In the dreaded year of 1997, a new Marvel is born from the brink of financial collapse. And from it, a new age of entertainment, one bound to shake the world in its own way!
EXCELSIOR! A '90s Marvel Producer Quest
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CODA -- Spring, 1997
In 1996, Marvel was on the verge of collapse.
A string of bad marketing decisions, along with infighting among higher executives, had led to a company whose days extend as far back as the early days of World War II becoming a thing of the past. In our universe, it took time for Marvel to pick itself back off its feet, years before it would become the powerhouse that we know it as today.
But in another… an unlikely event occurred.
Through a string of unfortunate events, a lawsuit between Marvel Entertainment and Toy Biz that would've lasted years ended in a few weeks when the president of Toy Biz suffered a severe stroke, leading to those with weaker wills attempting to rush the case and ending in a victory for Marvel. Not long after, Marvel legend, Stan Lee, would step forward and loaned the funds from his own ideas for film and television (some sort of thing called Stan Lee Media) to give Marvel the lifeline that it desperately. This sudden burst of activity allowed for the company to gather its wits long enough to merge several divisions into the old Marvel Films. But with many of its heavy hitters owned by other productions and the time for contract renewals near, it was going to take a miracle for things to pass.
Adding salt to the wound is the cancellation of a Nick Fury film and the scrapped production of a Blade movie will make things harder for those trying to get Marvel on the big screen.
By the time the matter was settled in the spring of 1997, the rest of the world watched. Waiting to see what was to come of this new Marvel Studios.
Your name is…
[Write-in name here]
And you are a…
[ ] Male
[ ] Female
Producer at the new and improved Marvel Studios and you had a big task ahead of you. It would seem that the powers that be seek to bring life back into their IPs by giving you the job of overseeing and producing a line of films centered around its iconic characters from the past half-century. And to do so, they've given you two years before Marvel's sixtieth anniversary in '99.
Great. Totally not stressful or anything like that, no…
Buuuuut you can't deny that there is a reason why Avi Arad chose you for this position from everyone else who had applied for this position.
[ ] "Die Hard" – You lived and breathed comics from the moment you got your hands on one of them when you were a little kid. From DC to Marvel, you're well versed in the lore and backstories of the heroes in tights and have a better understanding of them than most working with you. (+5 to Planning Session rolls)
[ ] "Normie" – You aren't a die hard as your old man was, but you still grew up watching shows and old serials over these heroes on the silver screen. You're even a fan of the modern animated adaptations of these characters, both DC and Marvel, unable to see them as anything else but it's a good enough representation of those heroes. (+5 to Script Quality Rolls)
[ ] "Fresh Face" – You didn't know a damn thing about these characters outside of their names and gimmicks, but that's not a bad thing. It could be that having a new perspective on these heroes could be what Marvel needs right now. (+5 to Script Pitching rolls)
Aside from that, you quietly hope it's because of your accomplished feats in the genres of… (pick two)
[ ] Action
[ ] Drama
[ ] Comedy
[ ] Romance
[ ] Sci-Fi
[ ] Horror
[ ] Thriller
[ ] Coming-of-Age
[ ] Historical
[ ] Western
And of course, your skills in… (pick three)
[ ] Script Quality
[ ] Casting Quality
[ ] Marketing
[ ] Choreography
[ ] Editing
[ ] VFX
[ ] Actor Performance (acting as a subvote with this pick; each option below will count as one skill point)
[ ] Protagonist(s)
[ ] Antagonist(s)
[ ] Side Character(s)
[ ] Negotiations
[ ] Espionage
Granted you had to work hard in order to earn the complete trust of your bosses. After all, despite your experience, they had a right to be wary considering that you came from…
[ ] FOX (+5 to Negotiations with FOX; -5 to Marvel interactions)
[ ] Universal (+5 to Negotiations with Universal; -5 to Actor Performance)
[ ] Columbia (+5 to Negotiations with Columbia; -5 to Marketing)
You can only sigh, reaching for a cigarette in your breast pocket as you ponder the difficult path that lies ahead of you. Bitching can only get you so far, but now, it was time to act.
"Well," you puff out smoke from the corner of your lip. "Let's get it started."
Mortarium begins as soon as this post goes up and will last for TWO hours.
Voting process will begin after Mortarium ends, and last for ONE hour.
A string of bad marketing decisions, along with infighting among higher executives, had led to a company whose days extend as far back as the early days of World War II becoming a thing of the past. In our universe, it took time for Marvel to pick itself back off its feet, years before it would become the powerhouse that we know it as today.
But in another… an unlikely event occurred.
Through a string of unfortunate events, a lawsuit between Marvel Entertainment and Toy Biz that would've lasted years ended in a few weeks when the president of Toy Biz suffered a severe stroke, leading to those with weaker wills attempting to rush the case and ending in a victory for Marvel. Not long after, Marvel legend, Stan Lee, would step forward and loaned the funds from his own ideas for film and television (some sort of thing called Stan Lee Media) to give Marvel the lifeline that it desperately. This sudden burst of activity allowed for the company to gather its wits long enough to merge several divisions into the old Marvel Films. But with many of its heavy hitters owned by other productions and the time for contract renewals near, it was going to take a miracle for things to pass.
Adding salt to the wound is the cancellation of a Nick Fury film and the scrapped production of a Blade movie will make things harder for those trying to get Marvel on the big screen.
