Marvel's Movie Rights

Boobies

You see, I like this article! Check out mine if you want, where i point out that fanboys that cry "revert to marvel" are the scum of the earth!
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/dannramm113/news/?a=114093
Yes, I completely agree with you, you get my thumb broski

@RextheKing
You seem pretty reasonable, don't cry over the beggining of the article I take great solace in being able to get lulz out of mad people.
t.l.d.r: I was just playing around

@dannramm113

Dude I've been here for ages, you're one of the few reasonable people here, I've read your editorial before, wish I wasn't lazy, wrote this while in the toilet in work it's kinda rough but I had to get this out there.
Lol
Writing this under the desk.

@G3n... Okay then, I read and yeah good article. I figured it was just going to be a slam on MS fan, with little to no reasoning backing why MS shouldn't get their film rights back. I'm not to familiar with you so I didn't realize you were just poking fun with your opening. My apologies.

@Zod.And I do have a genuine question for you. Not trolling just curious. Marvel almost went bankrupt in the nineties and that why these rights were sold in the first place. Now that they have their own studio they want them all back. Not surprising.

Now I hate to bring up DC, but they almost went bankrupt in the eighties and there were talks of them selling rights to MARVEL! So if that was the case, and DC didn't have control of their own characters cause they were in a bad place at one time, how would you respond to that? Is it possible that you could of become one of those people complaining that you want to see the characters you love together like their supposed to be? Stupid question really cause there's no way you could possibly answer that. But I just find it interesting that nobody ever even bothers to bring it up cause DC stayed with Warner.

Burtons Batman film owned by Marvel, made by Fox or Sony? Lol. Weird.

I applaud you sir.

I agree. Let the studios make their films. Marvel doesn't even need those characters. Would it be nice? of course, but it is not necessary. I however am excited for Fantastic 4. I think it looks very interesting and different. I like different with films. That's my personal opinion, but you already get that. haha. Great little rant.

there is absolutely no case for marvel getting back the character they sold on. None. We would get less movies, its not like the other studios are doing badly with them either, I personally felt TASM missed the mark but it still grossed 700 million in a tough year for Cinema. I loved xmen days of future past. so i dont see the problem.

Personally i would love to see spiderman with the avengers or avengers vs xmen on cinema but i dont think the other studios are doing anything wrong. They have invested in those characters and made movies to develop those franchises, they are entitled to reap their rewards.

@DrKingsolving

I didn't say that, if they buy the movie rights back then good for them but people seem to almost think that Sony and Fox are obligated to do it.
Please learn to read.

@cinnamon

Y..yes Mr. Cinammon.
Seriously though I wanted to post some pics but I was on my phone(which is acting up).

@ALmazing. Character rights CAN have an expiration date. But we have never heard of one with any of the characters we are talking about, so do research before you try to make a point.

Like Zod said, if they don't have a film in some for of production within a certain time frame, they can lose the rights. UNLESS the deal specifically says they are contracted to hold those character rights until a certain date. Which we have never been told was the case. There I explained it in two different ways. Hope that helps.

@G3n3r4lzZoD9

"A store has the right to come into your house and take your washing machine because they don't like the way you were using it"

This scenario would fit if said store was offering to pay you a large sum of money for your washing machine or there was a contract that stated that the washing machine would return to the store after a certain period of time if it was not being used.

I read fine. That is what you said.... In this case Marvel would be either paying a large sum of money for the characters or waiting for them to revert, which these companies agreed on when they signed the contracts.

@almazing

The rights are leased in perpetuity, actually. There is no guarantee that Disney will reacquire the rights as long as new movies are in development.

I am pretty sure that Marvel owns the TV rights toward Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and X-Men.

Honestly there is no reason Marvel deserves the rights back. None. They sold it and said Sony and Fox can use the rights as long as they keep making films, which they obviously are. Even if Marvel did get the rights back, we would get less movies and quality could possibly dip.

