This isn't a recent news story, but it's one that I never heard before. I'd like the thank Comicbook.com, Variant Comics YouTube channel, and Sean Howe for reporting on it. Check out Sean Howe's Marvel Comics: The Untold Story for more on this story.
Back in 1984, Warner Brothers had considered dropping their comic book division. They felt that their print division was costing them too much money because every year they were continually getting beat by Marvel. Warner Brothers felt that Marvel had a better group of characters and were able to manage them better. This was due to the constant shellacking they gave DC when it came to comic books. They offered Marvel the opportunity to buy the rights and properties to all of their comic book characters. Luckily for us, Marvel declined the sale.
Why did they decide to not to buy DC? This would have made them the only true power house in the comic book business! Seems like a no-brainer, right?
Well, no. Marvel felt that it was the characters that were bringing DC down, not the mismanagement of the company, and didn't think that there would be any money in bringing the DC characters over to their company.
Hindsight's 20/20, right?
It's kind of funny, though. A little over a decade later Marvel had to file bankruptcy and almost lost all of their properties. This is the reason why so many different movie production companies own the rights to different Marvel comic book characters, and why we won't see the X-Men or Spiderman in an Avengers movie. At least, not for now!
What would've happened if Marvel did buy DC? According to Variant Comics One Shot on the topic, Marvel would have only kept their seven highest selling titles. They would have started their stories over, and would have had them part of a separate universe from their own characters. The seven titles would have been Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Justice League, New Teen Titans, and Legion of Superheroes.
If this had happened, we may never have been given Tim Burton or Christopher Nolan's Batman movies, or even the new Man of Steel. If you really are curious to see how this may have turned out, check out the Marvel and DC comic books from Amalgam where they combined some of their most popular characters into one. For example, there was the Batman/Wolverine mash up that was called Dark Claw, and another was Bruce Wayne: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
You can check out the Variant Comics One Shot here:
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