Should Marvel Sell The X-Men To News Corp Publishing?

[sleekstereo]

Lets look at the reality of the situation here. Fox will never sell the movie rights of the X-Men back to Marvel. X-Men has been one of their biggest properties for the past 15 years, and with the clause that they have to make a movie every 5 years to renew the contract? Even if they make a movie that bombs (ex: Wolverine), they can just reboot (ex: First Class) to make the franchise successful again.

So this is question for Marvel: What is the worth of X-Men to you?

If you are not making any movies. No toys. No live action or animated television shows.

Besides the comics, what else can you do for with them?

I say they should just sell the X-Men to NewsCorp Publishing. Make as much money they can from the sell. Make InHumans their new "mutant" race, which it seems they are already doing, and just move on.

Fox can control the publishing and film rights to the X-Men universe, which is big enough to survive without other Marvel characters.

 

[random_havoc]

You're asking if Marvel should sell a bunch of their most popular characters to a competitor? I'm going to go with no.

 

[sleekstereo]

You're asking if Marvel should sell a bunch of their most popular characters to a competitor? I'm going to go with no.

Why not? They are already diminishing some of their "most popular characters" anyways. Hell, they already killed off possibly the most popular mutant in the line up.

 

[BoredGuy]

It wouldn't be a terrible idea at this point
Everything X-related in the comics is just f***ing awful right now

it would, however, kill my inner-comic-fan-child who still thinks the X-men is the best characters Marvel has, but it wouldn't necessarily be terrble

and yeah, I agree, it's never gunna happen
if for no other reason than Disney/Marvel's animosity towards Fox keeping them from doing it

 

[jonathancrane]

No.

The X-Men are a super-massive part of the Marvel Universe. It would be like DC selling Batman.

 

[steelio2006]

If had to think about this for a little bit, Could the Marvel Universe be good without the X-Men? I honestly think it could. Yeah, it would suck to see the X-Men to leave. But what else can Marvel do for them?

 

[Sithborg]

Why not? They are already diminishing some of their "most popular characters" anyways. Hell, they already killed off possibly the most popular mutant in the line up.

And if you honestly think that Wolverine and Deadpool were going to remain dead, then I have bridge to sell you. "Death of ..." events should not be taken as a serious, long lasting change.

Yes, they are not doing a lot to generate revenue on stuff they may have to share. But the comics are still a substantial sized chunk of their sales. It isn't as easy as "replacing" the books with another similar book.

 

[The Overlord]

No.

The X-Men are a super-massive part of the Marvel Universe. It would be like DC selling Batman.

I think the problem is the X-Men have not gelled with the rest of the Marvel Universe for quite a while now and groups like the Avengers come off as callous morons for not doing anything to help the mutant cause, that's why the Avengers kinda looked bad in Avengers vs. X-Men (though the X-Men don't look great in that crossover either). X-writers try to apply the mutants vs. the rest world logic to rest of the MU and the non mutant heroes end up looking like tools for the benefit of the X-Men. Not mention the X-Men narrative doesn't go anywhere, humans still have an irrational, genocidal hatred towards the X-Men, even after all this time and all the times the X-Men have saved the world. That's kinda of depressing after a while, there is no longer a hopeful tone in X-Men. Racism still exists in the world, but not every bigot is as extreme as Hitler and not everyone is a bigot, why aren't their several pro mutant groups run by normal humans to counter the never ending list of anti mutant groups?

X-Men works better in its own universe really, that is why they didn't really interact with the rest of the MU in the 80s and 90s (except for Wolverine and his constant crossovers), trying to integrate the X-Men with the rest of the MU just causes headaches. Why do people love the Thing, but hate the various GQ models that make up the X-Men. That never made sense.

 

[MbJ]

I still think all of this is a stunt to be quite honest. If Deadpool's death sticks I'll be surprised. Wolverine's death absolutely will not stick.

And I'll eat my hat if when the inevitable relaunch comes there isn't a new Fantastic Four.

Here's the deal. While the last X-Men movie did good business the line itself has been suffering for a while and Wolverine was a complete dead horse who had been picked apart by loads of crappy stories and overexposure. They're going to relaunch him within the next few years with a new direction after a hiatus. Count on it.

Also just in general the theory they killed him to spite Fox is stupid. They replaced his title with the new Wolverines book which GUESS WHAT? STILL STARS CHARACTERS FOX HAS RIGHTS TO, including the very high profile and Jennifer Lawrence-acted Mystique. If the whole goal was to spit in Fox's face they've so far done a rather poor job.

Same thing with the FF. The book has been selling poorly for years. Nobody buys it and it's been overshadowed by the X-Men and Avengers franchises. All this futzing about over the reboot and Marvel possibly cancelling the franchise because they're mad Fox is making a new movie? This is the most anyone has been talking about the Fantastic Four in years. It's given them free publicity and word of mouth.

They're going to do a big "Is this the end?!" storyline and then ride high off that hype by launching a new series.

Deadpool has been selling well but it's the same principle. Starting a controversy by getting people to ask if Marvel is killing the character to spite the new movie is gonna draw a lot of attention.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

I don't think FOX could afford the money it would take to get Disney to sell ANY percentage of a character they own even a small piece of.

