7. Variant Timeline and Naming the Studio.
{Author's note: This is somewhat of an info dump chapter at beginning as it goes into the history of the rise and decline of marvel comics and comics industry in general. But still there are some important plots points that cant be missed. So please be patient and dont skip if possible.}
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Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works. If you recognize it from somewhere else, surprise, it isn't mine.
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Instructions:
"words" means a dialogue said out loud.
'words' means an internal dialogue, just thoughts.
[words] means a system panel or Information from the system
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Recap of the previous chapter -
Vani had told Mark about how the current skills displayed in the shop were due to his own desires. Mark then goes on to retell about his past life, his regrets and his mother's unfulfilled dream.
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~ Mark's POV ~
April 11th, 1990, same day, 2:53 pm, in his apartment.
[Mark, I need to tell you about the variances, I have discovered in the current timeline.]
"Oh yeah, you did mention something about that before, what is it? Has my reincarnation in this world led to some variance or changes?" Mark asked in concern, hoping that this variance wouldn't become an obstacle towards his plans.
[Don't worry, Mark, for now the discovered variances are actually already working in favor of your plans or can be exploited to gain more advantages in your climb towards the peak.]
"Hmm really that's good to know Vani. So what are these variances that you found?" Mark was excited to know how this world was different from his own and how he could make those differences work in his favor.
[Well in line with your priorities, Marvel Comics should come first.]
"Oh do tell, and please don't miss a single detail, I want to know where things went differently." Mark requested thinking about how he use the variance to his favor to achieve his mother's dream.
[Well in your previous timeline it was the skyrocketing success of the comic book market that started it all. But the success of the comic book market was actually a bubble – one brought on by encouraging collectors to buy multiple editions and hoard them up in the hope that they'll one day be worth a fortune.]
[It was akin to the infamous tulip mania – a strange period in the 17th century when the value of tulip bulbs suddenly exploded, only for the market to collapse again.]
[You can sell lots of comics to the same person, especially if you tell them that you are investing money for high guaranteed returns.] Vani explained with the tulip analogy to Mark.
[But you're selling bubbles and tulips, and one day the bubble will burst, and the tulips will rot in the warehouse.] The bubble, Vani described had begun several years earlier in this world, when comic books, once considered disposable items by parents, were becoming prized items by collectors who'd grown up with their favorite superheroes as kids.
[Publishers were themselves, courting the collector market by introducing variant covers, sometimes with foil embossing or other eye-catching, fancy printing techniques.]
[These were snapped up hungrily by readers, but also by speculators assuming that they'd stumbled on a sure-fire means of making money by storing copies up and selling them for a profit in the future.]
[While the comics were flying off the shelves, Marvel attracted the interest of a man named Ron Perelman. In your previous life it was in 1989, that Perelman spent $82.5 million on purchasing the Marvel Entertainment Group, then owned by New World Pictures.]
[Within two years, Marvel was on the stock market, and Perelman went on a spending spree: he bought shares in a company called ToyBiz, snapped up a couple of trading card companies, Panini stickers, and a distribution outfit, Heroes World. All told, those acquisitions cost Marvel a reported $700 million.]
[Through the early 90s, Marvel was buoyed by the success of Spider-Man and X-Men, which were selling in huge numbers. Sales of a new comic, X-Force, were similarly huge, thanks in part to a cunning sales gimmick.]
[The first issue came in a polybag with one of five different trading cards inside it. If collectors wanted to get hold of all five cards, they – you guessed it – had to buy multiple copies of the same comic. With the boom still in full swing, that's exactly what collectors did.]
Then, just as Vani mentioned before, the bubble burst. Between 1993 and 1996, revenues from comics and trading cards began to collapse. Suddenly, Marvel, which at one point seemed invincible as it grew in size, now looked vulnerable.
[Many industry insiders went further, and argued that Perelman's tactics had endangered their entire industry into a collapse.]
[Whether Perelman was directly to blame or not, the consequences for the industry as a whole were painful in the extreme. Hundreds of comic book retailers went bust as sales tumbled by 70 percent. Suddenly, the boom had turned to bust as the bubble had burst.]
[By 1995, Marvel Entertainment was heavily in debt. In the face of mounting losses, Perelman decided to press on into new territory: he set up Marvel Studios.]
[A venture which he hoped would finally get the company's most famous characters on the big screen after years of legal disputes. To do this, he planned to buy the remaining shares in ToyBiz and merge it with Marvel, creating a single, stronger entity.]
[Marvel's shareholders resisted, arguing that the financial damage to Marvel's share prices would be too great. Perelman's response was to file for bankruptcy, thus giving him the power to reorganize Marvel without the stockholder's consent.]
[And here comes the first variance, Mark. The timeline of Marvel's rise and then decline in the hands of Perelman was accelerated. All these events that were supposed to happen in to 1990 to 1997, happened almost a decade earlier. And marvel went bankrupt in 1988 in this timeline.]
[It has been over a year since Perelman has lost in the lengthy court that took over a year to settle. He got to keep ownership of marvel entertainment group, but lost all credibility with his stakeholders.]
[Unlike in the original timeline where after a lengthy court case, ToyBiz and Marvel Entertainment Group were finally merged, but Perelman and his nemesis Carl Icahn were both ousted in the process.]
