50. “I.. Am... Here” and The Birth of a New Marvel.

Disclaimer: The story that I have written here takes on the names of real people, but this story is based in an alternate earth with some changes in its timeline.

This story does not intend to represent the celebrities/real people or make any commentary on them whatsoever. This story is entirely fictional, and it should be viewed entirely as such.

.

..

_________________________

..

.

Recap of the Previous Chapter -

We see Mark on his way to Marvel's HQ in LA, he has a conversation with Eva and Harry his lawyer about his recent acquisitions about a publication house that was renamed as Eidolon Publications. Mark then asked Harry to trademark the name Ichiraku Ramen for a restaurant chain.

After reaching the Marvel HQ, they are received by Bob Harras, the current editor-in-chief of Marvel. Mark then had a brief conversation with him about the state the business was in, and Bob asked him if he could save Marvel. They head into a meeting room filled with the top brass of Marvel's management.

Mark shows them his proposal to end the current Marvel timeline and start a new one. He also briefly introduces his original Superhero - Eidolon, that's going to be the change in the Marvel timeline. He will eventually save the world alongside the good guys and help create a better future for the people of the Marvel universe.

.

..

_________________________

..

.

~ Mark's POV ~

.

Date: 17th July, 1990.

.

Location: In his car's backseat, on his way back to Eidolon HQ.

.

Time: 03:43 pm.

..

.

After stopping to have lunch at a place highly recommended by Harry, they were on their way back to Eidolon HQ. Harry had taken a cab back to his office, so it was just Mark and Eva in the car. In their new-found privacy, they were getting a little frisky.

He had her sitting on his lap facing him as they hugged and kissed each other. Mark was glad that he went with a custom-made BMW. It had a soundproof partition separating the back and front of the car. To speak to his driver, Mr. Kim, all Mark had to do was press a button.

As they were enjoying their passionate makeout session. As their lips separated to finally take a breather, Eva whispered seductively in his ear, "as much as I am enjoying this master, we should continue this.. alone in bed.. at night."

Mark just pouted at her remark. To distract him, she asked, "Mark, did you always dream of one day becoming the owner of Marvel."

"Well, it was my wish as a child to one day meet Stan Lee myself and hand him that letter. But I never thought I would end up owning Marvel when I finally do so." Mark replied with a fond smile on his face.

She kissed the tip of Mark's nose as he looked so cute to her. "So do you want me to take care of any media outrage from your buyout of Marvel. It might be hard, but with the help of some CAA resources it could be arranged for bu- ...."

She didn't finish her sentence, as Mark did it for her, catching on quickly, what she was trying to imply. "But, it will cost me and end up with me owing CAA a favor."

"Yup." it was all she said, as even though they had a partnership owing a favor to CCA so early on would be unadvised, it still left her feeling a bit upset that she couldn't help Mark much.

Mark tapped her forehead with his index and middle finger to get her attention and break her out of her depressive thoughts.

"Don't worry about it, currently the more eyes we can draw onto us the better. I have complete faith in my work, but if people don't even give it a try and watch it for themselves, then how will my movie win them over." He explained to her, trying to put her worries to rest.

"Yeah, you're right, we should be thinking about marketing for your movie. So… which country do you think you could help boost the ticket sales if you personally did a publicity tour in?" She asked, as she wanted to prepare ahead of time, so everything was just perfect when Mark needed it.

"I know it's a bit early to think about international marketing, but I have complete faith in your work, Mark." She replied, seriously explaining her thoughts.

She didn't use any endearing names because she wanted him to know it was her opinion as a professional without any biases due to the relationship they shared.

"Thanks for having faith in me, Eva." He replied while cupping her face and caressing it. He continued, saying, "I think we should mainly focus on UK, as the Knives Out novels were really well received there."

It also went unsaid that Mark had some unfinished business there, but Eva didn't really have to know about that right now, no she did not, Mark had decided.

"So, are you excited? Tomorrow is the final shoot of Knives Out. To think you would finish it this quickly." She asked excitedly about the final scene to be shot.

"Of course I am, Johnny had been preparing for the final scene for the last month. He told me that he memorized the entire monologue, at least my draft of it, but we both know he is going to freestyle it." Mark said at the end, remembering about the time he spent with his new friends.