 

[Will Nolte]

Marvel deaths stick all the time...

Just look at Bucky...oh wait...

Ok well Ultimate Peter Parker died...umm nm

Aunt May...uuuuhhhh

Namorita...hmmm no...

Jean Grey? no wait I'll get it...

Uncle Ben...well kind of...

Isn't Professor X still dead?

Oh and I guess Richard Rider is still dead (until editorial wises up and realizes Sam Alexander sucks...)

 

[psylockolussus]

Lets look at the reality of the situation here. Fox will never sell the movie rights of the X-Men back to Marvel. X-Men has been one of their biggest properties for the past 15 years.

Actually its been 20 years or more... if I remember correctly, Fox got the movie rights way back in 1994 and Singer was signed up to direct back in 1996.

 

[ralphuniverse]

G'day,

Thats not the point. Certainly they are not going to kill off the X-Men. They are an asset to Disney. However its now a stunted asset. Theres no way Fox will sell back X-Men. The money Marvel make from the comics is peanuts compared to the movies. What is happening is the creative effort is now going into assets they can fully exploit which is why we are seeing an expanded role for the Inhumans. The more the MCU is developed the less the X-Men fit into Disney's over all corporate goals.

Contrast that with Spider-Man. Sony have hit a dead end there. Its been confirmed that they are into talks with Marvel over getting Spidy iback nto the MCU. With the expansion of the Spiderverse the ground is being set for a revsmped MCU webhead, probably with Miles Morales as Spiderman.

The current Universe restructure are not going to be the end of it. Expect more as they line up the books with the movies. I can easily see a deal were Marvel gets the Fantastic Four back from Fox (they can easily revamp that in the MCU) and Fox get the X-Men books for a good fee. It allows Fox to have complete creative control over the asset and the can take it in whatever direction they want.

ta

Ralph

And if you honestly think that Wolverine and Deadpool were going to remain dead, then I have bridge to sell you. "Death of ..." events should not be taken as a serious, long lasting change.

Yes, they are not doing a lot to generate revenue on stuff they may have to share. But the comics are still a substantial sized chunk of their sales. It isn't as easy as "replacing" the books with another similar book.

 

[Sithborg]

Then why even have the comics. I highly, highly doubt the money made from the movies is going to be used to subsidize the comics. If they aren't selling, they will be canceled. Why would they get rid of a property that sells tons of books among the line? The X-books are a consistent seller for Marvel. Why would they sell one of their biggest assets.

It makes sense from a business point of view why they are not focusing merchandising on properties that they either have to share the profits or does not directly synergize with other media. Even after the movie, the Avengers hasn't exactly been proven to carry as many books as the X line.

 

[ralphuniverse]

G'day,

Because it allows them full creative control. They can do things in comics they can't really do on screen like easily trial new characters and stories. They can tie up the merchandise seamlessly between the comics and the movies. Comics come up monthly, the manage a couple of movies a year. Different medium. As to why would they sell it. Easy good money. Marvel knows that asset is stunted. They are better off concentrating on assets they have full control off. One of their big new characters has been Ms Marvel, in the past she would have probably been a mutant , but shes an inhuman instead. And Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch father was Magneto for decades, what has happened? He is daddy no more. More and more we are seeing the seperation of the X-Men from the rest of the Marvel universe.
Fox would have a powerful tool to expand the X-Men as completely new characters could be introduced.
Think of it as a reversal Marvel. Marvel was a comic book company that also became a movie producer to achieve full creative and financial control. Fox is a movie company that would go into comics to achieve full creative and financial control.

ta

Ralph

Then why even have the comics. I highly, highly doubt the money made from the movies is going to be used to subsidize the comics. If they aren't selling, they will be canceled. Why would they get rid of a property that sells tons of books among the line? The X-books are a consistent seller for Marvel. Why would they sell one of their biggest assets.

It makes sense from a business point of view why they are not focusing merchandising on properties that they either have to share the profits or does not directly synergize with other media. Even after the movie, the Avengers hasn't exactly been proven to carry as many books as the X line.

 

[ralphuniverse]

G'day,

Not Marvel's decision. Its some Disney Executive's decision. The characters are just corporate assets that can be sold any time. How do you think Disney acquired Star Wars?

Ralph

You're asking if Marvel should sell a bunch of their most popular characters to a competitor? I'm going to go with no.

 

[Chance Jackson]

G'day,

Not Marvel's decision. Its some Disney Executive's decision. The characters are just corporate assets that can be sold any time. How do you think Disney acquired Star Wars?

Ralph

Disney bought The Entire Lucas Arts/Films Company including a lot of stuff not connected to Star Wars at all

Would Fox even want to start up a comic books division? Chances are if Fox bought the comic book rights to all strictly X-men characters they would just license them out to a preexisting comic company like IDW

I seriously doubt Marvel wants to compete against it's own very popular characters for book sales.

 

[ralphuniverse]

G'day,

Yes they did , for over $4B, shows that a franchise can be a valuable tradable asset. Which is exactly my point.

