The seven million dollar mistake that built an empire, The Marvel’s Story

Sometimes when we make mistakes they do not ruin our lives. Instead these mistakes can push us to create something great something that is even better, than what people thought was possible. Mistakes can actually help us to build something than anyone ever imagined.

Marvel’s story is exactly that.

The heroes were not enough to save Marvel. Marvel is a company that makes movies and comic books about superheroes like Iron Man and Captain America. Sometimes Marvel has problems and the heroes they created cannot fix them. This is what happened when Marvel was, in trouble. The heroes were not enough to save Marvel. Marvel needed something to get out of trouble.

Today, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a global powerhouse movies, merchandise, theme parks, billions in revenue.

Let us go back, to 1996. At that time Marvel was really struggling to stay alive. Marvel was having a tough time and Marvel was fighting to survive.

The company was in trouble. It had a lot of debt. Was about to close down. Comic book characters like superheroes were not popular at that time. People did not think they were cool. Not many people were buying books. The sales of books were going down. Hollywood was not interested in making movies about superheroes saving the world. The company that made books about superheroes was in a tough spot. Superheroes were not liked by people and Hollywood did not want to make movies, about them.

Marvel was, in a spot and they really needed to get some money. They needed it fast. Marvel had to find a way to get this money soon as possible because Marvel was running out of time.

The people who created the superheroes decided to sell the film rights to their superheroes. They wanted to see their superheroes on the screen. The film rights to their superheroes were very valuable. The people who created the superheroes thought this was an idea, for their superheroes.

Their first call? Sony.

The twenty five million dollar offer that changed everything for the people involved in this situation the twenty five million dollar offer had an impact, on their lives the twenty five million dollar offer was something that they would never forget and it is still talked about today because of the way the twenty five million dollar offer changed everything.

Marvel went to Sony today with an offer that sounds really hard to believe:

“Buy the rights to ALL our superheroes for $25 million.”

Iron Man. Thor. Captain America. Hulk. Black Widow. Black Panther. Doctor Strange. Ant-Man. Every X-Men. The entire Marvel universe.

Sony really paid attention to what was being said. The people, at Sony heard every word. Sony was very careful to listen.

Then they laughed. They really laughed at this thing. The people just laughed.

To the people, in charge superheroes were not making money. Marvel appeared to be news. Why spend millions of dollars on characters that the people did not care about?

So Sony said:

People do not want to watch movies about anyone except Spider-Man. They really like Spider-Man movies. Spider-Man is what people want to see when they go to the cinema. Nobody is interested in watching movies, about superheroes they want to watch Spider-Man movies. Spider-Man is the one that everybody likes.

The people, in charge did not like the Marvel universe all. They rejected the Marvel universe. I think this is a big deal because the Marvel universe is really popular. The Marvel universe has a lot of fans. They like the Marvel universe a lot.

They actually bought one thing: Spider-Man — for $7 million.

That one deal was really good for Sony. It gave them a lot of games and movies for a very long time. Sony made a lot of money from that deal we are talking about billions of dollars in revenue. The Sony deal was very successful. It helped Sony to be a well known company, for decades.

Marvel?

The boat kept sinking. The people, on the boat were really scared because the boat kept sinking.

Hitting Rock Bottom and Then Finding Courage

A lot of companies would have just quit by now. Most companies would have thrown in the towel. They would have said it is just too hard and given up. But not these people most companies would have given up.

Marvel did not do that. Marvel just did nothing.

The company had a bad experience with failure they got rejected and it was very embarrassing. This failure and rejection and embarrassment sparked something, within the company:

Hollywood might not think our heroes are great. We do. We really believe in our heroes. Our heroes are very important, to us.

Marvel really had nothing left to lose at this point. They were in a tough spot, with Marvel and things were not looking good for Marvel. Marvel had to try something to get out of this situation.

They did something bold. This was something that seemed desperate.. At the same time it was also something that was very inspiring. They took a risk and did something that was really bold.

The people involved decided to make their movie. They wanted to create their film and they did it. The movie was something they made themselves.

• With their own money.

• With their own risks.

• With their own vision.

The Birth of Iron Man and the Rise of a Universe

In 2008 Marvel Studios came out with Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. This actor, like Marvel Studios was seen as a big risk back then. Marvel Studios was not sure if people would like Iron Man.. Robert Downey Jr. And Marvel Studios proved everyone wrong.