It had just been 2 months, but they already treated him like he was part of their group of misfits. He was happy that he could befriend these genuinely good and kind-hearted people. He hoped to help give them a better future, in this world, as all the tragic events that were supposed to take place haven't happened yet.

Like River's death, the miscarriage of Keanu's first child, Johnny and Amber's dating and their marriage. It was a lot, but he knew if he could help them out, these three future superstars of Hollywood. Then would become his most staunch supporters and have his back through thick and thin.

He had had these thoughts before, but now he didn't feel bad about manipulating his close ones because they benefited from it the most. His friends in the Inner Circle had great success in their careers, and had good friends to rely on for help.

Steven was now more proactive in establishing his own studio, his staff got better pay and work opportunities, Salma got a backer and passionate boyfriend, the duo of Sofia's in his life got a teacher and patron respectively. Ms. Rowling got a recommendation to a steady, well paying job and a nice place to live in.

He could see that he changed their lives for the better, but why did he feel like he was manipulating them for his own benefit. To be fair, it was more of a win-win situation where both he and they've got something that each wanted. It gave him peace in knowing that he wasn't just using them to his benefit.

No, that fate was saved for his enemies like Warner, Disney and anyone else who would dare to stand in his way to the peak of Hollywood.

.

..

.

~ Third Person POV ~

.

Date: 18th July, the next day.

.

Location: At Knives Out estate.

.

The fateful day had arrived, and even the crew couldn't help but feel odd by how smoothly all things had progressed. Everything had happened just as Mark planned, the preparation and rehearsals worked like a charm to save actual shooting time and help coordinate the extras in complex scenes.

If the crew were like these, then what about the actors? Well, Mark had pulled out all the stops, so that the best actors could be hired for the film. He paid them extra even if it cost him more, he himself didn't take a salary for his work as the director or screenwriter.

Mark only took a nominal fee of $1 dollar for his service as director and screenwriter. When the actors and crew came to know about it from his AD's Jon and Todd, they only admired him even more.

The only way Mark earned money was if the movie did well at the box office, faced with that risk of uncertainty, yet Mark's unwavering confidence in his work moved them.

Chris Plummer was also on scene, even though his scenes were over already, and he was busy filming a different movie. He took a day off just to watch the last scene be shot, after observing Mark the first few times they worked together filming.

He had realized the moniker of genius and prodigy still fell short in front of the monstrous talent possessed by Mark Spencer. If someone told him to guess Mark's age from his work, he would have guessed it to be performed by someone in their late 30s or early 40s.

Because that's the least amount of time, even a talented person, would need to spend to get that good at their craft. But to him, Mark looked like someone who skipped decades of the needed experience.

It didn't make him perfect, as he still made mistakes, but the speed at which he learned from them and thought up of a solution to work around his mistakes was what made him admire the young man.

He could see him now talking to the man of the hour, a charming and eccentric man he had come to know as Johnny Depp. The talent exhibited by young Depp was also something else, he just found it hard to believe that this was Mark's first film, and he is already working at such a high level.

Most directors start out small, the production budget doesn't exceed a million dollars or even if it rarely does, it never exceeds the $5 million dollars. But, Mark went straight for a $30 million dollars project. He didn't know if he should be praising the man for his guts or worry about him for the risk he was undertaking.

.

..

.

Johnny and the other actors were being explained about the way in which the final scenes would be shot, as some things had been changed.

"So, Salma, I want you to stand a little farther away from River. We have decided to change the part where you vomit on his face. After much discussion, we decided that even though it was okay in the book. We can't show such a gross scene as it may trigger the audience's vomit response." Mark explained the reason for the change.

"We are already stretching it a bit with all the vomit, but we haven't seen it come out of your mouth on screen. This time, though, it's gonna be a wide shot, so there is no way we can hide it. All we can do is just try to minimize the disgust it might induce." he said at the end of his explanation for Salma.

"Now for you, Johnny." Mark said with a serious tone.

"Give it to me chief, what's the news, I can take it." Johnny replied jokingly.