By the time the matter was settled in the spring of 1997, the rest of the world watched. Waiting to see what was to come of this new Marvel Studios.
Your name is…
[Write-in name here]
And you are a…
[ ] Male
[ ] Female
Producer at the new and improved Marvel Studios and you had a big task ahead of you. It would seem that the powers that be seek to bring life back into their IPs by giving you the job of overseeing and producing a line of films centered around its iconic characters from the past half-century. And to do so, they've given you two years before Marvel's sixtieth anniversary in '99.
Great. Totally not stressful or anything like that, no…
Buuuuut you can't deny that there is a reason why Avi Arad chose you for this position from everyone else who had applied for this position.
[ ] "Die Hard" – You lived and breathed comics from the moment you got your hands on one of them when you were a little kid. From DC to Marvel, you're well versed in the lore and backstories of the heroes in tights and have a better understanding of them than most working with you. (+5 to Planning Session rolls)
[ ] "Normie" – You aren't a die hard as your old man was, but you still grew up watching shows and old serials over these heroes on the silver screen. You're even a fan of the modern animated adaptations of these characters, both DC and Marvel, unable to see them as anything else but it's a good enough representation of those heroes. (+5 to Script Quality Rolls)
[ ] "Fresh Face" – You didn't know a damn thing about these characters outside of their names and gimmicks, but that's not a bad thing. It could be that having a new perspective on these heroes could be what Marvel needs right now. (+5 to Script Pitching rolls)
Aside from that, you quietly hope it's because of your accomplished feats in the genres of… (pick two)
[ ] Action
[ ] Drama
[ ] Comedy
[ ] Romance
[ ] Sci-Fi
[ ] Horror
[ ] Thriller
[ ] Coming-of-Age
[ ] Historical
[ ] Western
And of course, your skills in… (pick three)
[ ] Script Quality
[ ] Casting Quality
[ ] Marketing
[ ] Choreography
[ ] Editing
[ ] VFX
[ ] Actor Performance (acting as a subvote with this pick; each option below will count as one skill point)
[ ] Protagonist(s)
[ ] Antagonist(s)
[ ] Side Character(s)
[ ] Negotiations
[ ] Espionage
Granted you had to work hard in order to earn the complete trust of your bosses. After all, despite your experience, they had a right to be wary considering that you came from…
[ ] FOX (+5 to Negotiations with FOX; -5 to Marvel interactions)
[ ] Universal (+5 to Negotiations with Universal; -5 to Actor Performance)
[ ] Columbia (+5 to Negotiations with Columbia; -5 to Marketing)
You can only sigh, reaching for a cigarette in your breast pocket as you ponder the difficult path that lies ahead of you. Bitching can only get you so far, but now, it was time to act.
"Well," you puff out smoke from the corner of your lip. "Let's get it started."
Mortarium begins as soon as this post goes up and will last for TWO hours.
Voting process will begin after Mortarium ends, and last for ONE hour.
Quest Lore and Mechanics, bleh
Welcome to a world of new tomorrows! To 'Excelsior! A '90s Marvel Producer Quest' set during the 1990s and beyond.
Inspiration taken from: On a Dream and A Prayer: A Marvel Producer Quest, and Age of Marvelous Mutants: A Fox Director Quest.
This quest takes place in an alternate 1997 where history has changed and, admittedly, a bit wonky at that. In this timeline, through the power of random bullshit (courtesy of your QM), Marvel managed to get its shit in-line long enough to overcome the bankruptcy they faced in the 90s and power on through, albeit on a shaky field. Many characters still belong to Marvel, but the popular IPs like X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and others are owned by other movie studios against your little company right now.
Note: this isn't the most accurate depiction of Marvel and what it was going through during those times, but this is fanfiction, so things just be how they are because QM is a little slow to understand the full economical backlash that came from these things, lol.
Right now, you're the Kevin Feige stand-in for Marvel Studios, currently owned by Avi Arad and self-sustained with numerous back-door deals that saved the company as is. You have a goal to get some films under the Marvel brand out by 1999 so that you can show the world, and your competitors, that you're not going to roll over and take their crap any longer. One event bound to change the Quest will happen in 1998 but only time and the turn-out of your production up 'til then will determine how things will go.
From 1997 onward, any established property still in production (such as Spider-Man TAS and other animated shows) will end as they normally do. But with the canning of Nick Fury and Blade, whatever films you have in store will be the starting point of a potential Marvel Cinematic Universe set during the later half of the 90s and the 2000s. Maybe beyond, who knows?
As with other quests of a similar premise, encouraging discussion in-thread to make ways for voting options and movies idea. Write-in are allowed as long as they are reasonable. Below are the basic mechanics for the process of movie making. Taken straight from A Fox Director's Quest.
One extra mechanic I will employ are the DICE EXPLOSIONS I have for other Quests; in which if a 91 or higher for the initial die is rolled without modifiers affecting it, then I'll reroll to see what kind of higher score you guys can get.
Also, expect hidden rolls designed to make the quest more exciting and/or difficult for you guys the further along we get. And with each choice that you make, the butterfly effect is sure to follow from them.
Omakes are welcomed, HOWEVER, depending on how they line up with certain events QM have planned, they can be considered canon. If not, then QM will tell you when they are not.
A sub-vote without a parent vote will not be counted toward the final tally. Copy and pasting is a good way to avoid typos which can remove you from the winning option. So be careful when voting.
