I THINK MARVEL WILL BE KNOWN AS A COMPANY THAT HAS PROVIDED SOME OF THE GREATEST SUPER-CHARACTERS FOR THE PUBLIC. WE ALWAYS BELIEVED IN THE TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL OF THE MARVEL BRAND. IT'S THE MOST DOMINANT POP CULTURE ON THE PLANET RIGHT NOW. THEY LIKE MAKING MOVIES THAT THEY WOULD WANNA GO SEE. MARVEL MOVIES ARE THE BEST. THEY'RE THE FUNNIEST. THE REAL CULTURAL IMPACT OCCURRED FROM THAT MEETING OF THOSE GREAT MINDS. STAN HAS THIS FLASH OF GENIUS THAT A SUPERHERO HAS PROBLEMS. MARVEL TAKES IT UP A NOTCH. IT'S WHAT'S UNDER THE MASK THAT COUNTS. I'M BRINGING THE PARTY TO YOU. WE UNDERSTAND OUR CHARACTERS AND THE KINDS OF STORIES THAT WE DO BETTER THAN ANYBODY ELSE. MACHINE GUN SHOOTS OH, I'M SORRY. ADVENTUROUS MUSIC MARVEL: THE HOUSE OF IDEAS ` CREATOR OF SOME OF THE MOST EXCITING TELEVISED AND FILMED ENTERTAINMENT THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN. JOIN US AS WE CELEBRATE THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF MARVEL ` FROM ITS EARLY DAYS AS A SMALL PUBLISHING HOUSE IN NEW YORK TO ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL COMPANIES IN HISTORY. THIS IS MARVEL 75 YEARS: FROM PULP TO POP! DRAMATIC MUSIC CAPTIONS BY JUNE YEOW. WWW.ABLE.CO.NZ CAPTIONS WERE MADE POSSIBLE WITH FUNDING FROM NZ ON AIR. COPYRIGHT ABLE 2014 HELLO. I'M EMILY VANCAMP, OR AS YOU MIGHT KNOW ME ` AGENT 13 FROM MARVEL'S CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER. WELCOME TO DIRECTOR PHIL COULSON'S OFFICE AND THE SECRET HEADQUARTERS OF THE STRATEGIC HOMELAND INTERVENTION, ENFORCEMENT AND LOGISTICS DIVISION, OR, AS IT'S BETTER KNOWN, S.H.I.E.L.D. LOCATED IN A DECOMMISSIONED BASE FROM THE 1940S, THIS IS WHERE COULSON HAS GATHERED A SMALL GROUP OF AGENTS TO REBUILD THE ONE-STOREYED ORGANISATION ON ABC'S HIT TELEVISION SERIES 'MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D'. IT'S APPROPRIATE THAT WE FIND OURSELVES HERE IN THIS BUILDING, WHERE S.H.I.E.L.D'S FUTURE TOUCHES ITS PAST, AS TONIGHT WE'LL GO BACK IN TIME TO BEHOLD MARVEL'S UNRIVALLED HISTORY, WHICH ALL BEGAN IN A SMALL PUBLISHING HOUSE THEN KNOWN AS TIMELY COMICS, IN 1939. BUT FIRST, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT SOMETHING MORE FAMILIAR. (ROARS) DRAMATIC MUSIC BOOM! WHOOSH! TODAY I THINK THE MARVEL MOVIES ` EVERYTHING THEY DO, THEY DO WELL. CRASH! > WE CREATED MARVEL STUDIOS TO EXERCISE MORE CONTROL OVER OUR OWN CHARACTERS. THE BRAIN TRUST AT MARVEL DECIDED, 'WE WERE GOING TO FOUND OUR OWN MOVIE STUDIO; 'WE WERE GOING TO MAKE OUR OWN MOVIES.' WE DON'T JUST GO OUT THERE AND THROW MOVIES AGAINST THE WALL AND HOPE IT'S A HIT. THESE ALL COME OUT OF INCREDIBLE COLLABORATION. AND IT'S BASED ON PASSION AND COMMITMENT TO TELLING GOOD STORIES. WE HAVE NO OTHER AGENDA BUT TO MAKE GREAT FILMS. THE THING THAT MARVEL DOES BEST IS, UH, THEY PICK THE RIGHT DIRECTORS. GOOD DIRECTORS, GOOD ACTORS. WHEN DO YOU EVER GET TO SEE THIS GROUP OF ACTORS COME TOGETHER IN THIS, KIND OF, FANTASY WORLD? YOU HAVE ALL THESE PARTS, BUT HOW DO YOU POSSIBLY BRING THEM TOGETHER? WOULD CAP SHOOT A MACHINE GUN? IF JOSS SAID IT'S OK, IT'S OK. THE REASON THE AVENGERS ARE SO GREAT IN THE COMICS IS COS THEY'RE SUCH DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES. SO YOU CAST THE BEST PERSON FOR THOSE PERSONALITIES. YOU DO YOUR JOB RIGHT AND YOU PUT THEM TOGETHER, IT'S GONNA BE AS FUN AS IT IS IN THE COMICS. THESE ARE MARVEL COMICS, SO THEY'RE AUTHENTIC WHEN MARVEL MAKES A MOVIE. THUD! THUD! TRYING TO GET ME BACK IN THE WORLD? THUD! TRYING TO GET ME BACK IN THE WORLD? TRYING TO SAVE IT. CAPTAIN AMERICA, IRON MAN, THOR ` THEY CAN CONTINUALLY PUBLISH FOR OVER 40 YEARS. THE MOVIES HAVE MADE THESE CHARACTERS SO POPULAR THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND HAVE GIVEN THEM SUCH GLAMOUR, PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THEM AND CARE ABOUT THEM AND WANT TO SEE THEM. THE SECRET TO MARVEL'S CURRENT SUCCESS ` I THINK IT'S NOT COMPROMISING ON WHAT THE FANS WANT, BUT ALSO EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT THEY DO NEXT. DRAMATIC MUSIC WE WANT SOMETHING NEW AND SOMETHING UNEXPECTED, NOT JUST SOMETHING FAMILIAR. AND THAT'S WHAT LED US TO ANNOUNCE 'GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY'. WHO? 'GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY? REALLY? REALLY? 'YOU GUYS ARE PUTTING OUT A MOVIE CALLED GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY?' WHY WOULD YOU CHOOSE 'GUARDIANS'? IT'S SO OUT THERE. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE. YEAH, IT'S ONE THING TO TAKE CAPTAIN AMERICA AND IRON MAN AND THOR. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY COULD NOT BE MORE... 