"Just be you out there and have fun." Mark said with a smile that they could tell even through his mask. He really was getting good at those Kakashi eye smiles.

"What do you mean? Don't you have some kind of pep talk to give, so I feel more confident for the performance." Johnny asked, bewildered by Mark's reply.

"I don't really have anything else to say other than what I already told you that night, Johnny. You have already given it your all to bring the character of Benoit Blanc to life. It's time for you to come to life yourself through him, for you to charm anyone who sees this scene. To imprint yourself in their memories, to take the stage and proclaim to the world."

Johnny echoed the next words Mark said perfectly, as he had said them to him before. "I.. Am… Here." Mark continued to ask him. "So I will ask you again, are you prepared to face the music?"

"Let's go make a movie to remember." Johnny replied with a confident grin.

Keanu was watching this exchange from the side. He had also come for this last scene, his heart couldn't help but want to join them. The atmosphere that Mark created with his presence, his charisma spoke volumes, but it was his calm and confident presence that made everyone feel at ease.

He had never felt this intense desire to work with someone on a film before, obviously he had directors who he dreamed of working with. But the warm and inviting atmosphere that Mark's set had was rarely ever seen by him. The amount of creative freedom his friends were given to improvise a scene just amazed him.

The trust Mark had towards his actors and crew showed through how efficiently he delegated the tasks to his first and second AD's. And it wasn't just him that had made this observation, Steven Spielberg himself was also present at the scene with a friend of his. After hearing about Mark preparing for his final scene, he had requested Mark to be allowed to visit the set to watch it live.

He had brought his friend George Lucas to watch the final scene with him. Lucas was also a fan of Mark's book and had read "Knives Out" many times. He insisted on coming upon finding out, so Steven couldn't really say no. He decided to give Mark a surprise with Lucas' surprise visit.

From their talk earlier, he knew Mark was a big fan of Star Wars. To say it underwhelming would be an understatement, Mark was so hyper focused that he didn't even react much and said in a flat tone.

"Sir, I am honored to have you here, I am a big fan of your work. I would love to talk more, but I have some inspections to run, so I need to leave, but before I leave. Could you please give me an autograph?" saying that he took a tube and unrolled a -

"Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" original, mint condition poster and a marker.

He looked at George and bowed his head as he requested, "Could you please sign this."

"Of course, I hope, I am not causing any distractions." He asked as he took the marker and signed it, writing - George Lucas - from one fan to another.

"Well, I will be fine, but friends might be a little awe struck, but they should be back to normal soon, and thankfully we finished preparing for this scene already. So we are good to go, but I really need to leave now for last minute inspections." He said, explaining the situation.

Also, I am sorry, but I can't let you see the entire scene as I have made some changes to the end." he apologized for not being able to let them see the entire scene. But after knowing that Lucas was a fan, he didn't want to spoil the ending for him.

"But if you would like, I would love to invite you to the first test screening we will be holding at Eidolon." Mark asked in an excited tone, as that would raise his status in the eyes of the media and audiences.

"We will talk more about the "Park" later, Steven." Mark said at the end as he nodded to Steven and left with his signed poster.

"He is something else, isn't he?" Steven asked his friend with a grin, he had been boasting about Mark to him for the past week like a proud father.

"That he is, now that I met him for myself. He kinda reminds me of you, not in appearance but in his presence and behavior. He is very courteous and professional towards his crew but not overly so, and can also crack jokes to cut the tension, to put people at ease." He said feeling like he see a glimpse of Steven in Mark's mannerisms and style of direction.

George didn't know how close he had come to the actual truth, as Mark kept using Steven's template it also ingrained into Mark some of Steven's good habits and practices that he adopted by choice as they would help him become a better director and leader.

.

..

.

All the actors were in their positions and with the call of action from Mark, the scene began.

"It is an immovable fact that I killed Harlan." Marta said with some tears in her eyes, her voice straining with repressed emotions.

Blanc said with some spunk, as he wanted to tease Marta for her folly. "Yes you did, yes he did, yes you all did," he kept moving his hands around to gesture the weird hapstance.

He knelt as he continued his dialogue, to be on eye level with Marta who was seated on a chair, "but look, I spoke in the car, about the hole at the center of this donut."

