[Chapter 38. An Assembly of Marvelous Creators (II).]
Last Time on Chapter 37 of [From Shadows To The Spotlight] —
"And that is assuming that there are no delays like the writers or actors strikes or freaking re-casts due to scandals or unfortunate actor deaths or critical injuries or, god forbid, a pandemic that just shuts everything down."
Alex laid down all the possibilities of things that could go wrong and the colour kept leaving people's face as the list went on.
"Dream?" Alex chuckled with a forlorn look. "This sounds more like a nightmare."
"At least that's.. what I told my friend, the one with whom I thought of the idea for the MCU."
Alex closed his eyes, he took a deep breath, and exhaled through his nose to center himself in a moment of silence as Michael's face flashed in his mind's eye.
Now Continuing —
The members of the different groups present exchanged glances, their curiosity piqued. Alex rarely ever spoke so much, except for maybe when he was on set working.
He was a man of few words, who rarely made idle remarks or chit chat. His words had always been like carefully arranged chess pieces, hinting at moves that had yet to come.
After a brief silence Alex spoke again with exuberance and a fond smile as he clapped his hands together to get their attention.
"Now, considering 30 years is all we got, the only way we can possibly hit our target is by raising the numbers of movies and TV shows Marvel Studios can produce in a year."
"Sir?" A person from the back asked.
"Yes?" Alex asked back trying to see who it was but the room was shrouded in darkness.
And with him switching back and forth between the brightly lit screen to the dark room his eyes hadn't gotten the opportunity to properly adjust to the dark.
"Is th-this the reason why we've got so many permanently hired crews wo-working on multiple projects?"
Alex finally recognized the voice, it was Martin, one of his ace producers, and seeing him ask questions in public unprompted just filled him with pride considering his condition.
"Yep, I've been scouting the industry for the best talent for over a decade now and you all present here are what I've got to show for it."
The people present couldn't help but felt a sense of pride as after over a decade of searching they were ones to be selected to spearhead this monumental project.
"But back to the topic at hand, we need to raise productivity and that needs to accomplished without sacrificing the quality of the movies we produce."
"Now, how do we do that? Anyone?" He asked looking around keenly interested to see if anyone would answer the obvious.
"You'd need to delegate the decision making power." It was Kevin Feige who spoke again, speaking more freely now.
"Correct. But that is a half baked answer." Alex spoke sharply with a grin as began unraveling his plan.
"Before we delegate, we need to first train and test our viable candidates who would earn this delegated power by proving their worth."
"Now, here's the solution that we've settled on. First of all, the stories that will make up the MCU will be divided into categories. And here are the various divisions."
Alex changed over to the next slide that showed various classifications with the first of them grayed out unlike the rest.
Cosmic —Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova, Captain Marvel, Ronan, Vulcan, Adam Warlock, etc.
Mutant — X-Men, Brotherhood, Hellfire Club, Sentinels, Mr. Sinister, etc.
Street — Spider-Man, Daredevil, Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, etc.
Avengers — Ironman, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Ant-Man, Wasp, Black Widow, Hawk-Eye, etc.
Spotlight — Marvel Origins: Widow, No. 8, Nine Lives, Storm, Peter Parker: A Tangled Life, S.H.I.E.L.D, etc.
Supernatural — Ghost Rider, Dr. Strange, Blade, Werewolf by Night, Swamp Thing, Moonknight, etc.
"Ignore the cosmic section, it's grayed out because it won't come into play until Phase 1 is completed." Alex explained while telling them how things were going to play out.
"Now, I'll be naming a few of you that will in-charge of leading projects from the active sections. Basically you will choose the section and I will assign you a movie that you'll serve as the producer of and see it to its completion."
All the producers present felt their hearts skip a beat in excitement over Alex's statement.
They couldn't believe their ears, though none of the people present there questioned whether Alex was serious or if he was going too far by thinking too far off into the future or worrying over nothing.
Most of the people present in that room had been working with or for Alex for years now and had come to instinctively trust and follow Alex's lead.
"Also, if you do have a specific movie you really want to produce then you can mention that as well. But I'm not making any promises that you'll get them though."
"Ethan Taylor." After a few seconds of silence to let them digest that bit of information, Alex called the first name from his list of ace producers.