'OK, WHAT DO WE DO WITH`?' YOU KNOW, HERE IS SOME CHUCK STEAK. WHO'S GOING TO A MOVIE WITH A TALKING RACOON IN IT? AND A WALKING TREE DUDE? PEOPLE SAYING, 'THIS IS GOING TO BE MARVEL'S FIRST FAILURE.' EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE YOU'D SEE THE NAME 'STAR-LORD' AND BE, LIKE, 'I REMEMBER WHEN THEY CREATED THAT CHARACTER.' STAR-LORD, MAN. LEGENDARY OUTLAW? GUYS? FORGET IT. A BUNCH OF MISFITS WHO FORM A FAMILY. THE BIG DIFFERENCE IS THE WORLD THAT THEY OCCUPY IS THAT OF THE COSMOS. IT'S IN OUTER SPACE. DRAMATIC MUSIC THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR MARVEL TO PUT ITS STAMP ON SPACE. WE'RE SEEING CORNERS OF SPACE THAT ONLY THE TRUEST MARVEL FANS KNEW EVEN EXISTED. INSTEAD OF IT BEING AN ORIGIN STORY OF A PARTICULAR SUPERHERO, IT WAS AN ORIGIN STORY OF A TEAM. I LOOK AROUND AT US, AND YOU KNOW WHAT I SEE? LOSERS. OF COURSE, THERE WERE A LOT OF NAYSAYERS, BUT LOOK WHAT WE HAVE. IT'S THE MOST SUCCESSFUL, UH, MOVIE OF THE YEAR, OF 2014. YES! ROCK MUSIC TALK ABOUT BRILLIANCE. YOU TAKE SOMETHING NOBODY CARES ABOUT, THAT ISN'T, LIKE, VIABLE OR ONE OF YOUR CROWN JEWELS, AND YOU TURN IT INTO ONE. ACTION MUSIC GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY WAS EXTRAORDINARY. THIS MOVIE IS A BOX OF CRACKER JACKS, BUT IT'S ALL PRIZES. I MEAN, IT IS BEAUTIFUL MOTION PICTURE THAT IS A MODERN-DAY STAR WARS. THE DECISION TO MAKE MOVIES OURSELVES TRANSFORMED THE COMPANY. THE SUCCESS OF MARVEL STUDIOS IS A TESTAMENT TO THEIR DEEP RESPECT FOR THE SOURCE MATERIAL. THIS IS THE CULMINATION OF MANY, MANY YEARS OF WORK FOR US AT MARVEL STUDIOS. WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR ENTIRE LIBRARY OF CHARACTERS, HOW WILL THIS WORK WITHIN THE GRAND SCHEME ` THE PLAN FOR MARVEL? WHERE DO WE SEE OUR COMPANY IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS? THIS NOW JUST REPRESENTS THE FIRST PHASE OF WHAT THESE MOVIES CAN` CAN BECOME. OMINOUS MUSIC 1939 ` AMERICA HAS NEARLY RECOVERED FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION, ONLY TO FIND ITSELF ON THE CUSP OF ANOTHER HISTORICAL HARDSHIP ` WORLD WAR II. AT A TIME WHEN NEWSPAPERS HAD LITTLE GOOD NEWS TO REPORT, READERS TURNED TO THE BACK PAGES FOR ESCAPE. THE DAILY COMIC STRIPS WERE AT ONCE UPLIFTING AND REFLECTIVE OF THE TRUE AMERICAN SPIRIT. OUR STORY BEGINS IN NEW YORK CITY. MARTIN GOODMAN WAS THE ORIGINAL FOUNDER OF MARVEL COMICS, WHICH, WHEN HE STARTED IT, WAS CALLED 'TIMELY COMICS'. I LIKE TO DESCRIBE HIM AS AN OPPORTUNISTIC PUBLISHER. HE WAS NEVER EMBARRASSED TO HOP ON THE HOTTEST TRAIN. MARVEL BACK THEN WAS ALL FUNNY ANIMAL COMICS, WAR COMICS, ROMANCE COMICS, NOT COSTUMED AVENGERS. AND THEN CAME WHAT'S BEEN THOUGHT OF AS 'THE KILLER APP' FOR THE COMIC BOOK ` THE CREATION OF SUPERHEROES. SUPERMAN SET OFF THIS ENORMOUS GOLDRUSH, WHERE EVERYBODY IN THE WORLD PUT OUT SUPERHERO COMICS. MARTIN GOODMAN WANTED TO CAPITALISE ON THIS NEW MARKET, AND THE FIRST THING HE PUBLISHED WAS 'MARVEL COMICS #1'. MARVEL MYSTERY #1 FEATURED A BRAND NEW HERO CALLED THE HUMAN TORCH ` TO BE FOLLOWED BY SUB-MARINER, WHO WAS A GUY FROM UNDERWATER. HERE YOU HAD TWO HEROES FIGHTING EACH OTHER, WHICH HAD NOT HAPPENED OR EVEN BEEN THOUGHT OF. EVEN BY THE STANDARDS OF THE DAY IN 1939, MARVEL WAS ALREADY MAKING SUPERHEROES THAT WERE VERY DIFFERENT. STAN LEE WAS, UH, RELATED TO PUBLISHER MARTIN GOODMAN. MARTIN WAS ACTUALLY MY COUSIN-IN-LAW. I LEARNED THAT HE HAD AN OPENING IN THE COMIC-BOOK DEPARTMENT, AND I USE THE WORD 'DEPARTMENT' LOOSELY, BECAUSE THE WHOLE DEPARTMENT CONSISTED OF JOE SIMON AND JACK KIRBY. JOE SIMON WAS THE FIRST EDITOR AT MARVEL. HE WORKED WITH ARTIST JACK KIRBY, WHO WAS ONE OF THE GREAT FIGURES IN MARVEL HISTORY. I WOULD FILL THEIR INKWELLS, WOULD RUN DOWN AND GET SANDWICHES FOR THEM, AND IF THEY NEEDED A DIALOGUE BALLOON WRITTEN AND THEY WERE TOO BUSY, THEY ASKED ME TO PUT THE COPY IN. AND LITTLE BY LITTLE, I DID A LITTLE BIT MORE WRITING AS WE WENT ALONG. THE WRITERS AND ARTISTS OF TIMELY COMICS WERE CHURNING OUT FANTASTICALLY UNIQUE STORIES THAT EMBRACED THE TIMES, LIKE THE HUMAN TORCH AND THE MARINER. BUT THE TIMES WERE ABOUT TO CHANGE. THE WORLD WAS HEADING TO WAR. DRAMATIC MUSIC AMERICA WAS CONFLICTED OF THE WAR. THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO BE ISOLATIONISTS, AND THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO SAID, 'THIS ISN'T GOING TO JUST GO AWAY.' A LOT OF THE EARLY COMIC BOOK PROFESSIONALS WERE JEWISH. THEY WERE VERY VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE THINGS THAT WERE GOING ON IN EUROPE. AND AS THE STORY GOES, MARTIN GOODMAN WANTED A PATRIOTIC HERO. JOE SIMON AND JACK KIRBY CAME UP WITH THE QUINTESSENTIAL AMERICAN SOLDIER AS A RESPONSE TO WHAT WAS GOING ON IN EUROPE. OF COURSE, PATRIOTISM ` YOU JUST COULDN'T GET MUCH MORE THAN CAPTAIN AMERICA. DRAMATIC MUSIC AND HE SYMBOLISED THAT SUPERHEROES WERE AMERICAN PATRIOTS. CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS, ON THE ONE, WAS IN EFFECT A CALL TO ARMS TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC THAT WE HAVE TO STOP HITLER. PEOPLE DID NOT WANT AMERICA INVOLVED IN THE WAR. MY FATHER AND, UH, JOE SIMON BEING JEWISH, WE STARTED GETTING DEATH THREATS FROM, UH, THE AMERICAN NAZI PARTY. THEY HAD THIS IDEA FOR THE FIRST COVER THAT WOULD BE CAP BURSTING INTO SOME NAZI HEADQUARTERS AND SMASHIN' ADOLF HITLER IN THE FACE. FOR LATE 1940, THAT WAS A VERY PROVOCATIVE IMAGE. THIS IS A MAN WHO IS ALIVE AND IS THE HEAD OF A NATION. ONCE PEARL HARBOUR HIT AND WE WERE IN THE WAR FOR SURE, CAPTAIN AMERICA REALLY HIT THE ZEITGEIST. IT WAS A SMASH SUCCESS. IT WAS TIMELY'S BIGGEST SELLER. IT WAS A PATRIOTIC TYPE OF BOOK, AND IT WAS THE RIGHT TIME. 