Let us see where the road takes us, True Believers!
Inspiration taken from: On a Dream and A Prayer: A Marvel Producer Quest, and Age of Marvelous Mutants: A Fox Director Quest.
This quest takes place in an alternate 1997 where history has changed and, admittedly, a bit wonky at that. In this timeline, through the power of random bullshit (courtesy of your QM), Marvel managed to get its shit in-line long enough to overcome the bankruptcy they faced in the 90s and power on through, albeit on a shaky field. Many characters still belong to Marvel, but the popular IPs like X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and others are owned by other movie studios against your little company right now.
Note: this isn't the most accurate depiction of Marvel and what it was going through during those times, but this is fanfiction, so things just be how they are because QM is a little slow to understand the full economical backlash that came from these things, lol.
Right now, you're the Kevin Feige stand-in for Marvel Studios, currently owned by Avi Arad and self-sustained with numerous back-door deals that saved the company as is. You have a goal to get some films under the Marvel brand out by 1999 so that you can show the world, and your competitors, that you're not going to roll over and take their crap any longer. One event bound to change the Quest will happen in 1998 but only time and the turn-out of your production up 'til then will determine how things will go.
From 1997 onward, any established property still in production (such as Spider-Man TAS and other animated shows) will end as they normally do. But with the canning of Nick Fury and Blade, whatever films you have in store will be the starting point of a potential Marvel Cinematic Universe set during the later half of the 90s and the 2000s. Maybe beyond, who knows?
As with other quests of a similar premise, encouraging discussion in-thread to make ways for voting options and movies idea. Write-in are allowed as long as they are reasonable. Below are the basic mechanics for the process of movie making. Taken straight from A Fox Director's Quest.
A project tends to start with the development of a script, be it as an adaptation of a particular comic book story or simply a character in general. This phase begins with either you and the scriptwriter you worked with, you assisting your fellow director and screenwriter, you taking a script that had already been written, or even you yourself only planning out the details of the script to pitch them to the higher up at Fox in hope for the project to get greenlit.
This process can take between 2 to 12 months, depending on the complexity of the script. GM will roll 1d100 (with varying modifiers for how difficult a certain concept or adaptation might be to get right) to determine Script Quality. If the thread feels the resulting roll isn't acceptable, you can choose to reroll up to 5 times (each adding 2 months) until getting something workable. Whatever the quality of the scripts are, you can choose to present them to the Fox Studio, put it on the shelf temporarily or permanently, or scrap it and start the project again from scratch.
The initial script pitch as well as as other outside effect of the current Hollywood climate might effect the two rolls of Appeal and Finance (both are 1d100 with varying modifier).
The Appeal roll represents you pitching the idea to the studio and the chance it get greenlit. A success meant the project is good to go, and the reverse is true. The actual budget needed for the project is depended on the complexity of the script.
The Finance roll is for the extra money that went above script's budget requirement. So every subsequent actions would wage on the extra budgets (casting, allocating money to specific production part, extra effect, reshoot)
This process can take between 2 to 12 months, depending on the complexity of the script. GM will roll 1d100 (with varying modifiers for how difficult a certain concept or adaptation might be to get right) to determine Script Quality. If the thread feels the resulting roll isn't acceptable, you can choose to reroll up to 5 times (each adding 2 months) until getting something workable. Whatever the quality of the scripts are, you can choose to present them to the Fox Studio, put it on the shelf temporarily or permanently, or scrap it and start the project again from scratch.
The initial script pitch as well as as other outside effect of the current Hollywood climate might effect the two rolls of Appeal and Finance (both are 1d100 with varying modifier).
The Appeal roll represents you pitching the idea to the studio and the chance it get greenlit. A success meant the project is good to go, and the reverse is true. The actual budget needed for the project is depended on the complexity of the script.
The Finance roll is for the extra money that went above script's budget requirement. So every subsequent actions would wage on the extra budgets (casting, allocating money to specific production part, extra effect, reshoot)
This phase is where you narrow down the options of the production, setting the vision of the projects and completing all the planning that takes place before the camera rolls. During this phase you'll work out the casting.
This process typically takes between 1 or 2 months, depending on how long the locations and set up (based on the script) take. A hidden 1d100 (with varying modifiers) to determine if things run on the schedule you've set. In addition, there will be a Casting Quality roll (1d100 with varying modifiers) to determine the list of actors to choose from.
The choice of which actors (and directors/screenplay writers) are casted can effect the modifier. There's potential benefits and downside to the choices presented.
This process typically takes between 1 or 2 months, depending on how long the locations and set up (based on the script) take. A hidden 1d100 (with varying modifiers) to determine if things run on the schedule you've set. In addition, there will be a Casting Quality roll (1d100 with varying modifiers) to determine the list of actors to choose from.
The choice of which actors (and directors/screenplay writers) are casted can effect the modifier. There's potential benefits and downside to the choices presented.
This phase is the actual shooting of the movie and the aftermath! It's key to keep planning ahead of the daily shoot. Stick to budget, stick to schedule, and make sure there's communication between location, set, office, and all other parties involved. The bulk of post-production consists of reviewing the footage and assembling the movie (editing) for the first cut.
The entire process typically takes between 9 to 15 months (typically 12 months). Most of the rolls here are universal 1d100. A lot of these rolls does effect each other bonus and malus (as well as the previous result of script, casting choice and production come into play too).
