Marvel Talks About The Future

David Maisel, Executive Vice-President, Office of the Chief Executive, and Chairman of Marvel Studios, spoke at the 2008 Merrill Lynch Media Fall Preview today about Marvel’s transformative year. This year saw the launch of an independent movie studio, beginning with blockbuster Iron Man, the 21st biggest movie of all time. The movie’s $318 million domestic gross was simply a building block towards the $575 million gross worldwide – with Japan still to open on Sept 27. The Incredible Hulk was another winning title with $216 million in worldwide revenue and $135 million domestic gross. The Incredible Hulk has opened in Japan and China; it is the largest movie distributed by Universal in China to date.

Marvel will continue its focus on Iron Man with a sequel scheduled for release April 30, 2010. Maisel also mentioned a third Iron Man film but did not provide a release date. Continuing the build-up to the year of the Avengers is Thor, set for release in June 2010. Marvel hopes to capture the excitement that surrounded the Lord of the Rings trilogy with its focus on Thor, a Norse god struggling with his half-brother and father. The movie features significant and interesting character development juxtaposing Thor’s deity and his human personality.

Captain America will have his turn at the silver screen in early May 2011. The movie’s working title is the First Avenger: Captain America, capturing Cap’s place as the leader and founding member of the all-star Avengers. The team of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor will come together in Avengers, scheduled for release in July 2011. Marvel will continue to inter-connect the movies with cameo appearances of the Avengers characters, similar to Tony Stark’s appearance at the end of Incredible Hulk. Marvel’s vision of the Avengers’ movies mirrors the Star Wars saga where characters are fundamentally connected and story lines lead from one movie to the next.

Marvel’s introduction as a movie studio moves in parallel with the company’s continued force as the fifth largest licensing company in the world based on retail sales. The company negotiated a profitable licensing deal for toys with Hasbro, and Maisal announced new video games based on Captain America and Thor to be released by Sega. Marvel’s licensing extends into the world of theme parks with a multi-billion dollar deal for a park in Dubai, set to open in 2012, and two more parks in South Korea. These parks present no financial risk for Marvel while the company retains significant creative control and economic participation.

Even with the furor surrounding Marvel’s movie, toy, and video games, the company has not forgotten its core; it is poised to take advantage of the interactive potential for comics as they move to the Internet, cellular phones, and iPhones. Marvel plans to continue efforts to digitize a 70-year library of comics and hopes to deliver these titles to an entirely new audience around the world.

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