Hong Kong Island Comic Master

Chapter 277 Acquisition of Marvel
Since 1972, when investors appointed Stan Lee as Marvel's president and publisher, he has officially left his position as Marvel's editor-in-chief.

For a creative company like Marvel, the president is the face and the editor-in-chief is the soul.

To the outside world, Stan Lee plays the role of Marvel's totem and spiritual leader. He flies around the world and participates in various publicity activities, reaching the peak of his reputation; behind closed doors within the company, Lee, as an investor and creator, The bond between them allows these two groups of people who dislike each other to live in peace and help the authors strive for a raise in wages.

However, for the vacant editor-in-chief position, it was found that there was no second person to be qualified!

As a result, throughout the 70s, editors-in-chief were replaced like a revolving door, and the fate of Marvel was as precarious.

Of course, comics are becoming more and more popular, and superheroes are slowly being forgotten due to their dullness.

For Stan Lee, as the president, he no longer has to work hard to draw comics. He can also earn a salary of 15 US dollars a year, as well as additional income from appearing on TV.

Doing less and earning more is the ultimate goal of almost every ordinary person's life.

However, in the final analysis, Stan Lee is a cartoonist, and he has long been tired of this kind of life.

At this time, when Li Wannian asked this sentence, it hit Stan Lee's soul!

He still likes to draw comics after all!
“Does it matter whether I draw comics or not?”

After all, Stan Lee is not a child, but a man who has been the president of Marvel for more than ten years. How can he do things based on his own preferences?
Therefore, the sadness in his eyes flashed, and he soon returned to his calm appearance.

However, that flash of sadness was captured by Li Wannian.

"It's important, but it's not important. In fact, I consider myself to be the same type of person as you. We are both cartoonists who rely on our craftsmanship to make a living, and we are not suitable for managing a company.

For example, I handed over the management of the company to my brother, while I concentrated on drawing. This saved me a lot of worries and allowed me to focus more on comics! "

"It's a pity that I don't have a brother like you!"

Stan Lee shrugged and joked with a pity look.

"Actually, Mr. Li, you don't have to be too defensive about us, we know what you want to do!
You just want superheroes to step out of comics and onto the big screen. What you are doing is actually what my brother is doing!"

As Li Wanshui said, bringing Marvel superheroes to the big screen has always been Stan Lee's heart.

As early as 1978, the movie Superman adapted from DC Comics was released and won multiple Academy Awards in 1979.

Such an achievement stimulated Stan Lee and made him want to do this. Unfortunately, the financial backers behind Marvel did not agree with Stan Lee's acquisition of small film and television studios to develop the film business.

Then he sold the copyright to Hollywood, hoping that the other party would make a good movie, but it still failed.

What kind of garbage do those movie companies make?
Therefore, Stan Lee was very curious about how the young man solved this problem?
To be honest, when the Lee brothers approached Stan Lee and asked to meet, Stan Lee was very puzzled because he did not know these two people at all.

So, after some investigation, I found out who the other party was, so I picked up a few comics to find out more.As a result, after getting to know each other like this, I discovered that this young man was so talented. I couldn't help but feel good about him, and at the same time I also had doubts about the other person's purpose.

Due to his limited understanding, Stan Lee became very interested in how Li Wannian and others operated comics.

"Oh? Can you tell me in detail?"

"Actually, it's very similar to your plan, but we need to be bolder! In addition to publishing houses and comic companies, we also have TV stations, film production companies, theaters, etc.

Therefore, once we have good comics, we can transform them into TV series, movies, or animated movies as quickly as possible. It is precisely because of the efforts of all channels that our company has developed very quickly. In a few years, not only has it become number one on Hong Kong Island, it can even be said to be number one in Asia!"

Stan Lee was very envious after hearing this omni-channel development model that Li Wanshui mentioned.

In Stan Lee's view, Li Wanshui's model goes even further than his own ideas. They have even monopolized the upstream and downstream industries, forming a complete closed loop of the industrial chain.

It is not an exaggeration to say that this kind of company is a monopoly!
After all, in the United States, film production companies can no longer operate theaters!
"We at Marvel can't do what you do..." Stan Lee lamented.

"Of course it's impossible to copy it completely, but it's still possible to learn from each other! The more important point is that we understand what you want to do! We won't restrict you!"

Before meeting Stan Lee, Li Wanshui naturally did some research on Stan Lee and Marvel.

After investigation, it was learned that Stan Lee now has differences with Marvel's parent company, and this can help DreamWorks complete the acquisition of Marvel!
That’s right, Li Wanshui and Li Wannian met with Stan Lee this time because they wanted to acquire Marvel! Historically, Marvel was bought by New World Company for $1986 million in 4600, and later it was in the hands of various companies. They were bought and sold, and eventually all the superheroes in the company were sold out.

So in the 21st century, when Marvel planned to make its own movies, it found that it had no first-tier superheroes to make movies, so it had to choose a second-tier superhero, Iron Man, to make movies.

Although this move was a mistake and made Marvel successful and glorious, its predicament at the time was also foreseeable.

"Honestly, I enjoyed talking to you, but what exactly do you want to do?"

"Isn't it obvious yet? We want to buy Marvel!"

Faced with Stan Lee's straight-to-the-point question, Li Wanshui answered decisively.

"Acquire Marvel!" Although Stan Lee had guessed what the other party was thinking, he was still very surprised when he really confirmed it.

"Yes, I know that Marvel is currently experiencing some problems, but I believe that as long as Marvel is handed over to us, it can regain its glory! After all, compared to those capitalists who are full of money, we are the experts. Know what Marvel really needs!"

Li Wanshui's words made Stan Lee a little moved, but he still said: "I am just a part-time worker and I don't have any shares. I can't make the decision on your acquisition!"

"Don't worry about this, we know, we just need your introduction and support!"

(End of this chapter)