'YEAH, HE'S OUR GUY. THIS IS WHAT WE STAND FOR.' AND THAT WAS WHAT CAPTAIN AMERICA WAS TO AN ENTIRE GENERATION. MY FATHER WAS ALSO A VERY PATRIOTIC PERSON. I THINK CAPTAIN AMERICA WAS PROBABLY HIS FAVOURITE CHARACTER. CAPTAIN'S A REPRESENTATION OF THOSE GUYS WHO ARE ACTUALLY ON THE FRONT LINES. AMERICAN SOLDIERS WERE VORACIOUSLY READING COMIC BOOKS. SERVICEMEN SERVING ABROAD WERE A HUGE AUDIENCE. PART OF IT WAS UNSOLD COMICS WERE USED AS BALLASTS IN SHIPS. THE SOLDIERS COMING OFF THE SHIPS ` THEY'LL BRING COMIC BOOKS, THEY'LL LEAVE THEM AROUND TOWN. THEY WERE JUST WHAT THE SOLDIERS WANTED. THEY WERE STORIES OF GOOD GUYS FIGHTING BAD GUYS. SYMBOLS OF AMERICAN RESISTANCE TO FASCISTS. I HAD SEEN FIGURES THAT INDICATED THAT CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS SOLD BETTER THAN TIME MAGAZINE. DRAMATIC MUSIC (MAN) ARCHIVE: THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, THRONGS OF PEOPLE HAILED THE END OF THE WAR IN EUROPE. AFTER WORLD WAR II, WE WENT RIGHT BACK TO DOING THE SAME KIND OF BOOKS WE HAD BEEN DOING. ONCE THE WAR ENDED, I THINK PEOPLE WANTED LESS OF A REMINDER OF THE WAR. AND IT WAS PARENTS NOT WANTING THE SUPERHERO STUFF FOR THEIR KIDS, ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF THE FREDRIC WERTHAM DEBATES AND ALL OF THE THINGS THAT CAME DOWN ON THE INDUSTRY. FREDRIC WERTHAM WROTE THIS BOOK CALLED 'SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT', WHICH, IN EFFECT, BLAMED COMICS FOR JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. THEY CONVENED HEARINGS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF COMIC BOOKS ON AMERICA'S YOUTH. (MAN) ARCHIVE: AND THE ISSUE BECOMES NATIONWIDE ` SHOULD BOOKS LIKE THESE BE BANNED FROM THE NEWSSTANDS? TELL ME HOW COMIC BOOKS MAKE YOU FEEL, DAVE. WELL, THEY DIDN'T MAKE ME FEEL TOO GOOD. THERE WERE A COUPLE OF TIMES WITH A COMIC BOOK, THREW UP. WHAT THE COMIC-BOOK INDUSTRY DID WAS SAY, 'MEA CULPA ` WE'RE WICKED; WE'RE EVIL.' THE PUBLISHERS GOT TOGETHER AND SET UP A SELF-CENSORSHIP ORGANISATION. IT'S THE COMICS CODE AUTHORITY. HE HAD TO SEND EVERY BOOK TO THAT GROUP, AND THEY SAID, 'WELL, THIS IS TOO VIOLENT,' OR, 'THAT'S TOO SEXY.' AND THEY WOULD GET THE STAMP OF APPROVAL ON THE COVER, WHICH SAID THIS WAS A DECENT PUBLICATION. THE PUBLISHERS WERE SCARED TO PUBLISH MATERIAL THAT WOULD BE DEEMED QUESTIONABLE. AFTER WERTHAM PUBLISHED HIS BOOK, THE COMIC-BOOK INDUSTRY, I MEAN, REALLY TOOK A NOSE-DIVE. OVER 800 PEOPLE LOST THEIR JOBS. 30 TO 40 COMIC-BOOK COMPANIES WENT OUT OF BUSINESS. WITHIN MONTHS, IT WAS DOWN TO 10 OR FEWER. AND THOSE WERE STRUGGLING. SO IT WAS KIND OF A DOWNTIME FOR COMICS. THEY WERE FADING OUT LIKE CRAZY. SO IT WAS KIND OF A DOWNTIME FOR COMICS. THEY WERE FADING OUT LIKE CRAZY. STAN HAS THIS FLASH OF GENIUS THAT A SUPERHERO HAS PROBLEMS. FANFARE MUSIC PLAYS (MAN) ARCHIVE: TOMORROW ` PREVIEWING OUR POST-WAR WORLD. LET'S LOOK INTO A BRAND NEW DEVELOPMENT ` TELEVISION. TELEVISION CAME IN; KIDS WERE READING LESS. AMERICA WAS SETTLING DOWN. COMICS REFLECTED THAT. THE WAR ENDED. EVERY SUPERHERO WENT TO PURGATORY. EVEN CAPTAIN AMERICA CLOSED SHOP. SUPERHEROES JUST DIDN'T SEEM TO WORK IN THE 1950S. HORROR WAS MORE POPULAR THAN SUPERHEROES, WHICH IS WHY THE LAST FEW ISSUES OF THE CAPTAIN AMERICA SERIES ARE CALLED 'CAPTAIN AMERICA'S WEIRD TALES'. AT THAT TIME, ALL I DID WAS WRITE THE KIND OF STORIES THAT THE PUBLISHER, MARTIN GOODMAN, WANTED ME TO WRITE. GOODMAN CHASED TRENDS. YOU KNOW, TILLIE THE TOILER WAS` WAS POPULAR IN THE NEWSPAPER STRIPS. GOODMAN WOULD SAY, 'GIVE ME SOME OF THOSE,' AND YOU'D GET 'TESSIE THE TYPIST'. NELLIE THE NURSE. MILLIE THE MODEL. HEDY OF HOLLYWOOD. COMIC BOOKS WERE JUST SLUMMING. THE EARLY GUYS ` THE GUYS BEFORE US ` DIDN'T GROW UP READING COMICS. THEY INVENTED THE FORM. THEY INVENTED THE FORM, AND THEY WERE ASHAMED OF THAT. I EVEN CHANGED MY NAME FROM STANLEY LEIBER, WHICH WAS A NORMAL NAME, TO STAN LEE. I DIDN'T WANT STANLEY LEIBER TO BE KNOWN AS A COMIC-BOOK WRITER. IF I WAS AT A PARTY AND THEY SAID, 'WHAT DO YOU DO?' 'I WORK IN COMIC BOOKS,' THAT ENDED THE CONVERSATION. I SAID, I'M REALLY SICK OF WRITING THESE STORIES THAT MEAN NOTHING. THEY'RE NOT WELL-WRITTEN; THEY DON'T HAVE ANY CHARACTERISATION; THEY'RE JUST STORIES. PEOPLE READ THEM AND FORGET THEM. I TOLD MY WIFE THAT I WANTED TO QUIT. FINALLY, IN 1961, I GUESS THAT'S WHEN, UH` I GUESS THEY WERE ON THE VERGE OF JUST CLOSING IT ALL DOWN. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE HEROES AND THEIR BELOVED ALTER-EGOS MAY HAVE NEVER EXISTED, HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE CREATIVITY AND BOLDNESS OF JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO AND STAN LEE. STAN HAD BEEN IN THE BUSINESS FOR 20-SOME-ODD YEARS, UH, AND HE WAS LOOKING TO GET OUT. STAN HIMSELF SAYS HE WAS EMBARRASSED TO TELL PEOPLE, WHEN HE MET THEM, THAT HE WAS WORKING IN COMICS. THE WAY HE TELLS IT, AND THEY WAY HE'S TOLD IT FOR` FOR MANY YEARS, IS HE HAD A CONVERSATION WITH HIS WIFE, JOAN. SHE SAID TO ME, 'IF YOU WANNA QUIT, BEFORE YOU DO, 'WHY DON'T YOU WRITE ONE STORY THE WAY YOU'D LIKE TO DO IT?' 