But the movie wasn’t just a film.

It was a statement.

• A declaration.

• A comeback.

• A rebirth.

Iron Man really blew people away. The movie Iron Man was a surprise, to everyone. People did not think that Iron Man would be so good.. Iron Man proved them wrong.

The fans really loved it. The music was great. The fans loved it so much.

The critics really liked it. They had a lot of things to say about the movie. The critics thought it was great.

The world was ready for superheroes again.

Marvel was ready to build something that nobody had ever tried to do before:

A fully connected cinematic universe.

• One movie at a time.

• One hero at a time.

• One storyline leading to another.

Iron Man wasn’t just a hit

it was the foundation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

So what happened next?

• Thor.

• Captain America.

• The Avengers.

• Guardians of the Galaxy.

• Black Panther.

• Doctor Strange.

And an entire generation of legendary films.

Marvel is a company that had a tough time selling its heroes for a lot of money just twenty five million dollars but now Marvel is the biggest film franchise in the entire history of movies, which is pretty amazing, for Marvel.

From Bankruptcy to a $4 Billion Purchase

The world had really changed. Everything, about the world was different now. The world was not like it used to be. People said the world had changed a lot. The world was a place.

The world had changed in ways.

There were a lot of people waiting in line for the midnight movies. People were really excited to see these midnight shows. The midnight shows were very popular. That is why people were lining up.

The kids had Iron Man masks on their faces. They really liked wearing these Iron Man masks. The Iron Man masks were very cool. The kids thought so too.

People got really upset. Cried when their favorite heroes died. Heroes are the people we look up to. When something bad happens to them it is very sad. Heroes dying is a sad thing and it makes adults cry.

Superheroes really became a part of our culture. People love Superheroes and Superheroes are everywhere now. We see Superheroes in movies and Superheroes in books. The idea of Superheroes is really interesting, to a lot of people.

In the year 2009 which was one year after the movie Iron Man started the Marvel Cinematic Universe the company Disney stepped in to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Their offer?

$4 billion.

I am happy that Marvel was accepted. The people at Marvel are very talented. I think they do a great job with their movies and TV shows. Marvel is a company that makes a lot of people with their stories. Marvel has a lot of fans, over the world.

And the rest is cinematic history.

The Lesson Hidden in Marvel’s Painful Past

When I think about it now the fact that Sony rejected something like that seems crazy. Sony's decision to reject it just does not make sense to me. The whole thing, with Sony rejecting it is still hard to understand.

Marvels journey teaches us something important. It shows us something that's very powerful:

Your worth does not disappear just because someone else is not able to see Your worth. The thing is, Your worth is still there it is still real. It is still very important. Someone else not seeing Your worth does not mean that Your worth is not valuable. Your worth is what makes You special. It is what makes You, You.

Rejection does not mean that you are a failure. When you get rejected it is not the end of the world. Rejection is a part of life and it happens to everyone. You can learn from rejection. Use it to make yourself better. Remember, people experience rejection and they still manage to achieve their goals. Rejection is not a definition of your worth so do not let it get you down. Keep trying. You will see that rejection is just a minor setback.

This thing is, about redirection. Redirection is when something gets sent to a place. The idea of redirection is that something does not go to where it was supposed to go instead it goes to this other place because of redirection.

When Sony laughed Marvel went ahead. Built a whole universe for themselves. This was a move, for Marvel. Marvel did a great job with their universe. The Marvel universe is very popular now.

When studios had doubts, about the people who made movies those movie makers had faith in themselves. The things they did. They believed in their abilities and the movies they were making even when the studios did not think they would be successful. The movie makers trusted themselves.

The world turned away, from them so they had to find a way to be. They had to change who they were and that was really hard for the world to do this to them. The world just turned its back and they were left to figure out what to do with their lives so they reinvented themselves.

Marvel went bankrupt. That did not stop Marvel. Marvel is still doing well today. Marvel is a popular company that makes great movies and comic books. The bankruptcy of Marvel did not break Marvel.

This thing made the people become really bold. The situation pushed the people to become bold.

That boldness really created something that people all, around the world are talking about. The boldness is what made this thing so popular that it is now a cultural phenomenon. The global cultural phenomenon that the boldness created is still being felt today.