The rolls are:
Protagonist Chemistry ; Antagonist Chemistry ; Side Cast Chemistry ; (optional) Romance Chemistry ; Actor Screen Presence (Performance) ; Choreography ; Production Quality ; Sound Design ; Editing ; VFX.
The entire process typically takes between 9 to 15 months (typically 12 months). Most of the rolls here are universal 1d100. A lot of these rolls does effect each other bonus and malus (as well as the previous result of script, casting choice and production come into play too).
The rolls are:
Protagonist Chemistry ; Antagonist Chemistry ; Side Cast Chemistry ; (optional) Romance Chemistry ; Actor Screen Presence (Performance) ; Choreography ; Production Quality ; Sound Design ; Editing ; VFX.
This phase is where you gonna delay and reshoot/reediting the first result (if the thread choose to). The movie is gonna get delayed and more time and budget will be spent, if the thread find any dice result from the previous phase unsatisfied. They can choose to redo them, which prompt into a reroll of the result. Each month gives you one AP where you can spend on reroll (one reroll per AP). Same thing with giving out an Refilm Point (RP) but for two months. RP is spent to give change to the plot or shoot additional scene. It can be spent to boost a reroll bonus.
If the quest choose to reshoot: Pre-Production Phase --> Production and Post-Production Phase (The Voting for Additional Production Phase) --> Additional Production Phase --> Box Office and Reception Phase
If the quest not choose to reshoot: Pre-Production Phase --> Production and Post-Production Phase (The Voting for Additional Production Phase) --> Box Office and Reception Phase
Be careful with the budget as well as the delay, there are possible different consequences if this keeps happening. The studio might not be pleased, dwindling hype for the movie, etc…
If the quest choose to reshoot: Pre-Production Phase --> Production and Post-Production Phase (The Voting for Additional Production Phase) --> Additional Production Phase --> Box Office and Reception Phase
If the quest not choose to reshoot: Pre-Production Phase --> Production and Post-Production Phase (The Voting for Additional Production Phase) --> Box Office and Reception Phase
Be careful with the budget as well as the delay, there are possible different consequences if this keeps happening. The studio might not be pleased, dwindling hype for the movie, etc…
There will be a roll for Fandom Buzz (1d100 with varying modifiers) to determine overall fandom reception to the movie (scale by determinate factors).
A Reviewer Buzz roll (1d100 with varying modifiers) to determine critical response to the movie (scale by how "professional" the movie is presented)
A Merch roll (1d100 with varying modifiers) to determine the number result from selling merchandise of the movie (toys, DVD, etc...).
The results of the previous phases all help contributes to the rolls as well as other third party effects in the Hollywood scenes (trend, competition movies in the same release date, etc...).
Especially in regard to Box Office (International and Domestic), there won't be any rolls for those. Box Office Results are determined by the GM through GM's owned mathematic multiplier system and chart of rolls results. All the previous phases rolls contribute to the final result of how well the movie performed.
A Reviewer Buzz roll (1d100 with varying modifiers) to determine critical response to the movie (scale by how "professional" the movie is presented)
A Merch roll (1d100 with varying modifiers) to determine the number result from selling merchandise of the movie (toys, DVD, etc...).
The results of the previous phases all help contributes to the rolls as well as other third party effects in the Hollywood scenes (trend, competition movies in the same release date, etc...).
Especially in regard to Box Office (International and Domestic), there won't be any rolls for those. Box Office Results are determined by the GM through GM's owned mathematic multiplier system and chart of rolls results. All the previous phases rolls contribute to the final result of how well the movie performed.
One extra mechanic I will employ are the DICE EXPLOSIONS I have for other Quests; in which if a 91 or higher for the initial die is rolled without modifiers affecting it, then I'll reroll to see what kind of higher score you guys can get.
Also, expect hidden rolls designed to make the quest more exciting and/or difficult for you guys the further along we get. And with each choice that you make, the butterfly effect is sure to follow from them.
Omakes are welcomed, HOWEVER, depending on how they line up with certain events QM have planned, they can be considered canon. If not, then QM will tell you when they are not.
A sub-vote without a parent vote will not be counted toward the final tally. Copy and pasting is a good way to avoid typos which can remove you from the winning option. So be careful when voting.
Let us see where the road takes us, True Believers!