He took a short breath and continued, hoping that Mark would like a little bit of his improvisation with Benoit's body language. "Now what you and Harlan did that fateful night, seems at first glance to fill that hole perfectly, a donut hole, in a donuts hole."

He paused to create tension and suspense, "but we must look a little closer and when we do, we see the donut hole has a hole in its center. It's not a donut hole but a smaller donut with its own hole and our donut is not a hole at all." his hands moving with ease this time, his body language was open and excited, aiming to draw the attention of the audience and keep their focus on him. 'I am here, look at me', he thought.

.

..

.

It took nearly 7 good attempts before Mark was satisfied with the shot. He had already gotten a great shot, but he wanted Johnny to keep trying, and he could see him improve.

On the Seventh try, it happened, a miracle, he saw Johnny suddenly breakout with the performance of his life, his accent, his body language, his aura, everything came together and for the first time, Mark truly saw Benoit Blanc come alive on stage.

It nearly brought a tear to his eyes, as with this performance, he was sure that he had surpassed the original work. It felt like a shackle that had been holding in back had finally been broken. So what if he copied and plagiarized, he would surpass them all and create a new story, a better one.

Shooting the final scene of Knives Out just made this obsession of his even stronger. Now he wouldn't just be satisfied with creating a pale imitation of the original but vying to surpass it without losing the essence of what made the original a success.

.

..

.

Meanwhile, Steven and George were talking amongst themselves, with their years of experience they could tell at first glance just how good Johnny's final performance was.

"If the kid doesn't mess up horribly while editing somehow, then there is no way his movie isn't nominated for the Oscars." George said, looking at Steve, who was still staring at Mark and Johnny.

"Well, the chances of that are really low, as Mark was lucky enough to hire an excellent editor for his crew." He replied but didn't mention the name.

"Can you believe it, the man playing Blanc, who gave such a beautiful performance. This is his first time acting as the main lead in a commercial movie. How come I never have such luck when I am casting for my movies?" Steven complained to George about the recent casting issues he had been facing.

"Yeah, I can, with the luck you got, it's a miracle none of the actors you hired till now were criminals." He replied with a snarky comment and laughed at his friend's luck.

"But no, what I am actually curious to know about is who is his editor that you are so self-assured about his end film." He asked, wanting to know who this unnamed editor was.

"Well, it's just Bob Ducsay." Steven replied nonchalantly.

"Wait, isn't that the guy who was learning under Micheal and then left because of their differing styles. I heard he is quite.. the talent, but also… quite difficult.. to work with." He asked and then added his two cents.

"Well, I asked Micheal how would he rate Bob, all Micheal said was 'the kid is very talented but also very willful and that he wants to carve his own path when it comes to his style of editing' and that recently he has made a name for himself doing freelancing work." Steven replied while trying to recall the conversation he had with his own head editor, Michael Kahn.

"Hmm, I suppose, then, Mark's film is in good hands." George replied and then said, "you know he's already started on special effects? It isn't much, just a single scene, but he went so far as to pre-book an early slot just for that single scene."

"That's nothing, George, he hired a film score composer from the UK and paid to come work here just for this one film." Steven said in a tone of admiration. As he wanted to be in such a position where he can pull all stops to ensure the film is made with the best that is available.

"Do you know who he is?" he asked, wanting to know more.

"A guy named Hans Zimmer, I haven't really heard of him before but knowing Mark and his tendency to dig out hidden gems." Steven looked at Johnny as he said this. "I won't be surprised if he becomes a famous music composer in the future."

.

..

.

Eva said to Mark with a smile. "Mark, I just got a call from Mr. Zimmer telling me that he was finally done with the sample for the opening film score, you could hear it now."

"That's excellent news, Eva, let him know that I will be heading over to hear it in the afternoon, after this party is over." Mark replied.

"Wait! What party? Mark!" Eva exclaimed, as Mark hadn't really told them anything about it.

Mark told his director's megaphone and called attention. "May, I have your attention please, yes, thank you. I would like to say with this scene, the shooting of Knives Out is over. I know how strict I have been to you all, but even then, each one of you exceeded my expectations."