'THE KIND OF COMIC BOOKS YOU'D WANT TO READ YOURSELF.' AND THAT SET OFF THE LIGHT BULB. INSTEAD OF JUST ONE HERO, LET'S COME UP WITH A BOOK WITH A TEAM OF HEROES. AND I DECIDED TO DO IT THE WAY I WANTED TO DO IT. DRAMATIC MUSIC SO STAN SAT DOWN WITH JACK KIRBY, AND JACK CAME UP WITH THE EVERYMAN DESIGNS OF THE CHARACTERS. AND THEY CAME UP WITH THE FANTASTIC FOUR. ROCK MUSIC FANTASTIC FOUR IS A REALLY SPECIAL STORY. IT'S ABOUT A FAMILY THAT WAS KIND OF BONDED TOGETHER BY THIS INSANE, UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCE. STAN ADDED A LEVEL OF REALISM TO SUPERHEROES THAT HAD NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE. STAN: I TRIED TO GIVE EACH ONE OF THEM A SEPARATE PERSONALITY. IT STARTS OUT WITH THESE FOUR CHARACTERS QUARRELLING WITH EACH OTHER. THESE COSMIC RADIATIONS ` THEY GAVE THEM SUPERPOWERS ` NOT, LIKE, HELPFUL POWER, EITHER ` WEIRD AND KIND OF VERY COMPLICATED POWERS. THE EARLIEST ISSUES OF FANTASTIC FOUR ACTUALLY DO NOT LOOK LIKE SUPERHERO COMICS. THEY DID NOT HAVE SUPERHERO COSTUMES IN FANTASTIC FOUR NUMBER 1. THESE COMICS WERE JUST MORE ENGAGING AND MORE ELECTRIC TO AN AUDIENCE IN 1961. ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CHARACTERS MARVEL HAD, WHO WAS 'THE THING', WAS A MONSTER. I ALWAYS LIKED THE MOVIE FRANKENSTEIN. TO ME, THE MONSTER WAS THE GOOD GUY. THE OTHER MONSTER TITLES THAT MARTIN WAS PUBLISHING AT THE TIME ALL HAD THESE BIG, ALMOST 'MAN IN A RUBBER SUIT' MONSTERS. I THOUGHT, 'IF I COULD WRITE THAT TYPE OF GUY AND MAKE THE READER LIKE HIM, 'I'D FEEL I HAD ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING.' DRAMATIC MUSIC THE SECOND CHARACTER THAT THEY DID WAS THE HULK, AND THE HULK, TOO, IS NOT REALLY A TRADITIONAL SUPERHERO. IT WAS MORE ABOUT THE GUY TRANSFORMED INTO THE MONSTER, BRUCE BANNER, AND HIS CONFLICTS. HULK ROARS THE MARVEL COMIC-BOOK CHARACTERS ` THEY'RE A PANTHEON OF MARVEL HEROES COME FROM THE ATOMIC AGE. MAN: THREE, TWO, ONE. BOOM! RATHER THAN CONCENTRATE ON THE NEGATIVITY, LET'S MAKE FANTASY OUT OF THAT. IMAGINE YOU SURVIVE THAT, BECAME THIS GREY GOLIATH, WHO'D LATER BE GREEN, BECAUSE GREY IS NOT REALLY AN APPEALING CHARACTER FOR THE HULK. YOU KNOW, THINGS LIKE THAT CAPTURED THE IMAGINATION. MARTIN SAID, 'HEY, THESE ARE DOING WELL. COME UP WITH ANOTHER SUPERHERO.' I FIGURED I WANNA MAKE HIM DIFFERENT THAN ALL THE OTHERS. IT WOULD BE FUN TO MAKE HIM A TEENAGER, AND THEN, WHILE I WAS THINKING, I SAW A FLY ON THE WALL. AND I SAID, 'GEE, WOULDN'T IT BE SOMETHING IF A SUPERHERO COULD STICK TO WALLS LIKE` LIKE AN INSECT? 'WHAT CAN I CALL HIM?' INSECT-MAN DIDN'T SOUND DRAMATIC. FLY-MAN ` DIDN'T HAVE IT. MOSQUITO-MAN? AND THEN I SAID, 'SPIDER-MAN!' DRAMATIC MUSIC SPIDER-MAN IS, IN MANY WAYS, THE FIRST TEENAGE SUPERHERO. WHAT STAN AND STEVE DID WAS PETER PARKER PUT ON A MASK AND BECAME SPIDER-MAN. BUT WHEN THE MASK COMES OFF, HE STILL HAS ALL THE PROBLEMS OF PETER PARKER. WE'LL GET TO SPIDER-MAN. BUT LET'S GET TO KNOW PETER PARKER. THIS CHARACTER FELT THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SAVE HIS NEIGHBOURHOOD. STAN HAD SPIDER-MAN LAUNDER HIS COSTUME. HE HAD HIM GET A COLD. NO SUPERHERO HAD EVER GOTTEN A COLD. HE WASN'T RIPPLING WITH MUSCLES. HE WAS JUST A KID BITTEN BY A SPIDER. WHEN I WAS ATTACKED BY A SWARM OF BEES, I DID NOT BECOME BEE-MAN. HE'S JUST A TYPICAL TEENAGER, AND NOBODY WOULD KNOW THAT GUY IS REALLY SPIDER-MAN. IF YOU THINK OF THE, KIND OF, ON-FIRE YEARS FOR KIRBY AND LEE AND DITKO... WE ALWAYS BELIEVED IN THE TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL OF THE MARVEL BRAND. CREATING TITLES JUST ONE AFTER ANOTHER. VERY RARELY SAW MY FATHER AFTER THAT POINT. THE NEXT ONES THAT THEY CAME UP WITH ` THOR... AND ANT MAN. IN THE SAME MONTH, THEY'RE AFTER IRON MAN. DR STRANGE. SGT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS WOULD LATER BEGET 'NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD'. THE AVENGERS BROUGHT A BUNCH OF THOSE CHARACTERS TOGETHER. THE X-MEN. YET BOTH COMING OUT THE SAME MONTH. SO MUCH INVENTION, SO MANY HOME RUNS ` BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. STAN WAS BASICALLY WRITING EVERYTHING. HOWEVER, HE WAS WORKING WITH THESE IMMENSELY TALENTED PEOPLE. I DON'T THINK THERE'S ENOUGH TO BE SAID ABOUT JACK KIRBY AND STEVE DITKO. IF THERE'S A MT RUSHMORE OF COMIC-BOOK ARTISTS, STEVE DITKO AND JACK KIRBY ARE DEFINITELY CARVED ON IT. KIRBY AND DITKO MADE THE OVERALL WORLD OF MARVEL. JACK MADE THINGS DYNAMIC ` BIG ARMS COMING INTO YOUR FACE. YOU KNOW, HE'S` EVERY CHARACTER WAS COMING AT YA. MY FATHER ` HE SAW COMIC BOOKS AS STORY BOARDS FOR MOVIES. VERY EARLY ON, HE SAW THE POTENTIAL. STEVE DITKO WAS THE DEFINITION OF SPIDER-MAN. THE WAY THAT DITKO DREW HIM ` HE'S SO THIN AND GANGLY AND LONG AND AWKWARD. STEVE WAS SPIDER-MAN AND DR STRANGE, AND EVERYTHING ELSE WAS JACK. THE FACT THAT THAT MANY CAME OUT OF THREE GUYS ` THERE WAS SOME ALCHEMY GOING ON. BUT WHAT'S AMAZING IS HOW` HOW MUCH OF THIS CAME ABOUT IN SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. THERE'S NOT A CREATOR IN THE WORLD THAT JUST DOESN'T SIT BACK AND GO, 'WOW.' THE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS THAT HAVE GONE ON TO THE PRESTIGE THAT THEY HAVE. IF ALL