Ownership to Character Rights
OWNERSHIP OF CHARACTER RIGHTS
20th Century Fox:
X-Men
Silver Surfer
Galactus
Fantastic Four
Super-Skrull
Daredevil
Ego the Living Planet
Deadpool
Kang the Conqueror
Alpha Flight
Iron Man
Advanced Idea Mechanics
Mandarin
Winter Guard
Ka-Zar
Savage Land
Starjammers
New Mutants
The Hand
Taskmaster
Alien Races That Fox Studio Owns:
Badoon (Fantastic Four)
Shi'Ar (X-Men)
Zen Lavaian (Fantastic Four)
Mephitisoid (X-Men)
Chr'yllite (X-Men)
Fonabi (Fantastic Four)
Popuppian (Fantastic Four)
Landlak (Fantastic Four)
Baluurian (Fantastic Four)
Whatever Lockheed is (X-Men)
Arthrosian (Fantastic Four)
Traanian (Fantastic Four)
Starjammers (X-Men)
Phalanx (X-Men)
Technarchy (X-Men)
Brood (X-Men)
Characters owned by both Marvel and Fox:
Scarlet Witch
Quicksilver
Skrulls
The Watcher
Ultragirl
Characters owned by both Universal and Fox:
Wendigo
X-Men
Silver Surfer
Galactus
Fantastic Four
Super-Skrull
Daredevil
Ego the Living Planet
Deadpool
Kang the Conqueror
Alpha Flight
Iron Man
Advanced Idea Mechanics
Mandarin
Winter Guard
Ka-Zar
Savage Land
Starjammers
New Mutants
The Hand
Taskmaster
Alien Races That Fox Studio Owns:
Badoon (Fantastic Four)
Shi'Ar (X-Men)
Zen Lavaian (Fantastic Four)
Mephitisoid (X-Men)
Chr'yllite (X-Men)
Fonabi (Fantastic Four)
Popuppian (Fantastic Four)
Landlak (Fantastic Four)
Baluurian (Fantastic Four)
Whatever Lockheed is (X-Men)
Arthrosian (Fantastic Four)
Traanian (Fantastic Four)
Starjammers (X-Men)
Phalanx (X-Men)
Technarchy (X-Men)
Brood (X-Men)
Characters owned by both Marvel and Fox:
Scarlet Witch
Quicksilver
Skrulls
The Watcher
Ultragirl
Characters owned by both Universal and Fox:
Wendigo
Spider-Man
Kingpin
Morbius (co-owned with New Lines Cinema)
Silver Sable
Ghost Rider
Darkforce (Shared with Fox)
Cloak and Dagger
Kingpin
Morbius (co-owned with New Lines Cinema)
Silver Sable
Ghost Rider
Darkforce (Shared with Fox)
Cloak and Dagger
Rom the Space Knight (the looks of the characters, but not the stories)
Micronauts (and also takes the name of the Microverse with them)
Everything else, lol
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[X] Plan: Planny McPlanPlan
-[X] Paul Haderach
-[X] Male
-[X] "Normie"
-[X] Action
-[X] Thriller
-[X] Script Quality
-[X] Marketing
-[X] Choreography
-[X] Columbia (+5 to Negotiations with Columbia; -5 to Marketing)
-[X] Paul Haderach
-[X] Male
-[X] "Normie"
-[X] Action
-[X] Thriller
-[X] Script Quality
-[X] Marketing
-[X] Choreography
-[X] Columbia (+5 to Negotiations with Columbia; -5 to Marketing)
There will be three and a half hours left in the voting process. Poll closes at 12 AM EST.
[X] Plan: That Nerd from Universal
We have our winning plan!
[X] Plan: That Nerd from Universal
- [X] Chuck McKinney
- [X] Male
- [X] "Die Hard"
- [X] Action
- [X] Thriller
- [X] Choreography
- [X] Editing
- [X] Marketing
- [X] Universal (+5 to Negotiations with Universal; -5 to Actor Performance)
- [X] Chuck McKinney
- [X] Male
- [X] "Die Hard"
- [X] Action
- [X] Thriller
- [X] Choreography
- [X] Editing
- [X] Marketing
- [X] Universal (+5 to Negotiations with Universal; -5 to Actor Performance)
Brainstorming for 1999 (April, 1997)
"Good morning, Mr. McKinney. Nice day, isn't it?"
"Nice as it's gonna get, Bruce," you chuckle back, walking past the studio's security guard and entering the building. Already your mind was awhirl with ideas and opportunities to explore with the company that you had a hand in overseeing, even if it was from the producer's seat. Who would've thought that you, Chuck McKinney, the scrawny little comic book geek, would find himself planning out potential spin-off films for the Marvel Universe.
You would've been fine with having this chance in any regular studio, like your old gig at Universal Pictures. After all, your experience at Universal was...
Working on films that received average reception from audiences and critics alike. Though your experience wasn't as long as one would think (a whopping two years from mid '94 up to December of last year), you still managed to work behind the scenes on films like "Sudden Death" and "Twister", helping its directors work out the kinks in the choreography of stunts and hyping up the latter film with its advertisement campaign. Who would've thought people were interested in the natural disaster phenomenon of twisters with some bold words and fast-paced editing in trailers? Go figure.
Still, you can't help but wonder if your expertise in choreography and marketing was a major factor in the higher-ups selecting you to take this position. If there's one thing bound to come from these movies, it boiled down to finding the right guy to capture the dynamic movements and flair that came from comic books, adapting them to the big screen without coming across as campy and/or shitty.
Luckily for you, your love for comics has come in handy for this.
So you rolled up your sleeves and went straight into the office for the day, ready to start brainstorming ideas. Luckily, the studio had plenty of advisors around for you to take notes for you, offer suggestions when tossing out ideas randomly for feedback, and catering to your every whim to earn their hourly paycheck... okay, that sounded condescending to say, yeah, but it was technically the truth. At the very least, you were more courteous to them than how some of the producers at Universal were to you while starting out.
Still, it helped to have people listening to you sound off idea after idea for these plans you had. However, it got to a point when one of them commented that perhaps it would be best to section off your ideas into different categories, so that they have an idea of what type of plan you have going into this
Which has led you to this moment in time, staring at a whiteboard of concepts and characters from the Marvel Universe all jumbled together like some sort of college student's nightmarish presentation. You shudder to think of what the higher-ups would say if they were to walk in here and see this, but luckily, that hasn't happened to you... yet.