I personally think the rights to X-men and Fantastic Four are alot more important than Spider-man. I don't think TASM movies were that bad and wouldn't mind if that continued. Fantastic Four is probably gonna run into the ground and the current X-men is mostly dependent on Hugh Jackman. I think Marvel could do alot more with the characters, mythos, and world than Fox. We'd get Dr. Doom, Galactus, Silver Surfer, Wolverine,Xavier, Deadpool, Magneto,Apocalypse, Mystique and much more. These characters would be great additions to the MCU and fit perfectly with what Marvel has right now. Some of the current actors will probably depart after Infinity War so we'll need new heroes anyway. I would prefer having 2 more teams at Marvel over one hero and his supporting cast, even if its the most profitable one. Marvel should be trying to make a deal with Fox, not Sony.

It is also notable that , yes, Netflix can cancel your subscription at anytime if they were to feel you were not adhering to the terms of use set by the contract with them. Being that the contract with Netflix is a month to month contract they would also get to keep the money you paid them for the service that month, they would not be responsible to refund you, even a pro rated amount in anyway.

Similarly, Marvel/Disney, has a right to "cancel" the contracts with fox or sony at its own discretion. However this would take the form of an extensive lawsuit. Marvel/Disney would have to decide that fox or sony releases were devaluing the brand. Are less people interested in the characters because of the movies? Are comics of those characters losing sales because of the movies? Likewise is merchandising in decline? These would be very difficult ideas to prove in a court of law. It would have to go well beyond proving that now people think Galactus must be a stupid idea or character because a big cloud for a villain is stupid, or the general public thinking Deadpool is a mute wolverine ripoff science experiment with no personality. They would have to prove that once these ideas were put forth by the film studio the overall value of the character is now diminished specifically because the public now associates the character with the film one not the version appearing in marvel's comics or other multimedia material and or merchandizing. This lawsuit would be a very difficult one and probably a very drawn out one. This is probably why Marvel/Disney has not tried to do so with fox after the Fantastic Four films or X-men origins wolverine. (These probably being the most egregious examples of films that could actually dissuade people from looking more into the characters). Additionally Marvel would have to prove that the final versions of the films did not reflect the conceptual versions they had seen during production that they would have had to sign off on. These suits could last forever and that would be another huge problem because the existing contract could either play out in two ways while the lawsuit was happening. Firstly it could freeze the contract, no one gets to make a film about these characters until the lawsuit is settled. Marvel/Disney would never want this and would avoid it at all costs. The movies have become the overall marketing juggernaut of the super hero comics industry, keeping the character off the screen would hurt revenue way more than a supposedly inferior version being onscreen. The second option would make it so the rights stay where they are until the suit ends, meaning, Fox or Sony wouldn't be obligated to move on making a picture in the given time frame. This would simply delay marvel/Disney from accomplishing this hypothetical goal of reacquiring the film rights to its characters.

That being said the only ones who I really see as being able go do service for the MCU is the FF. Spidey and X-Men are both big enough worlds to warrant separate continuities. The FF is also a huge world however it never felt like its own insular world. The FF's huge expansive world is the marvel universe. Marvel just feels a little naked without the FF, and the FF just seems empty without the greater world around them to deal with, well, whatever the heck the FF end up coming across now. Whether it's Ronan and the kree, black panther and wakanda, the inhumans, the negative zone, the watcher, galactus and the surfer, the fantastic four have always been the point of first contact. Then you bring in the other heroes as the first responders. They feel lacking without each other.

Pretty much up until bendis' new avengers I sort of saw these dividing lines through the marvel universe. X-men was its own branch, then you had the spidey branch which also included a lot of his interactions with the street level heroes and occasionally doctor strange, then there was avengers/FF segment of marvel. I kinda see the separate film studios along these lines as well. X-men is big enough to be on its own. Spidey may not have the rest of the underdog crew with him but his own stories and massive supporting cast is more than enough for an endless film series. Avengers and FF need each other, from the very first marvel "event" crossover where they teamed up go take down the hulk, these teams together help forge the through line of the marvel universe.