Chapter 55

After *John Wick* broke $100 million at the North American box office in its first weekend, it was released in some countries and regions around the world.

Thanks to the popularity of "the coolest Spider-Man" Xu Can in Europe, the film markets in England, France, Germany, Amsterdam, etc., are quite hot!

According to BBC reports, on the day tickets went on sale in London, the whole of London was caught in a massive traffic jam.

Many fans lined up from the cinema to the street, so much so that many narrow streets in London became crowded.

The Royal Police dispatched mounted police to maintain order at the scene.

The same is true in Paris, Berlin, and Milan; some people even wore Spider-Man masks to buy *John Wick* tickets, which is abstract enough.

In the end, the BBC news report didn't forget to summarize sourly:

"*Spider-Man* and *John Wick* have allowed the new Chinese star to successfully land in Hollywood and dominate the English film market."

"We should unite English filmmakers, dig deep into local characteristics, and create our boutique films, instead of resting on the laurels of *Harry Potter*."

"Now there are too many actors who want to develop in Hollywood, and even our directors have gone to Hollywood..."

Christopher Nolan was inexplicably cued.

English films are indeed good at using black humor to criticize current events, but their circle is too small, and emerging filmmakers choose to develop in Hollywood, leading to a relatively serious brain drain.

Who wants to be squeezed on a small island?

The French market, with its unique style, is also dominated by Xu Can's new film.

The box office championship of *Spider-Man* lasted until February, and not long after, it was crushed by *John Wick*.

French director Luc Besson appeared in the cinema on the premiere day and said in an interview:

"Xu Can is a young man with quite a lot of ideas. The world film scene needs such cutting-edge power. To be honest, I want to work with him..."

Luc Besson's *Léon: The Professional*, *The Fifth Element*, *Taxi*, etc., are all classics, and he is relatively good at handling fast-paced action scenes.

French movie fans are even looking forward to the cooperation between Luc Besson and Xu Can.

In the Chinese market, it's a pity that due to censorship, R-rated movies have no chance to be released.

Hong Kong and Macau next door can be released normally, and it grossed 4 million Hong Kong dollars on the day of release.

There was a chance to challenge the 37 million HKD top spot created by *Night at the Museum*.

Winning the annual box office title was unlikely, as there were still heavy hitters like Ang Lee’s *Lust, Caution*, *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, *Transformers*, and *Pirates of the Caribbean 3* to come.

A large portion of the 4 million HKD opening day box office was contributed by mainland tourists.

You have to know that around the Lunar New Year, *Spider-Man* completely ignited a superhero craze across the land of China, exploding the film market.

The Lunar New Year films by directors like Feng Xiaogang and Zhang Yimou were completely crushed by Xu Can, leaving them speechless.

Before the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year had even passed, Spider-Man masks and pirated figures were already everywhere, from the small shops at school gates to small commodity markets nationwide.

After the Spider-Man Tieba forum was established, it broke through 3 million members in just one month!

Xu Can’s personal Tieba also broke through 1 million!

It was a pity he couldn't break into the domestic entertainment industry; his film works couldn't be stopped, but news about Xu Can was basically suppressed by the media.

This meant that in the era before mobile internet, the power of discourse remained in the hands of media professionals.

The news was filled with celebrity scandals, such as Xia Yu and Yuan Quan breaking up, Fan Li Bingbing and Wang Xuebing breaking up...

Lacking exposure, Xu Can was gradually forgotten by everyone.

Until *John Wick* was released next door, reigniting the enthusiasm of Chinese film fans.

Many capable fans flew directly to Hong Kong, taking a trip just for the sake of a movie.

It was convenient for fans in Shenzhen; they could just take the subway to Luohu Station and cross the border into Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, most people could only watch longingly, waiting for pirated resources to appear on the internet.

Major subtitle groups had already made preparations...

……

Meanwhile, Xu Can, far away in Los Angeles, was in a private meeting with Kevin Feige.

"Huh? You’re really not going to act?"

"Kevin, be serious. Do I look like Tony Stark to you?"

"But... we really need your box office appeal. Aren't you an investor yourself? Don't go against money."

Kevin Feige tried to persuade him with earnest words.

Ever since their first meeting, they often talked together about the upcoming plans for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

A few casual words from Xu Can would make Kevin Feige exclaim that he was a genius!

So, under his introduction, Xu Can became Marvel's new Chief Consultant and COO, responsible for the general planning of Marvel films and participating in their production.

Kevin Feige was willing to help Xu Can execute his plans and handle specific affairs.

This was equivalent to Marvel handing its steering wheel completely over to Xu Can.

This showed the company's trust in him.

This was understandable; after all, he was Spider-Man, the 3rd highest-grossing film in history, and raking in 1.1 billion USD wasn't just bragging.