These were people with whom he had worked alongside on set and in the studio for the past decade. To say that he knew these people almost better than themselves wouldn't be an exaggeration.
After all he had all them vetted and approved by the Jackal himself. While a few bad apples still remained in his group none of them were present in the room, these people were actually spies and fed information to the rival studios.
Though unaware to them Alex was actually in the know and sparingly used them to feed false information to the Six.
He had yet to make any big moves as he knew that the moment he did, he would outst himself as being in the know and burn these spies and would then have to be extra vigilant to find any new ones sent over by his rivals.
"Sir!" A young man in his thirties stood up upon hearing his name called out. He had a sturdy build, while his eye's had a gleam of confidence and determination.
"So, which category would you like to choose?" Alex asked with a knowing smile, as he knew that Ethan was a Captain America fanboy.
"I've always been a fan of Captain America as I grew up reading his comics. I would like to pick the Avengers section and if possible please give me the chance to produce the first Captain America movie."
He made his request earnestly with a hopeful smile and Alex couldn't help but want to agree to his request but he remained steadfast and said, "I'll think about it. Have a seat."
"Next up, Martin Larsen." He called out looking at the man in question.
The bespectacled man pointed to himself nervously as if asking Alex if he really meant him when he called out the name. Alex nodded to him with a reassuring smile, as he gestured for him to get up.
While the man might look harmless and diminutive at first glance, he was actually one of the backbones of MONARCH. Martin was incredibly talented at logistics and managing the burgeoning human resources of their Studio.
Sadly, the man suffered from anxiety and had panic attacks if he was put on the stop and forced to interact with obnoxious people that had no sense of personal space.
He was getting better at public speaking and Alex was proud to see the improvement. A few years ago even standing in a room full of dozens of people, mostly strangers, would've made Martin have a panic attack.
But now he looked like he was doing just fine, with only a few stutters here and there.
"I.. would like to try my hand." Despite his murmuring not a single person looked at him as any lesser or with pity, for they knew just how much Alex disliked bullies and assholes.
"..at Spotlight. It says.. that it delves into the untold stories of Marvel's heroes?" He asked, questioning to confirm if he had read correctly.
Alex nodded in confirmation.
"I would like t-to try my hand at that." The man spoke softly but the conviction in his voice spoke volumes.
"Great pick, though I hope you're okay with mostly doing TV projects?" Martin just shook his head showing that he didn't care if it was a TV or movie project.
"Good, so do you have any project in mind?" Alex asked again, though his main intent was to keep him talking as it serves as exposure therapy.
"I-" He went to speak, but shook his head in the end and fell silent.
"Are you fine with taking over the Peter Parker TV show?" Alex asked hopefully as it will be a nightmare of a project to pull off and he didn't want anyone but his best man for the job.
He nodded and softly replied with a yes.
"Sir!" It was a familiar face that spoke up again not that he minded.
"Yes, Kevin?" He asked patiently.
"Wouldn't making a Peter Parker TV show dilute the novelty of the character? Also not everyone who watches our movies also subscribes to Royal TV, wouldn't it cause people that don't see it to miss out on context and backstory?"
"Great point. You'd be right if we wrote Peter Parker's story without thinking about what's to come next. But thankfully we've got a roster of some of the most talented writers in Hollywood and beloved comic book storylines to fall back on."
"I think we'll be just fine." Seeing how quite a few faces still looked curious as to how they might pull it off. Alex decided to give them a straight answer.
"But to answer your question. The TV show would focus more on Peter Parker rather than Spider-Man, his changing relationships due to his burden."
"It will show the viewers how his hopes and dreams are slowly being crushed under the weight of the responsibility of being a hero."
"It will give the viewers a glimpse of his struggles while trying to juggle his responsibilities as both Spider-Man and Peter Parker."
"These are more nuanced stories that movies just don't have the time to explore, the TV shows for the MCU are there to give some breathing space to you creatives."
"After all, you can't afford to cram every small development in Peter Parker's life in a 2 hour movie, especially those that don't have much impact on the greater story."
Alex finished his explanation and after seeing the look of understanding and acceptance on the people's faces he was about to move when someone spoke up.
"But sir, won't it be obscenely expensive?" It was Ryan Biggins who spoke up, he was a producer who Alex knew would be asking for Ironman 1 as his assignment.