Your eyes drift over the ideas you put forward, along with some conceived by those in the office either bouncing off your ideas or being comic book fans themselves. These ideas consisted of several important things which stood out almost immediately, thanks to your hyperfixation on them:
And yet... there was one thing that stood out to you. Something that you put out there near the start, but almost everyone shut down immediately, thinking that it couldn't be done. Your eyes are transfixed on it, your nose so close to the board that you can smell the ink waving off of the words.
A shared movie universe is something that isn't foreign to you, nor anyone working in Hollywood today. The old Universal Monsters come to mind, as well as the Kaiju beasts of the Showa period. They showed audiences that you can do crossovers but nine times out of ten, it was seen as silly monster mashes with little substance to them.
But, a small part in the back of your head whispered. Maybe you could change that?
[ ] Let's do it. To hell with what everyone else says, a connected universe can work and you've got the right tools ready to make it happen!
[ ] Hells to the no. You're just starting out with this company and the last thing you want to do is bankrupt it with some silly notion you have.
You sigh, taking a step back to take it all in. And to let your mind wander in thought...
Right now, you are in the conception stage of your Marvel films. Whichever idea you wish to do, you must follow through with it, based on the vote that you select up above.
Your Discussion period will last twenty-four hours once this post goes up. And once that time-limit ends, voting will last for three.
As for what you can pitch, follow the guidelines set by "Basic Formula" and look in "Ownership to Character Rights" in Informational to start learning what Marvel properties you CAN'T work with now, and then start building ideas on what characters you CAN.
Have fun!
"Nice as it's gonna get, Bruce," you chuckle back, walking past the studio's security guard and entering the building. Already your mind was awhirl with ideas and opportunities to explore with the company that you had a hand in overseeing, even if it was from the producer's seat. Who would've thought that you, Chuck McKinney, the scrawny little comic book geek, would find himself planning out potential spin-off films for the Marvel Universe.
You would've been fine with having this chance in any regular studio, like your old gig at Universal Pictures. After all, your experience at Universal was...
DICE: (1d100)
Dice Rolled: 61
Dice Rolled: 61
DICE: (1d10)
Dice Rolled: 2
Dice Rolled: 2
Working on films that received average reception from audiences and critics alike. Though your experience wasn't as long as one would think (a whopping two years from mid '94 up to December of last year), you still managed to work behind the scenes on films like "Sudden Death" and "Twister", helping its directors work out the kinks in the choreography of stunts and hyping up the latter film with its advertisement campaign. Who would've thought people were interested in the natural disaster phenomenon of twisters with some bold words and fast-paced editing in trailers? Go figure.
Still, you can't help but wonder if your expertise in choreography and marketing was a major factor in the higher-ups selecting you to take this position. If there's one thing bound to come from these movies, it boiled down to finding the right guy to capture the dynamic movements and flair that came from comic books, adapting them to the big screen without coming across as campy and/or shitty.
Luckily for you, your love for comics has come in handy for this.
So you rolled up your sleeves and went straight into the office for the day, ready to start brainstorming ideas. Luckily, the studio had plenty of advisors around for you to take notes for you, offer suggestions when tossing out ideas randomly for feedback, and catering to your every whim to earn their hourly paycheck... okay, that sounded condescending to say, yeah, but it was technically the truth. At the very least, you were more courteous to them than how some of the producers at Universal were to you while starting out.
Still, it helped to have people listening to you sound off idea after idea for these plans you had. However, it got to a point when one of them commented that perhaps it would be best to section off your ideas into different categories, so that they have an idea of what type of plan you have going into this
Which has led you to this moment in time, staring at a whiteboard of concepts and characters from the Marvel Universe all jumbled together like some sort of college student's nightmarish presentation. You shudder to think of what the higher-ups would say if they were to walk in here and see this, but luckily, that hasn't happened to you... yet.
Your eyes drift over the ideas you put forward, along with some conceived by those in the office either bouncing off your ideas or being comic book fans themselves. These ideas consisted of several important things which stood out almost immediately, thanks to your hyperfixation on them:
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- MAIN CHARACTER (Hero and/or Marvel character to focus on)
- SUPPORTING CAST (The sidekick/love interest/best friend(s) that complete a Hero's roster)
- MAIN ANTAGONIST (Foil to the Hero; must be a staple of said Hero and/or character's lore)
- PLOT OUTLINE (Traditional three-act structure or more...???)
- THEMES (Moral behind the story; what makes it tick and how is it integrated?)
- RELEASE DATE (Month and Year...???)
And yet... there was one thing that stood out to you. Something that you put out there near the start, but almost everyone shut down immediately, thinking that it couldn't be done. Your eyes are transfixed on it, your nose so close to the board that you can smell the ink waving off of the words.
- SHARED UNIVERSE
A shared movie universe is something that isn't foreign to you, nor anyone working in Hollywood today. The old Universal Monsters come to mind, as well as the Kaiju beasts of the Showa period. They showed audiences that you can do crossovers but nine times out of ten, it was seen as silly monster mashes with little substance to them.
But, a small part in the back of your head whispered. Maybe you could change that?
[ ] Let's do it. To hell with what everyone else says, a connected universe can work and you've got the right tools ready to make it happen!
