Stan Lee Thinks Marvel Is Working To Bring Characters From Different Studios Together

By Nick Tylwalk | Dec 7, 2014

It’s safe to say that most people believe that Marvel would like to have all of its characters back under its control for use in movies. If possible, it would certainly take Spider-Man, whose movie rights are controlled by Sony, and the X-Men, who are entrenched by Fox, back in a heartbeat. Rumors have suggested that Marvel is already talking to Sony about borrowing or sharing Spidey, but there’s never been any official word that such talks are taking place. At least one Marvel legend thinks that they are.

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That’d be Stan Lee, the man responsible for creating so many of the iconic Marvel heroes and villains. Now 91 and not having worked for Marvel for years, there’s an open question about how much Lee knows about the company’s plans, but he does make cameos in every film, so he’s around the movie side quite a bit.

When asked at the Hammer Museum this weekend about the possibility that Marvel would be able to get all of its characters back, even temporarily, Lee had this to say:

"It’s something that Marvel is very concerned about. It’s very difficult to bring ’em all together because these characters are so successful and make so much money that the studios that have the rights don’t want to let them go. So that’s something that all the lawyers and all the production companies have to work out. Whether they get it worked out, I don’t know."

Based on an earlier rumor about Marvel having discussions with Sony, many fans had hoped that a deal would come together to get Spider-Man into Captain America: Civil War, since the wall-crawler was a pivotal figure in the comic series upon which the film will be drawing. That seems unlikely st this point, but if Lee is correct, a crossover at some point remains in play for some time down the road.

As for the possibility of the characters’ rights ever reverting to Marvel completely, Lee summed it up pretty well: they still make too much money for their current rights holders to give up on. Marvel is doing just fine making movies without them, so a permanent change to the status quo remains strictly a dream for now.

(via The Independent)

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