OF US COULD DO TWO OR THREE CHARACTERS, WE WOULD ALL BE HAPPY. ACTION MUSIC HERE'S A GUY WHO CREATED A FIELD OF CHARACTERS THAT I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE ANYBODY WILL BE ABLE TO REPLICATE. STAGGERING. MARTIN WAS VERY HAPPY, AND HE NEVER DID SAY, 'GO BACK TO THE OLD STYLE.' HE WAS A SMART GUY. HE WASN'T ABOUT TO SAY, 'LET'S CHANGE THEM.' NO PROMOTION, THE WORST DISTRIBUTION IN THE WORLD. FROM NOTHING AT ALL, THEY BUILT UP THIS HUGE SUCCESS. AMERICA WAS READY FOR A REVIVAL OF THE SUPERHERO, CALLED 'THE MARVEL AGE OF COMICS'. WE WERE DREAMING UP OUR OWN CHARACTERS AND OUR OWN PROBLEMS, BUT OF COURSE, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT BE AFFECTED BY WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD. UPBEAT MUSIC AS OUR CULTURE GAVE WAY TO COUNTERCULTURE, THINGS LIKE GOVERNMENT SEALS ON MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT WERE BECOMING LESS OF A PLUS AND MORE OF A NEGATIVE. SO I WENT TO MY PUBLISHER, AND I SAID, 'MARTIN, I THINK WE OUGHTA PUBLISH THIS BOOK 'WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE COMICS CODE.' STAN SAID, 'MEH. TO HELL WITH THE COMICS CODE. I JUST WON'T PUT IT ON THE BOOK.' WHAT WAS SO REVOLUTIONARY ABOUT MARVEL WAS THEY WEREN'T TRYING TO BE REVOLUTIONARY. THEY WERE JUST, 'THIS IS WHAT'S HAPPENING.' I REMEMBER, LIKE, THIS GREAT COVER OF CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE FALCON RUNNING THROUGH THE STREETS OF HARLEM AS IT BURNED, AND CAPTAIN AMERICA IS ANGRY. I LOVED THAT THE CHARACTER BECOMES ALMOST, LIKE, THE SPIRITUAL EMBODIMENT OF WHAT THE COUNTRY FEELS. LIKE, IF THE COUNTRY'S ANGRY, HE GETS ANGRY. WHEN WE HAD THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, WE HAD STORIES ABOUT 'WHAT IF MISSILES WERE UNLEASHED IN THE COUNTRY, 'AND WHAT WOULD WE DO?' THERE WAS RACIAL EQUALITY. THERE WAS WOMEN'S EQUALITY, AND MARVEL WAS VERY GOOD ABOUT THE IDEA OF DOING WOMEN SUPERHEROES, THE IDEA OF DOING A BLACK SUPERHERO. I GREW UP IN JACKSON HEIGHTS. I'M OF CUBAN DESCENT. I'M A FIRST-GENERATION BORN HERE IN THE UNITED STATES. I REMEMBER PICKING UP THE FANTASTIC FOUR AND SEEING A CHARACTER CALLED THE BLACK PANTHER. HE WAS THE FIRST BLACK SUPERHERO. IT WASN'T NECESSARILY ABOUT SKIN COLOUR AND BEING A MINORITY, BUT IT WAS ABOUT, SORT OF, EMBRACING THE DIFFERENCES THAT EVERYONE HAS. THE X-MEN, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS, FOR ME, VERY IMPACTFUL BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT IT WAS A METAPHOR FOR, SORT OF, BEING A MINORITY AND BEING DIFFERENT. MARVEL HAS DONE SUCH A GOOD JOB OF BEING ABLE TO, SORT OF, REFLECT THE DIVERSITY OF WHAT'S EXISTING IN THE WORLD. THAT REALLY MADE MARVEL COMICS DIFFERENT FROM ALL THE OTHER COMICS AND MADE IT SUCH A` ALMOST A ROCK-AND-ROLL EXPLOSION. I LEARNT ABOUT STAN LEE RIGHT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, AND NOT ABOUT STAN BUT ABOUT JACK KING KIRBY AND JAZZY JOHN ROMITA. I MADE A DRAWING FOR STAN LEE WHEN I WAS 7 YEARS OLD. THERE HE IS ` MANLY STAN LEE. I SHOWED THIS TO STAN. HE WAS, UM... I THINK 'DISTURBED' IS THE WORD. THERE WAS THE REMARKABLE 'STAN'S SOAPBOX', WHERE STAN WOULD TELL YOU ABOUT THE GOINGS ON AT MARVEL, AND YOU WOULD FEEL AS THOUGH HE WAS WRITING SOLELY TO YOU. THE UNIQUE THING ABOUT THIS WAS THAT THE KID RIGHT NEXT TO YOU ` HE WAS READING THE SOAPBOX, AND HE WAS FEELING THE EXACT SAME THING. FOR OVER 30 YEARS, MARTIN GOODMAN MANAGED TO NOT ONLY ENTERTAIN, BUT ALSO GUIDE AMERICANS THROUGH SOME OF THE HAPPIEST AND DARKEST DAYS OF THEIR LIFE. HE WAS READY TO RETIRE AS PUBLISHER OF MARVEL IN 1972, BUT BEFORE DOING SO, HE HAD ONE LAST DUTY ` TO NAME A SUCCESSOR. THE MAN WAS NOW IN CHARGE. MARVEL CONTINUED TO GROW RAPIDLY THROUGHOUT THE 1970S, AND STAN LEE APPOINTED THE FORWARD-THINKING STORY EDITOR JIM SHOOTER AS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF IN 1978 TO SHEPHERD MARVEL INTO THE NEXT DECADE. DISCO MUSIC COME 1970S, THE INDUSTRY WAS JUST FILLED WITH YOUNG KIDS LIKE ME BECAUSE ALL THE OLDER GUYS WERE RETIRING AND GOING OFF TO FLORIDA. I DID MY FIRST WORK FOR MARVEL IN THE EARLY '70S. I WAS ABOUT 16, 17 YEARS OLD. MARVEL WAS GROWING. (MAN) ARCHIVE: STAN LEE AND ARCHIE GOODWIN ARE WORKING OUT THE SHTICK. THEY WERE GOING FROM, LIKE, SIX BOOKS A MONTH TO ABOUT 23, SO, QUITE FRANKLY, THEY WERE HIRING ANYBODY WHO'D COME ACROSS THE STATE LINE AND COULD HOLD A PENCIL. IT WAS AN AMAZING, WEIRD PLACE. (LAUGHS) THERE WERE DAYS WE WOULD DO THINGS WHERE WE'D PROBABLY BE ARRESTED IF WE TRIED DOING THEM NOW. YOU KNOW, IT WAS LIKE WE WERE JUST HAVING FUN AND THEY WERE WILLING TO SEE WHAT WOULD WORK. THERE WAS ALL` EVERYTHING WAS EXPANDING. THE PUNISHER CAME OUT OF A VERY DARK PERIOD IN AMERICAN HISTORY. THANOS IS MY BABY. HE'S THE FIRST CHARACTER I EVER CREATED. THEY OFFERED ME A MONTHLY BOOK ` UH, IRON FIST. WHEN MARVEL EXPANDED THE NUMBER OF TITLES WENT FROM AROUND A DOZEN TO 50, STAN WAS DOING EVERYTHING. JIM SHOOTER HAD BEEN ONE OF THE YOUNGEST GUYS IN COMICS. I THINK HE WAS WRITING THEM WHEN HE WAS 13 YEARS OLD. AND I WAS LOOKING FOR AN ASSISTANT EDITOR, AND I HIRED HIM. FIRST OF ALL, I RAISED THE RATES ` DOUBLED THEM ` AND WAS