Chapter 30: Preparing for the Marvel Cinematic Universe? *John Wick* Starts Filming!

Kevin Feige, one of the future creators of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a key figure in Marvel's rise.

Compared to the pattern where Hollywood was gradually ruled by Marvel after 2012,

Marvel in 2006 was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Since 1996, Marvel had owed 700 million USD in debt due to poor management, its home was empty, and it was selling its children.

Almost all the hero IPs in its hands had been sold; X-Men sold to Fox, Iron Man sold to New Line, Spider-Man and Thor sold to Sony.

The then Marvel Chairman Ike Perlmutter still stubbornly believed that investing in superhero movies was too risky, and even cut Stan Lee's salary in half. **CHAPTER 57**

There was already a proposal for the Avengers within the company, but it was vetoed by Chairman Ike.

Kevin Feige was just a small assistant to Avi Arad.

This year, Avi Arad founded a company to be a producer, and Kevin Feige had just moved up to serve as President of Marvel Studios, responsible for Marvel film promotion.

Marvel was unable to take care of itself, and Kevin Feige's status as president was currently very awkward.

His purpose in the *Spider-Man* crew was to try to persuade the director and screenwriter not to ruin the Spider-Man character setting.

In other aspects, Kevin Feige had no say at all.

When filming *Spider-Man*, he and Xu Can had also talked about some creation, but the two were not very familiar, and Kevin Feige didn't even have Xu Can's contact information.

This time, Xu Can took the initiative to come to the door, stepping into Marvel Studios for the first time.

"Xu! You're here, I was just planning to visit you!"

Kevin Feige, the Marvel president, was very enthusiastic and came to the door to greet him personally.

"I just had a meal with Mr. Stringer, and since it was close, I just came over to talk to you."

Xu Can scanned the Marvel Studios office while exchanging pleasantries.

They were indeed doing very badly now; the office environment looked a bit old, and the office desks, chairs, and supplies were all old items used for many years.

It highlighted the down-and-out atmosphere of a company on the verge of bankruptcy.

The office of "Galaxy-Picture," which Xu Can had just founded, looked much more decent than Marvel Studios.

Seeing this, Kevin Feige's expression was a bit awkward.

"We can only work here for the time being; the rent elsewhere is too expensive... but with the success of *Spider-Man* and its sequel this time, we can improve the environment a little bit. Come with me, let's go to the office and talk."

Arriving at Kevin Feige's president office, Xu Can didn't stand on ceremony and sat on the sofa naturally.

"Regarding the Spider-Man sequel..." Kevin Feige was just about to speak, but was interrupted by Xu Can.

"Wait, Kevin. We can talk about Spider-Man later; I came here this time to talk about something else."

"Huh? Xu, what ideas do you have?"

Kevin Feige was confused.

"Are you preparing to take out a loan to shoot a superhero movie yourself?" Xu Can looked at the other party with a smile.

"Yes, Xu, your information is too well-informed. We do have this idea recently..."

Kevin Feige was quite surprised.

Because the 2002 version of *Spider-Man* didn't exist, *Spider-Man* only became popular at the end of 2006.

Marvel in desperation saw a glimmer of hope, and Kevin Feige was preparing to take out a loan these days, taking advantage of the heat of Spider-Man to create a superhero movie.

Xu Can actually knew the news so quickly! Even the media didn't know!

Next, Kevin Feige felt even more horrified!

"Let me guess, is what you want to shoot... Iron Man?"

"Holy Shit! Xu, is this your Eastern witchcraft?"

Kevin Feige was shocked!

The change in the world line, *Iron Man*, which should have been released in 2008, hadn't even been established yet!

The popular IPs were all in the hands of others and hadn't been recovered yet.

Kevin Feige only figured it out this morning, planning to salvage Iron Man from the third-tier IPs and shoot it himself.

Xu Can knew this too?

The Chinese youth in front of him suddenly appeared unfathomable!

"As a Marvel fan, I like the characters inside very much, so I participated in Spider-Man, and I am interested in participating and jointly developing other IPs..."

"I know, what you want to create is not just a single movie. With so many superheroes, it can completely form a big web."

"For example, the Avengers... using numerous superhero movies to create a Marvel Cinematic Universe!"

Xu Can's words hit Kevin Feige's heart heavily.

Finally, someone understood his idea!

Being respectfully sent out of the Marvel Studios gate by Kevin Feige, Xu Can secretly punched the air and left satisfied.

The two talked a lot about the MCU, and by the end, Kevin Feige simply treated Xu Can as a guest of honor, wishing he could start developing the MCU project with him immediately.

Finally, both sides reached an agreement, and Xu Can participated in Marvel film development as the MCU chief consultant.

And Xu Can would invest the box office of his next movie to shoot *Iron Man* together!

Originally, Kevin Feige planned to take out a loan of 500 million from the bank with the mentality of "better to be broken jade than intact tile," and bet his whole fortune on Iron Man.

Now with Xu Can's participation, Kevin Feige finally felt relieved.

He knew this wave was stable!

With Xu Can participating in the creation, *Iron Man* would definitely be able to replicate the miracle of *Spider-Man*!

Look at the global public opinion now; just open any film and television media, and it must be blowing up about the success of *Spider-Man*.

After *Spider-Man* was released simultaneously globally, it quickly topped the box office champion of various countries in just a few days!

The cumulative global box office had already exceeded 800 million! Breaking 1 billion was just a matter of time.

From Marvel Studios to his own Galaxy-Picture, Xu Can was already sitting in a silver Mercedes-Benz SLR-McLaren supercar.

The stylish scissor doors opened upward, and the graceful noble young master Xu Can, wearing sunglasses, stepped out with his long legs.

The Galaxy-Picture employees in the office were all dumbfounded watching their boss show off.

The blonde white girl at the front desk was almost drooling.

Agent Happy hurried out to greet him.

"My God, you finally bought a car; how much?"

"Only 450,000, help me park it in the garage; I have to go in for a project meeting."

Xu Can threw the car keys to Happy and walked straight into the company gate.

The Columbia Pictures production team was already waiting inside.

"Hey! I'm not your valet!"

Happy complained dissatisfiedly, then his eyes lit up, and he dragged his fat body into the driver's seat, planning to have a good time before parking.

In the Galaxy-Picture conference room.

The *John Wick* creative team was holding the final preparation meeting!

The movie was about to start filming! Expected to be released at Easter 2007!

On the other side, Time Warner headquarters building.

CEO Dick Parsons slumped powerlessly in his chair.

Previously, they wanted to use *Superman Returns* to go head-to-head with *Spider-Man*.

Now *Spider-Man*'s box office was heading for 1 billion, while *Superman Returns* had less than 300 million in box office, which could be considered a crushing defeat.

"Superman doesn't work; why don't we reboot Batman. The superhero train has already started, and we must join in and get a piece of the pie! Such a precious resource as DC must not be wasted in vain!"

"I have an idea: invite a famous big director to reboot Batman, with a theme as close to reality as possible, digging into depth. Then invite popular actors to play the roles; maybe it can be successfully rebooted."

Producer Charles Roven suggested.

"Then who to invite as director? And who to invite as actor?"

"Director, my idea is Christopher Nolan; his *The Prestige* released this year has great word-of-mouth. As for the actor..."

Charles Roven said firmly:

"If you can't beat them, join them; let the most popular Xu Can play Batman! He can succeed in playing Spider-Man, so playing Batman will definitely be no problem!" **CHAPTER 58**