Sony Could Have Bought Marvel's Entire Roster for $25 Million in 1998
"In 1998, a young Sony Pictures executive named Yair Landau was tasked with securing the theatrical screen rights to Spider-Man. His company had DVD rights to the web slinger but needed the rest in order to make a movie."
Marvel Entertainment, then only a famed name in the comic-book world, had just begun trying to make film deals. The company was fresh out of bankruptcy and desperate for cash, so its new chief, Ike Perlmutter, responded with a more audacious offer. Sony, he countered, could have the movie rights to nearly every Marvel character—Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Black Panther and more—for $25 million.
Mr. Landau took the offer back to his bosses at Sony, whose response was quick and decisive, he recalled in an interview: "Nobody gives a sh—about any of the other Marvel characters. Go back and do a deal for only Spider-Man."
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