ABLE TO GET AWAY WITH THIS BECAUSE WE STARTED SELLING SOME BOOKS. DRAMATIC MUSIC THAT GOES PARALLEL WITH THE RADICAL SHIFT IN DISTRIBUTION FOR COMICS THAT HAPPEN WHEN COMICS STARTED BEING SOLD DIRECTLY TO HOBBY SHOPS. THE FIRST TIME I HEARD OF A COMIC-BOOK CONVENTION WAS YEARS AND YEARS AGO, AND IT JUST GREW AND IT GREW AND IT GREW. < HOW MANY COMIC BOOKS DO YOU HAVE NOW? WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO WITH THEM? KEEP 'EM. UNTIL I` UNTIL THEY GET, LIKE` WORTH A LOT OF MONEY. THE STORIES IN THE CONVENTIONS REPRESENTED SOMETHING THAT WAS IN SOME WAYS AN EXTENSION OF WHAT YOU SAW COME OUT OF STAN. THEY WERE THE CHATROOMS, YOU KNOW. IT WASN'T COOL TO PULL A COMIC BOOK OUT OF YOUR BAG AND READ IT IN THE LUNCH ROOM. THERE WAS A COMIC-BOOK STORE IN MY NEIGHBOURHOOD. THAT BECAME MY FAVOURITE PLACE TO BE. THAT BECAME MY COMMUNITY. AS A RESULT, WE GOT, SORT OF, THE MOST CREATIVE PERIOD OUT OF MARVEL, SHORT OF WHEN JACK AND STAN STARTED THE WHOLE THING. THERE WAS NOTHING REALLY THAT MARVEL WOULDN'T DO. ACTION MUSIC WELL, IT WASN'T SO MUCH THAT HOLLYWOOD CAME CALLING, THAT WE WERE KNOCKING ON EVERY DOOR IN HOLLYWOOD. WE STARTED OUT SEVERAL TIMES ON PROMISING PROJECTS, AND THEY, FOR ONE REASON OR OTHER, DIDN'T WORK OUT. WE DID A LOT OF CARTOONS, AND THEY HAD THE HULK, AND THEY HAD IRON MAN. THEY EVEN HAD THEME SONGS LIKE 'HE'S A HULKY KIND OF SULKY KIND OF BULKY SUPERHERO'. THAT TERRIBLE SPIDER-MAN SHOW. A GUY ` HIS HAIR WAS VERY '70S. THE TV PEOPLE HAD DECIDED TO 'IMPROVE' ON THE PRODUCT. AND UNFORTUNATELY, THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE SPECIAL EFFECTS ABILITY THAT THEY HAVE TODAY. I REMEMBER THERE WAS A CAPTAIN AMERICA MOVIE, AND WE WERE PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT IT. AND THEN THEY SENT US A VIDEOTAPE. IT WAS SO DISAPPOINTING. IT WAS SO AWFUL. I DON'T THINK THERE WAS ANYBODY WHO MADE ANY OF THOSE MOVIES WHO WANTED TO DO, LIKE, A REALLY COOL COMIC-BOOK MOVIE. THE BEST THING THAT HAPPENED WAS WE GOT THE HULK ON TV. DRAMATIC MUSIC THUNDER CRACKS AS A 40, 50-YEAR-OLD MAN, YOU LOOK AT SOME OF THE STUFF AND GO, 'WHAT?' BILL BIXBY, SORT OF, PUT THOSE CONTACTS ON, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE, SORT OF, BAD WIG CAME ON THERE. WHEN YOU ARE 8 YEARS OLD, WHICH IS WHAT I WAS WATCHING IT, IT WAS MAGIC. DRAMATIC MUSIC AS THE 1970S COMES TO A CLOSE, CONVENTIONS CAME TO LIFE, AND RETAIL STORES BEGAN POPPING UP ACROSS THE COUNTRY, SELLING NOT ONLY NEW ISSUES OF COMIC BOOKS, BUT ALSO BACK ISSUES AND COLLECTIBLES. SHOOTER USHERED MARVEL RIGHT INTO THE FAST-GROWING DIRECT MARKET AND INTO THE NEXT DECADE. THE 1980S WERE A VERY INTERESTING TIME, BECAUSE WHAT YOU SAW WAS THE EMERGENCE OF THE ANTIHERO, UH, PIONEERED BY A NUMBER OF VERY FAMOUS SEMINAL COMIC-BOOK CREATORS ` ALLAN MOORE, FRANK MILLER. AND CHRIS CLAREMONT AND JOHN BURNS AND WALT SIMONSON. SUDDENLY YOU HAD A BUNCH OF PEOPLE RAISED ON ALL THOSE WONDERFUL COMICS OLD ENOUGH TO WRITE THOSE COMICS, AND THEY STARTED WRITING GRITTY, GRAPHIC, WONDERFULLY GROWN UP MARVEL COMICS. THEN YOU BRING IN AN ARTIST LIKE JIM LEE, ROB LIEFELD. AND IT WAS VERY POPULAR. WHAT WAS HAPPENING WAS THAT CHARACTERS LIKE THE PUNISHER AND WOLVERINE WERE JUST SUPER POPULAR, NOT BECAUSE THERE WAS A DEGRADATION IN SOCIETY` COS I JUST THINK` I GOTTA TELL YOU THAT I'M 7, 8, 9, 10 YEARS OLD, AND I'VE GOT A GUY THAT'S GONNA GO OUT THERE AND KICK SOME A? THAT GUY'S COOL TO ME. THE COMICS, YOU KNOW, TOOK ANOTHER SHIFT. AS WE GO INTO THE '80S, IT WAS ANOTHER LEVEL OF REALISM. I REMEMBER THERE WAS A LOT OF REACTION ABOUT, 'IT'S GETTING TOO DARK.' A LOT OF THE FLAK WAS GREAT FLAK. I MEAN, YOU HAD THREE BOOKS WITHIN A YEAR. GRAPHIC NOVELS MADE THE NEW YORK TIMES' BESTSELLER LIST FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. IT WAS A TIME WHEN THE INDUSTRY WAS REALLY BOOMING. THE DIRECT MARKET WAS BUYING MORE AND MORE OF EVERYTHING. THIS WAS AN ERA OF REDISCOVERY OF COMICS, WITH THE ARTIST AS ROCKSTAR. EVERY IMPORTANT THAT WAS HAPPENING IN ILLUSTRATION WAS HAPPENING IN COMICS. IT'S ALSO MARVEL'S MOST FINANCIALLY EFFECTIVE PERIOD. MARVEL FINALLY SURPASSED DC IN SALES. GOD, I HAD A PIECE OF MARVEL STOCK, AND SO I WAS, 'YES! OH MY GOD!' AND THEN SUDDENLY IT WAS WORTHLESS. THEY'RE GOING BANKRUPT. CRASH! WE UNDERSTAND OUR CHARACTERS AND THE KINDS OF STORIES THAT WE DO BETTER SOMBRE MUSIC THE REAL RUMOURS OF BANKRUPTCY STARTED IN THE '80S AND '90S. THEIR CHARACTERS WERE DOING VERY VERY WELL, BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG AT THE BUSINESS END. HOW DO YOU GO BANKRUPT WHEN YOU HAVE SPIDER-MAN? YOU KNOW, HOW DO YOU GO BANKRUPT WHEN YOU HAVE CAPTAIN AMERICA? THE GUYS IN CHARGE AT THAT POINT CAME TO ME AND SAID, 'SPIDER-MAN WILL ALWAYS SELL, 'THUS YOU'RE EXPENDABLE, OTHER PEOPLE ARE EXPANDABLE,' AND BOOM. STAN HAD, YOU KNOW, ALWAYS MADE THIS PICTURE ` THE BULLPEN IS ROCKING AND ROLLING, AND WHEN I SHOWED UP AT THE BULLPEN, THE LIGHTS WERE OFF, AND THE FILING CABINETS WERE PILED UP IN THE CORNER. AND THEY WERE SELLING THEM FOR MONEY. THERE WAS A SENSE, LIKE, 'UH-OH. AM I WRITING THE LAST MARVEL COMIC?' ALL IT DID IS HELP CEMENT THE ANGER I HAD TOWARDS THE PEOPLE