I can't see such a transaction happening now. They need to build up the Inhumans first, but I expect that to have happened by the time of the movie. I think they have about 9(?) regular X-Men titles, compared to 3 Inhumans so there's a long way to go.But I expect it will happen.

ta

Ralph

Disney bought The Entire Lucas Arts/Films Company including a lot of stuff not connected to Star Wars at all

Would Fox even want to start up a comic books division? Chances are if Fox bought the comic book rights to all strictly X-men characters they would just license them out to a preexisting comic company like IDW

I seriously doubt Marvel wants to compete against it's own very popular characters for book sales.

 

[hippie_hunter]

First of all, to answer the question of the thread. No, absolutely not because it makes absolutely no business sense whatsoever.

It makes no business sense for News Corporation the owner of HarperCollins publishing, newspapers, and Australian magazines to buy the X-Men characters from Marvel. They're a print media company, not a multimedia conglomerate. They don't have a movie studio or television networks or a comic book publishing imprint to exploit the X-Men property. Hell, they don't have any IPs that can be exploited across multiple media outlets. So why would they even consider buying the X-Men?

It also makes no business sense for the Walt Disney Company to sell the X-Men. The Walt Disney Company's biggest business is licensing its various characters to sell as merchandise. While the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group and Marvel Studios cannot make an X-Men film, they can still exploit the X-Men in other ways such as comic books, which still sell well for Disney's comic book publishing division and licensing (which they still do, it's easy to see the X-Men license being utilized by Funko, Hasbro, 20th Century Fox, clothing, etc.). It's still a lucrative license for the Walt Disney Company to utilize even though Marvel Entertainment is making them less important.

 

[KevanG]

It'll never happen unless Marvel/Disney goes bankrupt and has to sell everything. Makes absolutely no sense to ever do otherwise.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Lets look at the reality of the situation here. Fox will never sell the movie rights of the X-Men back to Marvel. X-Men has been one of their biggest properties for the past 15 years, and with the clause that they have to make a movie every 5 years to renew the contract? Even if they make a movie that bombs (ex: Wolverine), they can just reboot (ex: First Class) to make the franchise successful again.

The last Wolverine movie made more than three times its budget back. How is that a "bomb"?

 

[def28]

If you are not making any movies. No toys. No live action or animated television shows.

Besides the comics, what else can you do for with them?

I say they should just sell the X-Men to NewsCorp Publishing. Make as much money they can from the sell. Make InHumans their new "mutant" race, which it seems they are already doing, and just move on.

Fox can control the publishing and film rights to the X-Men universe, which is big enough to survive without other Marvel characters.

Tons of things. It's up to them. They can throw these characters anywhere for games, toys, merch and cartoons. And they do, when they want to.

Death Of Wolverine was probably the biggest Marvel book of last year. Deadpool was #2 and #4 for Marvel trades. He was also #2 for Diamond Select toys out of all comic characters, not just Marvel. Deadpool sells and has the most merch for any other Marvel character at places like hot topic. They dish out a ton of merch for that guy.

If you add up every X-Men and Deadpool comic and tpb sells from last year you think Marvel wants that lost? We are talking millions and millions here. There is no way Marvel is gonna lose that money, and go here you are Fox... you guys don't make comics but take our characters so you can compete against us in books as well as film. No way.

 

[ralphuniverse]

G'day,

The *entire* North American comic book sales for 2013 was $870M.
http://www.comichron.com/yearlycomicssales.html


The world wide ticket sales for Days of future Past was $748M
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=xmen2014.htm

The money is in the movies not the comics.

ta

Ralph

Tons of things. It's up to them. They can throw these characters anywhere for games, toys, merch and cartoons. And they do, when they want to.

Death Of Wolverine was probably the biggest Marvel book of last year. Deadpool was #2 and #4 for Marvel trades. He was also #2 for Diamond Select toys out of all comic characters, not just Marvel. Deadpool sells and has the most merch for any other Marvel character at places like hot topic. They dish out a ton of merch for that guy.

If you add up every X-Men and Deadpool comic and tpb sells from last year you think Marvel wants that lost? We are talking millions and millions here. There is no way Marvel is gonna lose that money, and go here you are Fox... you guys don't make comics but take our characters so you can compete against us in books as well as film. No way.

 

[KevanG]

They support each other. The movies would be nothing without the comics, the comics support the movies by keeping the interest there and having their own stories happening. If you take one away then the entire thing collapses.

 

[Mike Murdock]

First off, I don't think News Corp and 20th Century Fox are the same company anymore, so selling to them doesn't make much sense.

But to address this issue for a second, splitting Marvel's movie rights have been a massive headache, at best. It was just confirmed that they Shi'ar belong to Fox. I wouldn't be surprised if the Savage Land is the same way. I can't see why they would essentially permanently sever ties to a significant portion of their comic book universe like this. The only argument I've heard is that they aren't using them as effectively as some would like. But Marvel has tons of characters and not every character gets featured all the time. X-Men is still a heavily featured franchise, just not to the amount it was when they dominated the comic marketplace.