[ ] Hells to the no. You're just starting out with this company and the last thing you want to do is bankrupt it with some silly notion you have.
You sigh, taking a step back to take it all in. And to let your mind wander in thought...
Right now, you are in the conception stage of your Marvel films. Whichever idea you wish to do, you must follow through with it, based on the vote that you select up above.
Your Discussion period will last twenty-four hours once this post goes up. And once that time-limit ends, voting will last for three.
As for what you can pitch, follow the guidelines set by "Basic Formula" and look in "Ownership to Character Rights" in Informational to start learning what Marvel properties you CAN'T work with now, and then start building ideas on what characters you CAN.
Have fun!
- Location
- Somewhere with a Thousand Watchful Eyes
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Hmm... I don't think 1997 is quite at the tech level to make an Iron Man film, and I'd rather not retread old paths anyways, although I do want to do a Shared Universe.
But let's see. No X-Men, No Fantastic Four, most popular Avengers aren't options...
Ant-Man probably wouldn't draw a crowd, but I do want him in the original line-up. Luke Cage is a bit too street level for early Marvel, he's a few levels of deconstruction into it. Thor might get mistaken for a regular adaptation of myth by those not in the know.
Hrm... The original avengers were Iron Man, Hulk, Wasp, Ant-Man, Thor and... Captain America, later.
Would it be too gauche to open with Cap? The opening hit of a franchise needs to be recognizable, and the late 90's was hardly lacking for muscled action guy actors that could play the boy scout.
But let's see. No X-Men, No Fantastic Four, most popular Avengers aren't options...
Ant-Man probably wouldn't draw a crowd, but I do want him in the original line-up. Luke Cage is a bit too street level for early Marvel, he's a few levels of deconstruction into it. Thor might get mistaken for a regular adaptation of myth by those not in the know.
Hrm... The original avengers were Iron Man, Hulk, Wasp, Ant-Man, Thor and... Captain America, later.
Would it be too gauche to open with Cap? The opening hit of a franchise needs to be recognizable, and the late 90's was hardly lacking for muscled action guy actors that could play the boy scout.
I wouldn't mind Cap being the opening. Really, it's best left up to whatever you guys are interested in, but be wary of what you pick. While someone like Cap and Thor is recognizable, the opposite can be said for those like Iron Fist and Moon Knight.
But this is a social experiment to see what new ground can be broken in 1997, and how far you guys are willing to take it.
- Pronouns
- Male
Well, I pointed this out in the SB version, but we still have almost all the magic people, with Ghost Rider being the only major mystic man we're missing. If we start with Thor, and lean more into the God than alien, we could do a kind of inverse of the IRL MCU, with more supernatural and less technology. It'd feel a lot closer to urban fantasy at the start, but that might not be a detriment.
- Location
- Somewhere with a Thousand Watchful Eyes
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I kinda like that, but Marvel's magic scene isn't really as well-developed as DC's, in my opinion. There isn't a real equivalent to the Justice League Dark.
There's some stuff to get into there, but as much fun as having the Avengers punch out the literal devil could be, we'll probably dry out soon.
Besides, I always felt the strength of comics was in how many genres they blend, and how it results in the alien hero chilling with a wizard, or YWHW throwing hands with a killer cyborg from the future.
I don't really like how the MCU rejected the campy ridiculousness of comics in favor of snarky eyerolls and all that. Superheroes should wear spandex, and I will die on that hill.
- Location
- Somewhere with a Thousand Watchful Eyes
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I can't think of a single person that likes Inhuman comics outside of Kamala Khan, but it's fair to consider Iron Man's own inpopularity before the films. Might be cool to have a timeline where they outshine the likes of the X-Men.
What's Strange Academy like? I haven't read their run.
It is like X-men school only for magicians and mythic creatures instead of mutants. More teen focused as opposed to older mutants battling between each other like most X-men films were. Not that many really recognizable characters, although we should have at least Scarlet Witch available.
Main issue is we may not want to overdo schools for super powered teens if we ever get X-men from Fox later down the line.
Another idea is to start with SHIELD team. Fury gathers teams of operatives like Hawkeye, Quake, Mockingbird and so on, Black Window joins half way through the plot possibly playing for the other team in the beginning, they battle some supervillain as final boss, win despite impossible odds, perhaps with some loses among the team but by the end of it Fury realizes that he would need a bigger guns in the future, hence Avengers initiative.
For avengers we own Cap so he's our man, beyond that the only major avenger we lack is Iron man(hulks a flake lol) namewise we have cap kooky quartet the two big names from those are Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch, we have Black Panther too who I am a shameless chill for(the definitive Priest run revamp is occuring just this moment actually inquest which is god for popularity). Other decent midtier avenger picks include vision, the captain marvels, Wonder man, Firestar, Widow, Quasar, Tigra, the falcon... oh and Quicksilver knew I was forgtting someone. You can also throw in a wildcard new charecter or two as has been tradition for avengers rosters. Missing Tony is akward but honestly not that huge of a problem, 2/3 of the big 3 is enough for a avengers roster as many comic runs have shown, we have options.
I'd say we should put some focus on the cosmic roster we have the big Guardians, we can use Nova, the various Marvels and Adam Warlock works as offbrand silver surfer. Thanos can also hold his own as villain/anti-hero protagonist of sorts post character development. We also have inhumains and eternals as well. Not having superskrull, the phalanx or the shiar sucks but we can make do as is the marvel cosmic scene is what the magic/horror scene is for dc comic and has a deep stable.