WHO BASICALLY RUINED THE COMPANY THAT I HAD LOVED TO WORK FOR. IF YOU WENT INTO COMPLETE BANKRUPTCY, THEN THE ASSETS WOULD BE THE PIECES. AND PEOPLE GET PAID BACKWARDS, SO WOULD SOMEONE BUY SPIDER-MAN AND NOT BUY THE AVENGERS? THE CHARACTERS WOULD HAVE SURVIVED. THEM SURVIVING TOGETHER WAS A DIFFERENT QUESTION. SOMBRE MUSIC YOU KNOW, IT'S ONLY WHEN THE HERO'S AT HIS LOWEST CAN HE ACTUALLY BECOME THE GREATEST. THAT, TO ME, IS THE GREATEST SUPERHERO STORY OF ALL TIME. THERE WAS A CHANCE THAT THE LIGHTS WERE GOING TO GO OUT. THE PEOPLE AT MARVEL, HOWEVER, DECIDED THAT THAT WASN'T THE CASE. ROUND THE YEAR 2000, MARVEL THEN HIRED ME TO BECOME EDITOR-IN-CHIEF. JOE WAS AN ARTIST, UM, AND IN MANY WAYS, A VISIONARY. TRULY ALMOST LIKE THE SPIRITUAL EMBODIMENT OF STAN LEE. I HAVE A REPUTATION FOR BEING, UH, ETERNALLY OPTIMISTIC. WE LOVE THESE CHARACTERS; WE LOVE OUR ART FORM; AND WE WANTED JUST TO FOLLOW JOE INTO THE LIGHT. JOE IS THE REAL DEAL BECAUSE HE'S A BUSINESSMAN, AND HE'S A WRITER, AND HE'S AN EDITOR. BUT HE CAN ALSO SIT DOWN AND DRAW. WE'D FORGOTTEN WHAT GOT US TO WHERE WE WERE. THE GOAL WAS TO GET BACK TO THOSE ROOTS; TO GET BACK TO THE THINGS THAT MADE MARVEL GREAT. THE EASY PART ABOUT IT WAS SOMEBODY HAD ALREADY WRITTEN THE RULE BOOK. JUST GO BACK TO THE TYPE OF STAN, JACK, STEVE. LOOK AT WHAT WENT ON HERE. MARVEL HAD BEEN MARVEL ` YOU KNOW, CREATIVE FREEDOM; FUN. STAN WOULD LOOK OUT HIS WINDOW AND SEE THE REAL WORLD. JACK WOULD LOOK OUT HIS WINDOW AND SEE THE REAL WORLD. WE DECIDED, 'YOU KNOW WHAT? WE'RE GONNA WRITE ABOUT OUR WORLD.' IT WAS SHORTLY AFTER 9/11, AND ONE OF THE MOST PERVASIVE DEBATES OF THE TIME WAS 'EXACTLY HOW MUCH OF YOUR LIBERTY ARE YOU WILLING TO GIVE UP FOR MORE SAFETY?' AND WE DECIDED TO TACKLE THAT ISSUE HEAD-ON IN A COMIC BOOK CALLED 'CIVIL WAR'. THEY GAVE ME 'DAREDEVIL', AND THEN, LIKE, THE NEXT WEEKEND, CALLED ME UP AND SAID, 'HEY, WE'RE THINKING ABOUT STARTING SPIDER-MAN OVER FROM SCRATCH. 'IS THAT SOMETHING YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN?' SOME GREAT STORYTELLING WAS HAPPENING AT THAT TIME. WE WERE ALWAYS EXPANDING. I MEAN, STAN HAD STARTED IT, BUT IT WAS ALWAYS, LIKE, 'HERE'S WHERE WE ARE. WHERE CAN WE GO NEXT?' OUT OF THE ASHES OF THE BANKRUPTCY CAME A COMPANY THAT WAS MUCH STRONGER AND MUCH MORE ABLE TO THINK ABOUT ITSELF AS BEYOND A COMIC-BOOK-PUBLISHING COMPANY. UP UNTIL 2004, 2005, THE WAY MOVIES WERE MADE ` MARVEL MOVIES ` WERE YOU WOULD OPTION A PARTICULAR CHARACTER OR A PARTICULAR TITLE TO SOME OTHER PRODUCTION COMPANY. YOU HAVE TO GIVE ALL THE CREDIT TO ALAN FINE. WE ALWAYS BELIEVED IN THE TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL OF THE MARVEL BRAND. ALAN WOULD COME TO OUR PUBLISHING SUMMONS. WE'D GET TOGETHER ABOUT TWICE A YEAR, UH, WITH ALL OUR KEY WRITERS AND EDITORS AND, YOU KNOW, BRAINSTORM AND TALK ABOUT WHAT WE WANTED TO DO TO THE BOOKS FOR THE NEXT YEAR, 18 MONTHS. ALAN WAS FASCINATED BY IT. HE THOUGHT IT WAS A GREAT WAY TO WORK AS A CREATIVE COMPANY, AND HE THOUGHT THAT MAYBE THIS WAS A GOOD WAY TO START APPLYING THE WAY THAT WE COME UP WITH NOT JUST IDEAS FOR COMIC BOOKS, BUT FOR EVERYTHING ELSE. CREATIVELY. MARVEL DECIDED WE WERE GOING TO TAKE THE LEAP. WE WERE GOING TO MAKE OUR OWN MOVIES. MARVEL FINANCED THEIR OWN MOVIE, AND THE RISK THEY TOOK WAS IRON MAN. THAT'S THE FIRST MOVIE FROM MARVEL STUDIOS. MARVEL CALLED IN EVERYONE THEY THOUGHT WAS AN EXPERT ON THE CHARACTER ON SOME LEVEL. THEY FLEW US OUT TO THE AIRPLANE HANGAR THEY WERE MAKING IRON MAN IN, AND THEY SAT WITH JON FAVREAU AND JUST WENT THROUGH THE WHOLE THING. IT WAS OUR FIRST MOVIE, SO WE DID NOT KNOW WHAT IT WOULD DO AT THAT POINT. PEOPLE DOUBTED US. YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE THE HEADLINE, LIKE, 'MARVEL ROLLS OUT THE B TEAM'. ALL THEY HAVE LEFT IS THE DREGS OF THEIR CATALOGUE. THIS IS CLEARLY NEVER GONNA WORK OUT. IRON MAN IS LIKE A LOWER-TIER MARVEL CHARACTER. TONY STARK? WHO CARES. ROBERT DOWNEY JR AND IRON MAN IN 2008 ` BOTH WERE VERY RISKY. IF IRON MAN DON'T WORK, IT ALL MAY FALL APART. I KEPT TELLING PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, 'WATCH OUT.' MARVEL HAD TAKEN ITS BIGGEST GAMBLE YET IN BRINGING THE STORY OF TONY STARK TO THE SILVER SCREEN. AND THE BIG QUESTION ON EVERYONE'S MIND WAS 'WOULD IRON MAN FLY AT THE BOX OFFICE?' ACTION MUSIC AT COMIC-CON, WHEN WE FIRST SHOWED IRON MAN, THE PLACE ERUPTED IN APPLAUSE. THE BUZZ TRAVELLED OUTSIDE THE CONVENTION CENTRE DIRECTLY ONLINE. I THINK PEOPLE KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO BE SOMETHING BIG. ACTION MUSIC I COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW WONDERFUL IT WAS. THEY UNDERSTOOD THE SENSIBILITIES. THEY CAUGHT THE SPIRIT OF IT. HERE WAS A REPRESENTATION OF IRON MAN, AND HE LOOKED LIKE IRON MAN. ALL THE ICONOGRAPHY THAT YOU RECOGNISED ` THEY MADE IT LOOK LIKE IT EXISTS IN THIS WORLD. THE CHARACTER OF TONY STARK, PLAYED BY ROBERT DOWNEY JR, IS AS ICONIC AS THE RED-AND-GOLD ARMOUR ITSELF. IT WAS THE RIGHT FILM AT THE RIGHT TIME. IT WAS BIGGER THAN ANYBODY EXPECTED. BIGGER, I THINK, THAN WE EXPECTED. FROM THERE, IT WAS JUST ONE SUCCESS AFTER ANOTHER. WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT MARVEL IS THE IDEA OF THE UNIVERSE. KIDS TODAY ARE WEARING THOR AND CAP AND SPIDER-MAN OUT IN THE OPEN WITHOUT FEAR OF PERSECUTION. WHAT IT SHOWS YOU IS THE DRAW OF MARVEL. THEY'VE PULLED IT OFF! ACTION MUSIC WE WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH WITH THE SUCCESS OF IRON MAN TO HAVE MANY OPTIONS. ONE OF THOSE WAS THE SALE TO DISNEY. THEY INSTANTLY PUT MARVEL ON A GLOBAL STAGE. IT HAS GIVEN US MUSCLE THAT WE ONLY DREAMED OF HAVING. THEY'RE STORYTELLERS. THAT'S WHAT WE DO TOO. AND THAT COMMONALITY HAS ENABLED MARVEL TO THRIVE. WE DO SOMETHING THAT THEY DON'T HAVE. DISNEY HAD PRINCESSES GALORE. BUT DISNEY NEVER HAD A BOY THING. NOW THANKS TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE, THEY CAN, LIKE, GO INTO THE WORLD OF SUPERHEROES. ADD DISNEY TO MARVEL ` YOU HAVE A COMPANY THAT NOBODY CAN BEAT. IT STARTS WITH THE COMICS. IT ALWAYS HAS, AND I THINK IT ALWAYS WILL. WE'VE JUST TAPPED INTO THE FEMALE MARKET. IT'S EXPLODED IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. I THINK THE FEMALE MARKET IS JUST ALSO REALLY PROUD TO BE COMIC-BOOK FANS. SECRET WARS IS A HUGE EVENT BEING CARRIED ACROSS MULTIPLE PLATFORMS, WITH GAME-CHANGING RAMIFICATIONS. THEY CAN DO NO WRONG, SO I'M READY FOR ANT MAN. ROCK MUSIC I'M REALLY EXCITED TO SEE THE NEW AVENGERS. ROCK MUSIC WHAT'S GOING ON AT MARVEL TELEVISION? WE WENT TO NETFLIX, AND WE BROUGHT THEM DAREDEVIL, JESSICA JONES, IRON FIST, LUKE CAGE ` WHAT ARE AFFECTIONATELY REFERRED TO IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE AS THE 'STREET-LEVEL HEROES'. TURNING THAT INTO THE DEFENDERS ON NETFLIX ` LIKE, THAT'S A COMIC-BOOK FAN'S DREAM COME TRUE. THEN WE HAVE MARVEL ANIMATION ` TAKES YOU ON AN ADVENTURE UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE THAT'S OUT THERE. REALLY ALLOWS FOR YOUR IMAGINATION TO RUN WILD. IT'S JUST... MAGICAL. OF COURSE, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D... TRYING TO BRING WHAT'S MAGICAL ABOUT MARVEL TO TV. VERY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT WE'RE STARTING TO DO IN THIS SECOND SEASON. HAYLEY ATWELL IS A TREMENDOUS ASSET THAT WE HAD, SO WE DECIDED TO MAKE A TELEVISION SHOW ABOUT AGENT CARTER. THERE'S A LOT OF SUPPORT FOR PEGGY. THERE HAS BEEN SINCE THE FIRST CAPTAIN AMERICA FILM, AND IT'S BECAUSE OF THE FANS' INTEREST IN HER THAT I'M STANDING HERE. AS FOR THE FUTURE, WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING FOR OVER 75 YEARS ` TO TELL GOOD STORIES ABOUT EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE DOING INCREDIBLE THINGS AGAINST ENORMOUS ODDS. THAT KIND OF DESCRIBES THE MARVEL STORY AS WELL. WE NEVER CAN STOP. WE NEED TO CONSTANTLY MOVE FORWARD. NO GUTS, NO GLORY. EVERYTHING THAT THEY DO BRINGS PEOPLE ENTERTAINMENT, ENJOYMENT. GIANT EPIC POP CULTURE MYTHOLOGY THAT MANY OF US GREW UP ON, AND NOW NEW PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THEY GREW UP ON. THE MARVEL UNIVERSE CONQUERED THE PLANET. WE'RE TAKING YOU ON A ROLLER COASTER. THAT'S WHAT MARVEL IS. DRAMATIC MUSIC IT'S EASY TO IMAGINE THAT MARVEL'S FUTURE WILL BE AS SUCCESSFUL, BRIGHT AND RICH AS ITS UNPARALLELED HISTORY. AND NOW FOR WHAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR ` HERE IS A SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN FOOTAGE FROM MARVEL'S 'AGENT CARTER'. WHERE ARE YOU HEADED? SOME OF MY BABIES HAVE ALREADY SOLD OVERSEAS. I'M GONNA PAY THEM A VISIT. THE REST OF THEM ARE HERE SOMEWHERE, WHICH IS WHERE YOU COME IN. WORD IS, ONE OF THE NASTY ONES IS HITTING THE MARKET IN THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT? JUST A PIECE OF PAPER ` MY FORMULA FOR MOLECULAR NITROAMINE. TECHNICALLY, WE'RE NOT EVEN SURE IT WORKS, BUT... WELL, LET'S FACE IT, INVENTED IT, SO IT WORKS. IF THAT STUFF WERE EVER FABRICATED,... IF THAT STUFF WERE EVER FABRICATED,... ...BOOM. THIS MUCH... WOULD LEVEL A CITY BLOCK. I'M GOING TO REGRET THIS, AREN'T I? I'M GOING TO REGRET THIS, AREN'T I? ABSOLUTELY. WHEN YOU'RE NOT HUMILIATING HIM, THAT FELLOW UP THERE'S MY BUTLER ` EDWIN JARVIS. I OWE YOU ONE, PAL. CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC THERE ARE ONLY A DOZEN FENCES THAT CAN HANDLE SOMETHING THIS HOT. YOU'VE JUST GOTTA LEARN WHICH ONE. AND I FIGURED YOU'LL NEVER HAVE ANY TROUBLE FINDING A MAN. AND I FIGURED YOU'LL NEVER HAVE ANY TROUBLE FINDING A MAN. THE TRICK IS FINDING THE RIGHT ONE. ENGINE RUMBLES NICE TO SEE YOU TOO, HOWARD. THE NEXT TIME YOU APPROACH A WOMAN IN A DARK ALLEY, YOU MIGHT INTRODUCE YOURSELF. I SURE WILL ENDEAVOUR TO REMEMBER THAT,... PROVIDED MY CONCUSSION ISN'T TOO SEVERE. SHOULD YOU NEED ME. SHOULD YOU NEED ME. YOU'RE NEW TO ESPIONAGE, AREN'T YOU? SHOULD YOU NEED ME. YOU'RE NEW TO ESPIONAGE, AREN'T YOU? FAR FROM IT. LAST SUMMER I CAUGHT THE COOK POCKETING THE GOOD SPOONS. WHAT NOW, MS CARTER? WHAT NOW, MS CARTER? NOW I GO TO WORK. MARVEL HAS EVOLVED BEYOND JUST A BRAND, AS EVIDENCED BY OUR LOVE FOR THE CHARACTERS THAT NOT ONLY ENTERTAIN US BUT LIVE WITHIN US. THANK YOU FOR TAKING THIS JOURNEY WITH US, AND GOODNIGHT. CAPTIONS BY JUNE YEOW. WWW.ABLE.CO.NZ CAPTIONS WERE MADE POSSIBLE WITH FUNDING FROM NZ ON AIR. COPYRIGHT ABLE 2014