The two held multiple meetings with the company and finally determined that the next film to be produced would be *Iron Man*.

It was one of the few available characters Marvel could take out to film, and Xu Can’s proposal received unanimous approval from the board.

What followed surprised Kevin Feige: on one hand, Xu Can intended to invest in *Iron Man*, and he demanded a significant investment share!

Marvel would provide the initial funding, and Xu Can would add investment later, up to 70 million USD!

Was he actually planning to take out most of the box office earnings from *John Wick*?

To gamble again?

He really was an absolute madman!

That wasn't all; Kevin Feige had originally planned to have Xu Can play Tony Stark.

With his appeal, the box office would increase by at least 20%, but Xu Can refused without even thinking.

"Think about it, look further ahead."

Xu Can explained patiently:

"According to my previous plan, are we going to form the Avengers in the future? If I am Spider-Man, Iron Man has to be someone else... or do you want to replace Spider-Man?"

Peter Parker was already deeply bound to Xu Can; fans now couldn't possibly accept anyone else playing Spider-Man.

That would indeed lead to an awkward situation.

"Remember, our future is a whole that is independent yet connected to each other; we must have long-term planning."

Kevin Feige was indeed a great contributor to creating the MCU, but in 2007, he couldn't see the future at all and could only scheme for immediate interests.

Xu Can didn't want Marvel to turn into what it became after 2018.

Look at *Eternals*, *Secret Invasion*, *The Marvels*, *Black Panther 2*—what kind of garbage were those?

After *Avengers: Endgame*, only *WandaVision*, *Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3*, and *Loki* were barely worth showing.

*Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* was Sony; what did that have to do with your Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Without considering the overall decline of Hollywood films, the decisions made after Marvel's Phase 4 indeed declined severely and were chaotic.

Since Xu Can had come back once, he wanted to attempt a bigger scheme.

There were still many major events and stories in the comics worth bringing to the big screen!

For example, the integration of the X-Men and the Avengers, or Sentry, Galactus, the Beyonder, the Living Tribunal...

With careful planning, the MCU could still extend its life and continue to harvest global fans for decades.

And after taking control of the discourse, he could also reverse the stereotypes of Chinese people, refuse political correctness, and refuse all kinds of disgusting operations.

Since North America liked to engage in cultural invasion, he was equivalent to infiltrating the enemy's interior, attempting to reverse the ideology from the source.

Currently, the journey of ten thousand miles had only taken a small step; Xu Can still needed to take it one step at a time.

First, start by making *Iron Man* well, then slowly gain power, and even acquire all of Marvel.

"I'll suggest an actor; you can't go wrong if you find him."

Since it wasn't advisable for Xu Can to play Iron Man, finding a suitable actor was imperative.

*Iron Man* was only allowed to succeed, not fail.

Marvel had even given up their 500 million loan; the company's liquidity was precarious, and their fate was completely gambled on *Iron Man*!

"Who is it?" Kevin Feige asked with a trembling voice.

"Downey, Robert Downey Jr."

"Huh?"

Kevin Feige’s brain crashed again.

That disgraced drug addict? Was Xu Can serious?

……

In Beverly Hills, 37-year-old Robert Downey Jr. was leisurely lying by the backyard pool, sunbathing.

His phone hadn't rung for a week; his agent didn't seem to have any intention of looking for him.

The last time he filmed was last year, participating in the movie *Zodiac*, where he could only be considered the second male lead, slightly overshadowed by Jake Gyllenhaal.

He had become accustomed to this situation in recent years.

Ever since he was arrested for drugs and went to prison, his future seemed to be covered by a shadow after he was released.

Downey used to be a handsome young actor with hope of becoming a pillar of Hollywood in his 30s.

Now he seemed to have been abandoned by big directors and big productions; only some minor roles, or some new directors who couldn't afford big stars, would think of him.

Looking around, his star path in Hollywood seemed to be getting narrower and narrower.

So much so that he continued to be seduced by drugs, falling into a vicious cycle, and was released from prison for the third time.

The phone rang, waking up the half-asleep Downey.

Picking up the phone, it was his agent's voice.

"Robert, someone wants you to play the male lead."

"Turn it down. You're already a qualified agent; you need to reject these kinds of rotten opportunities yourself."

"Don't you want to look at the script?"

"The result is the same; I'm too lazy to go through the process."

Downey continued to lie down, lazily turning on the speakerphone.

In his view, movies that could find him to play the male lead were basically crudely made.

Which truly excellent director would find a drug addict who had been arrested 3 times?

"It's Marvel. They want you to play Tony Stark. It's said that Xu Can personally named you."

"Wait, What?"

Downey grabbed the phone and sat up abruptly.