The man loved the new iteration of the character that they had put out after he had sneakily bought it off through Archmon—a shell company of his operated by a friend.
His questions didn't end there as he quickly fired off two more. "Especially after the first or second movie that establishes the popularity of the character. Will they even agree to do TV shows?"
"Will the studio pay the movie actors millions of dollars per episode just to cast them for shows that only a fraction of our movie going audience might watch?"
"Alex, can I chime in?" It was Jeff Billion who spoke this time.
He was one of Alex's most trusted casting directors and he was privy to the new contracts that they would be offering to the actors to ensure that the studio won't be taken advantage of later down the road.
It was a legitimate fear as figures always tend to rise every season and most movie actors didn't want to get involved with TV shows after making their mark because they felt like it devalued their brand.
Though thankfully enough that notion was slowly being turned around as the industry saw the rise of more and more premium TV shows on paid TV networks like HBO and their very own Royal TV.
"Sure," Alex replied with a nod as he took a step and used the moment to observe the room.
"The short answer is that we will be putting a cap on just how much salary an actor can ask for based on the job he is asked to perform, the popularity of their character and a few other criterias."
"I don't think most established actors will agree to such a contract. We–" Ryan spoke again, trying to make his case about how would miss out on a bunch of great actors if they imposed such restrictions regardless of their brand or connections.
"Then I guess we are in luck then, as we are mostly looking for fresh faces and that's something we don't really have a shortage of in Hollywood now do we?" Jeff asked back nonchalantly with a chilling smile that told them he wasn't to be trifled with.
The two were civil with each other most of the time but it was a known fact in the studio that the two didn't see eye to eye with each other.
Thankfully it wasn't anything personal but rather simply because of a difference of opinion when it came to topics like actor compensation and hiring tactics used by the studio.
"Also, Ryan, about the thing where only a fraction of our audience will ever even watch the shows."
"The MCU is not just about making bank, while that's important for sure… Alex cares more about this because it's been a dream of his and now it has become ours."
"People say that we've been stagnating for the past 2 years. It's about time we show the industry and the people of America what MONARCH.. no.. what we stand for."
"We gave them Jurassic Park and The Phantom Menace, I can bet everything I have that the MCU will either break us or put MONARCH on the map." Jeff let out a huff and almost blushed in embarrassment at losing control of his emotions and letting out such an impassioned speech.
"I think that will do it, thanks, Jeff." Alex chimed in with a gracious smile and gestured for him to sit while he said the next name.
But Richard, Alex's mentor wasn't fully paying attention to the talks anymore as something else had grabbed hold of it. It was the script for the TV show that will feature Peter Parker rather than their favourite friendly neighborhood web-crawler.
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Richard adjusted his reading glasses, leaning closer to the script as the story unfolded. The narrative didn't shy away from the complexities of Peter Parker's double life.
It painted a vivid portrait of a young man burdened by his decisions, struggling to hold onto his humanity while the world demanded he be more than human.
The lines were accompanied by storyboards that the writer drew, and the scenes were strikingly intimate and familiar—a quiet breakfast with Aunt May where every word was loaded with unspoken tension.
It then shifted to show a confrontation with his best friend Harry that felt painfully real, and a fleeting moment of happiness with Gwen Stacy, a young woman that shared the kid's interest and love for science.
Richard found himself nodding in approval. This wasn't the Spider-Man he'd thought he would see on the big-screen adaptation, he expected to see him swinging through New York City with quips and punches, fighting villains and saving the damsel in distress.
The cliche that Hollywood's been churning out for the past decade.
But this scene right here was far more intimate and filled with drama and subtle romantic undertones and tension than a rom-com that his wife never grew sick of.
His instincts as an artist told him that Alex was playing a dangerous game, to him it felt like Alex wanted the audiences to fall in love with the character of Gwen Stacy.
But he remembered reading the themes that both Peter's and Spider-Man's story revolved around—Sacrifice, Responsibility & Morality.
He was almost certain now that Alex was going to kill off Gwen Stacy in an emotional moment and that scene would break Peter and change him forever.
— To be Continued...
{2629 words}
{TRL: And here we see the first meeting to develop the MCU. Till things had been hush hush, with people working individually on the projects that Alex had assigned to them. Mostly it was to put together the scripts for the movies and TV shows that will make up the first phase of the MCU.
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