"So, congratulations and enjoy the small party I secretly arranged. I had already noted everyone's favorite dishes and had them prepared. I hope it is to your liking, and thank you for tolerating me the past two months." Mark added at the end as everyone chuckled and shared a laugh.

"A more grand and formal party will be thrown after the film is completed, and the test screening is done. But for now please enjoy yourselves, there is wine and alcohol available but do try to restrain yourself. I don't want any cases of drunk driving against my crew." Mark reminded them at the end seriously and then said.

"And if you do find yourself hammered, just clean yourself up and use one of the guest bedrooms here, and then leave in the morning when you're feeling better." After saying this, he left as the catering team were setting up the tables outside with food and drinks.

.

..

.

At the Marvel HQ a shuffle was going on, they were implementing the changes that Mark had discussed, some were huge like changing their publisher from Diamonds to the new and upcoming Eidolon Publications. They were even closing down the different variants of the original comic lines, except maybe a few that still made sales.

The smaller were the changes made to the style of printing. The wall of texts was gone, the images now looked more spaced apart and clean. Baxter paper was made the new standard to be used in all the publications for a superior finish. Bristol paper was still used by the illustrator for penciling, inking and coloring.

Yet the biggest change that the Marvel employees were the most hesitant to make - was the abandoning of the comic code authorities seal of approval and going independent. Now they wouldn't be able to sell their comics on the newspaper stands and other places where the adults shopped.

They were restricted to only specialized comic stores to sell their comics, and yet there was a feeling of freedom and a sense of peace that seemed to envelop their minds as they were now no longer under oppressive control of the CCA.

Mark had asked about how many comic stores Marvel still owned and had contacts with. There weren't many, but it was still enough for them to do a nationwide distribution. But Mark knew only this much won't be enough for his plans for the future.

So he told them to immediately start setting up comic shops in states and districts where there were none. When questioned about the financing for these shops, he told them instead of opening up the shop themselves, they could look into franchising.

So people would open up stores for them and keep a cut of the profits. He told them to focus on states with high teenage population and places where sales were consistently made before the whole "boom-and-bust" of the comic book industry.

The employee's at Marvel couldn't see it now, but this idea to franchise and create a whole chain of Eidolon Comic Book Stores would take over and later serve as Eidolon Entertainment's specialized stores.

Stores where Mark would be able to sell his novels - graphic and light, his comic books, even advertise his upcoming movies and TV shows. Even sell his merchandise like toys, clothing of his characters and even their accessories.

All these, so that people could buy them and cosplay as the characters in his stories. He wanted to create a place which would help foster the feeling of a community where people could go to meet like-minded individuals.

Mark had already formulated a plan through Marvel to host a series of competitions to foster and encourage the new illustrators and comic artists and help them grow by giving out prizes and even endorse the truly exceptional ones and give them a job at Marvel as comic artists and illustrators.

These people, that he hired and helped, sifted through the rabble, with the numerous competitions would be cream of the crop. Mark planned to use such talented individuals as his personal illustrators and comic artists that would work on his stories that later would be made into comics like - My hero Academia, Naruto and any other potential manga/story he felt was worth copying.

.

..

.

..

.

{Author's Note: Finally, done, this chapter was both easy and hard for me to write, as some dialogues just flowed with the conversations and some I had to sit and think about for hours to write. But in the end I made it, and I'm glad that I could finish it on time.

The scene where Mark shoots the final scene of "Knives Out" came out very satisfying to me. I got to show POV's from different characters like Chris Plummer, Keanu Reeves, Steven Spielberg and even the legendary George Lucas.

I also wanted to show more POVs like Jon Favreau and Todd Phillips but had kept them in the background as the chapter was already becoming too big, and it felt unnecessary as they were just a few chapters back. I wrote the ending with a 3PP of Marvel Comics showing briefly the changes and also mentioned some of Mark's plans for the future. Hope you like it.

Anywhos, moving on, thanks for reading my work. I am entirely motivated by interaction, suggestions and feedback. So please leave a comment or review and I will probably write faster.

If you like my work please throw a power stone my way so my book can climb the rankings. Slurp some nice ramen and I hope you all have a beautiful day (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧

Update schedule for this book: 1 chapter every 2 days.}