his big break with Ironman.
From Marvel’s journey starting off as Timely Publications, then Atlas Comics, enjoying success in the 1960s-1980s, nearly failing in the 1990s, to finally enjoying success in the 2000s and even being acquired by Disney, the Marvel Business transformation has been incredible. We see how strategy, partnerships, innovation, creativity, and, most importantly, never giving up have contributed to the Marvel Success Story.
To read more about their marvelous story:
https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/how-marvel-went-from-bankruptcy-to-billions/ -Marvel’s timeline of success and failure
https://www.thewrap.com/how-marvel-went-from-bankruptcy-to-hollywoods-most-successful-franchise/ -What helped Marvel stay afloat
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Marvel-Comics - Marvel Comics History
https://www.legends.report/how-did-marvel-go-from-the-brink-of-failure-to-smashing-cinematic-records/ -Marvel Business transformation