[Other executives with ties with Perelman were also severed, including CEO Scott Sassa, whose tenure had, all told, lasted just eight months.]
[Now, for over a year, Perelman has been trying to recoup his losses through selling the movie adaptation copyrights of the Marvel superheroes and villains. Which he failed miserably at because of the recent failures of the Batman and Superman movies created by DC.]
[This has led the movie studios to be more cautious towards the viability of adapting a comic superhero into a movie. They are now observing the latest batman movie, Batman & Robin, releasing this year to gage whether these superhero IPs would become a profit making tool or just another sinkhole to avoid.]
'Wait, isn't Batman & Robin supposed to release in 1997, and it was also one of the worst received Batman movie of all times both by the critics and the audiences.' Mark asked in confirmation as this might be a variance as well.
[Yeah, Mark, that's the second variance I found. The comic to movie adaptation for batman movies have accelerated as well with the first installment of Batman by Tim Burton was shot in 1982 which 7 years earlier than the original. It was still a huge success, celebrated by both the critics and the audiences.]
[The next installment Batman Returns pretty good at the box office but the critics were indifferent towards the movie. And the audience reception was died down soon after a month.]
[The most recent addition Batman Forever while loved by the comic book fans was simply passed over by the critics. And watched skeptically by the general audience. It fell pretty flat at the box office when compared to its budget of $120 million dollars. Its gross box office is $100 million lesser than the original at $230 million.]
"And one of the worst batman movies of all time is releasing this year. Something which almost killed the DC superhero franchise. The release of Batman & Robin should make people even more hesitant to buy superhero IPs from Marvel.' Mark thought happy to exploit this situation and buy up Marvel as a whole before it can be broken into pieces.
[Then it will make your offer to buy the entirety of Marvel Comics even more, enticing.]
"Yup, after watching the Batman & Robin fail at the box office, Perelman would be even more desperate to sell. That's when I can come in to swoop marvel for around $100 million. A studio that would later on grow to be a multi-billion dollar franchise. Now that's doing business." Mark said, as he schemed how with just this 100 million dollar, he will secure the biggest money making movie franchise of all time.
[Another variance I discovered is that Bruce Geller doesn't exist in this timeline.]
"Wait, wasn't he the creator of Mission Impossible? Does that mean there is no Mission Impossible in this timeline yet?" Mark asked, excited at being able to just take over such a highly successful franchise like Mission Impossible.
[Nope, that movie franchise is ripe for the pickings.]
"Looks like I will need to bang out the script for mission impossible ASAP and then just wait for Tom to be desperate to revive his career" Mark was already scheming about how he would fool Tom Cruise into a disadvantageous contract due to his declining box office collections.
[The last variance that I discovered is that renowned writer J. K. Rowling has had some marital issues prematurely. Her husband abandoned her and her four-year-old daughter.]
[She now works as a part time content writer for a small magazine company and she also just recently conceived the idea for Harry Potter.]
"I see, well may be after my first movie is released. I can use the excuse of visiting UK for promotional purposes, to coincidentally meet her. And make an acquaintance with her, maybe even recruit her to work for me and add her to my group of friends." Mark planned.
"Any other changes that I should know of Vani?" Mark asked thinking about the next thing on his list.
[Not that I found any for now, but I am sure there must be more. I will let you know immediately when I discover something of significant importance.]
"Okay then moving on"
"Vani, I have decided upon the names for my studios'." Mark declared outloud, in excitement.
[Studios? As in, you are thinking about establishing multiple ones?]
"Yes, for my future diversification plan, it's better to keep my films separated based on their nature." Mark said, thinking about his future plans.
[So what are the names you decided upon, Mark?]
"Well, my head company that's going to oversee everything will be called Eidolon Entertainment."
[You truly want to be the best.]
"Absolutely, for now, there are going to be two separate studios under Eidolon Entertainment:
1. Nirvana Pictures – The films of this studio I will direct myself. Its going to be directly connected with my name. So mostly only those movies which are highly acclaimed and box office winners will be selected.
2. A-Team Productions – The films of this will be outsourced to other directors. This studio will mostly focus on action, thriller, spy-assassin, world ending stakes, etc. with movies like John Wick, Mission Impossible, Ocean's Eleven, etc."
{Author's Note: I would like to express my special thanks to DaoistReader for suggesting the name Eidolon studios. it was chosen as the head company. Thanks to SonofVenom for suggesting the name A-Team Productions. And also thanks TONRA_19 for suggesting the name Nirvana pictures. Thank you all for supporting and reading my work.}
"The 3rd studio that I am hoping to create in the future after acquiring Marvel Comics is Marvel Studios responsible solely for the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in movies, tv shows, games, etc."
'Hmm looks like I must meet my agent and Uncle Steve soon, he was the lawyer my dad recommended and he has been with since the start of my journey 8 years back when I published my first graphic novel, Ben 10.'
'I should definitely give him a call and let him know that I will coming by to meet him for business.' Mark thought to himself as he decided to call, Uncle Steve.
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{Author's Note: So here we all that has changed because of Mark's arrival in this world or maybe the timeline was of this was already different with only a few subtle changes.
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Update schedule for this book: 1 chapter every 2 days>}