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- Location
- Somewhere with a Thousand Watchful Eyes
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Almost forgot!
[X] Let's do it. To hell with what everyone else says, a connected universe can work and you've got the right tools ready to make it happen!
[X] Let's do it. To hell with what everyone else says, a connected universe can work and you've got the right tools ready to make it happen!
[X] Let's do it.
Looking at the releases of films in the 90 and early 00s. No cap since where going to be compared to Saving private Ryan and a fair few other good war movies.
Strange academy only if we get it out fast since Harry potter is just around the corner.
Batman and Robin are coming out this year and killing the superhero genre for everyone. So a classical superhero film will not be well received.
BUT. STAR WARS. We all know how hype people where to see that and how disappointed they where. There isn't any other sci-fi fic going on now.
So I'm thinking fun campy space adventure. Marvel cosmic is big enough and it is not what people think of superheroes.
Looking at the releases of films in the 90 and early 00s. No cap since where going to be compared to Saving private Ryan and a fair few other good war movies.
Strange academy only if we get it out fast since Harry potter is just around the corner.
Batman and Robin are coming out this year and killing the superhero genre for everyone. So a classical superhero film will not be well received.
BUT. STAR WARS. We all know how hype people where to see that and how disappointed they where. There isn't any other sci-fi fic going on now.
So I'm thinking fun campy space adventure. Marvel cosmic is big enough and it is not what people think of superheroes.
I'm thinking the the big pillar for our early cosmic stuff should be a combo of of Captain marvel and Adam warlock. Captain Marvel can fit in the military political scifi cosmic involving the Kree and skrulls while Adam Warlock while explore the philosophical cosmic side into it while also introducing Thanos into the picture. I'm thinking we add Nova later as our third character occupying the role of the rookie whom eventually develops into the big hero when we do some take on the annihilation saga arc he stars in. Mind I could be convinced to swap marvel and nova as they have similar niches and Nova is sorta a audience surrogate but I'd honestly like a Female MC and there is precedent in the Alien fanchise so audience might be accepting of it.
Thor could also be used as a cosmic character but we should focus more on his Norse and Earth focused tales as their more important to the character. However a take on the celestial/eternals saga would be rad it has Odin throwing hands with the Celestials which probably be a popcorn pleaser.
The big characters to grab to me are iron man, hulk and fantastic 4. If we are doing a avengers film we want the two remaining founders eventually(though we can still sorta use hulk right?) and fantastic 4 is basically all the remaining cosmic stuff minus I think, besides xmens shiar and the phalanx whom would be way to hard to get. For single deals super skrull would be my pick as the big piece we are missing from the skrulls, Kang would be a good multi movie avengers villain to grab, though we may be able to argue in court he's actually more associated with avengers then f4 and should thus go with them marvel got away with mugging fox of quicksilver and scarlet witch.
[X] Let's do it. To hell with what everyone else says, a connected universe can work and you've got the right tools ready to make it happen!
I wouldn't mind a bit of magic focus, honestly. There's not a lot of urban fantasy work in this time period and it plays to our strengths in thriller movies.
Thought we could maybe do something with a more niche superhero like… Spider man? Lovable, street level punching up, solid gimmick, and a coming of age as a departure from "normal" superhero stuff. Really get the teenage audience. And the "smalltown hero" idea might work on other crowds too.
I wouldn't mind a bit of magic focus, honestly. There's not a lot of urban fantasy work in this time period and it plays to our strengths in thriller movies.
Thought we could maybe do something with a more niche superhero like… Spider man? Lovable, street level punching up, solid gimmick, and a coming of age as a departure from "normal" superhero stuff. Really get the teenage audience. And the "smalltown hero" idea might work on other crowds too.
Implying we own him. For street level we have lets see hmm Moon night(this is pre 2006 moon night who is a somewhat different character and something of a "Has been" since his 80s glory days) Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Cloak and Dagger, Shang-Chi(he held the longest continuous ongoing of a asian lead in marvel actually at one point maybe still does to this day), those are the "big" street level names we have. Read the only ones we have who held a solo for a decent amount of time. We could also do a runaways movie whenever we hit the 2000s and they end up being invented, we'd only be able to make something around 2005ish though,same with Jessica Jones as her stories only really begin to be popular in the early 2000's with Bendis's solo in 2001, slim pickings indeed.
We could try to pull a fast one and argue in court we actually own alpha flight marvel studio was considering trying to make a movie about them pre fox purchase,might be able to pull a similar fast one with Kang or AIM given their origins. Now admittedly this would probably cool relations but lawyer wars would be a funny element and we are in rather dire straits.
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- Location
- Where beer flows and men chunder
If we do a shared universe, I think we shouldn't go too hard on it from the beginning. It might be best to just sprinkle hints in our first film that there could be spinoffs, instead of actively using our script to set up further movies.
Otherwise, if our first film bombs, we kill all interest in a cinematic universe - and likely damage the very idea of shared universes going forward.
Otherwise, if our first film bombs, we kill all interest in a cinematic universe - and likely damage the very idea of shared universes going forward.
Its called the post credit scene, we shouldn't need to tie anything together until then. Shared universe is more for team up films then anything else.
My apologies for the delay, been busy with settling in a new job at home, but things are smooth for the weekend for updates!