Hollywood What If

Was it enough to work with Grey Pictures?

Avi Arad was still skeptical about the idea. Sure, he knew that Kazir was one of the best, if not the best, director in this new genre, but Avi Arad was still not confident in working with the studio.

He needed at least some assurance. Walt Disney was very serious about acquiring their characters and they were willing to pay a lot.

Although there was a downside to that, because Marvel wouldn't start their own Cinematic Universe if they sold their characters to Walt Disney.

And that was the problem with Grey Pictures. Even though the studio bought the copyrights to many of the characters, it didn't mean that Grey Pictures intended to start a Cinematic Universe about Marvel.

Maybe they wanted to make a stand-alone movie like Spider-Man. That was not enough to revive Marvel Comics.

Since getting the copyrights back would be cumbersome, Avi Arad decided to go as far as he could.

"I want to renegotiate the contract," Avi said, and both Kazir and Stan looked at him.

Kazir nodded, already expecting this. Avi Arad was the CEO of Marvel Comics and he had to do his job as CEO for the sake of the company.

"Cinematic Universe. I want to make sure that Grey Pictures is committed to a Marvel Cinematic Universe. With at least one Marvel movie a year."

Kazir was not surprised.

'Well, since MCU was a massive success in my past life, I have no problem with that. CCU has a steady performance and I can focus on MCU for a while. However...'

"... And what can I get?"

Kazir didn't forget that he had the upper hand in this negotiation.

"If you don't, we'll kill every character you acquired in the comics."

Kazir grinned. It seemed petty, but surely Avi had his intentions.

"So you want to kill the Hulk? He's one of your greatest superheroes."

"We can kill him or we can change his image. We can make him a villain, we can make him a killer, a thief, even a rapist."

Marvel Comics had the rights to all the characters and they do what they want with them.

Surely Grey Pictures would never make a Hulk movie if he became a rapist in the comics, which was the canon plot. So the copyrights would just be useless.

"We both lose if you do that."

If Marvel were serious about this, they would just destroy themselves.

Avi Arad knew this. It was just a threat, but a threat that would never happen unless they were backed into a corner.

They love every character and they didn't want to make them bad.

"Avi, I know your intentions and I assure you that I'm sincere."

"We will extend the copyrights up to 15 years if you agree with our terms." Avi said.n

"I guess you want to use some of your people for this project."

"That's right, the writers should be from Marvel Comics."

"No problem with that. That's my plan anyway."

"Marvel wants to increase the 13% profit share to 15%. We need money."

Marvel was in a near death situation.

"The numbers should be discussed by our agents and so on. But I also have my proposal."

"Tell me about it."

Looking at the grin on Kazir's face, Avi knew that it could affect them.

"Marvel will shoulder at least 30% of the production cost."

Now this condition could be a double-edged sword. It could be good or bad for them.

"I agree, but Marvel should increase its box office share to 20%"

"No, our original agreement is that Marvel Comics can only get 13% of the box office."

"Then investment could be a problem."

"Then there's no Cinematic Universe."

"..."

Avi Arad and Kazir had a stare-down.

As for Stan Lee, he just stood there. He was a creative person and a great artist, but business was never his strong suit.

Actually, it was impressive that Kazir could do business. He had a talent for business management, otherwise Grey Pictures would not have reached its current greatness.

Too bad, because Kazir disliked doing business. If he had a choice, he would have let his agent handle those kinds of negotiations.

But after the Big Six declined to invest in Taken, Kazir decided to strike out on his own and form a production company that would invest exclusively in his own films. It was a dangerous gamble, but one that paid off in the end.

"Exactly as you said, this negotiation of numbers should be given to our management and let them fight over it."

"Very well."

So in the end, there was no clear agreement except for the plan to make a Marvel Cinematic Universe.

For obvious reasons, Marvel Comics was actually on the bad side of this negotiation.

First of all, Marvel Comics could start their own studio and make their own movies.

However, they were not sure if their movies would be successful. On top of that, all of their famous characters had already been acquired by many studios, and they would have a hard time getting them back.

In this situation, Marvel Comics could only agree with Kazir's decision.

'If our situation is the same as DC's, then maybe one of the Big Six has already bought Marvel Comics.' Avi gritted his teeth.

Superman and Batman were basically the mascots of Warner Brothers and they were very famous all over the world. The main reason for that was the movie adaptations. Both superheroes had successful movies.

In fact, Avi Arad was hoping that one of the Big Six would acquire them... At least that would make their lives easier.

Suddenly, Avi Arad's fat cell phone in his pocket started ringing. The phones in 90s and early 2000s were thicc as fuck.

Avi excused himself and answered the call.

Kazir and Stan were left alone.

"S- So Kazir, what's your plan if you're going to make Iron Man?"

"I have some in mind, but I'm not sure yet, I'll tell you later, maybe when Spider-Man 2 starts production. I'll give you a clear plan. In the meantime, I'm going to focus on my current project."

Kazir lied. Of course he had thought about it. Hell, he even watched it.

"Of course." Stan Lee understood.

In fact, he was already grateful that Kazir was directing Spider-Man. He was the biggest safety net in this project, not the cast and not Sony-Columbia. Director Grey was the assurance that every studio wanted to acquire.

Stan Lee was the creator of Spider-Man and he was very happy to see his "son" have a successful run in Hollywood.

Now a lot of people around the world know about Spider-Man. That was enough for him.

Although Stan was hoping that Kazir would also make Spider-Man 3. That would be the biggest piece of good news he could get.

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