Before Iron Man, One Forgotten Hero Revived the Genre

Marvel went bankrupt, sold away its biggest heroes, then risked $525 million on the characters nobody wanted. Blade, Iron Man, and a forgotten executive named David Maisel helped turn a collapsing comic-book company into the foundation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 1996, Marvel filed for bankruptcy. Spider-Man was at Sony. The X-Men and Fantastic Four were at Fox. The company’s most famous characters were making money for other studios. Then Marvel made an extraordinary bet. It secured a $525 million film-financing facility and built its future around heroes Hollywood had overlooked. Iron Man had passed between studios for years. Robert Downey Jr. was considered a major risk. Blade had already proved that an unwanted Marvel character could succeed on the big screen. This is the story of Marvel’s bankruptcy, the comic-book bubble, the forgotten people behind Marvel Studios, and the gamble that eventually led to Disney’s multibillion-dollar acquisition. Every empire leaves a body. We do the autopsy. 0:00 — Intro 1:24 — The Peak 3:08 — The Crack 5:30 — The Bet 8:15 — The Climb 11:29 — The Lesson Sources: Marvel Entertainment / SEC filings The Walt Disney Company press releases United States Bankruptcy Court filings The Numbers Harvard Business School #Marvel #MarvelStudios #DownfallDossier