SPOILER: High Profile X-men Character to Die in Upcoming Comic Arc

[Cartographer]

Um maybe you don't understand movie rights. 20th Century Fox bought the rights to make both Fantastic Four and X-Men movies. They own those rights. However there is usually a clause in those contracts that allow the rights to go back to the original owner if the rights holder doesn't utilize them for a certain length of time. So 20th Century Fox has the right to make Wolverine/X-Men films in perpetuity as long as they make them regularly. This is the same reason why Sony is making Spider-Man movies - they own those rights and will in perpetuity as long as they keep making them, which is why they have also adopted a strategy of building off of the Spider-Man franchise with possible Venom or Sinister Six movies.

The likelihood of Disney getting those rights back from 20th Century Fox or Sony is very slim unless they are willing to buy them back and probably give them a piece of the pie moving forward.

So your whole argument that he'll stay dead until they get those rights is very unlikely. In fact by doing this series they are drawing attention to the Wolverine and X-Men brands - which might be a smart move for Marvel/Disney as the upcoming release of the X-Men film does mean more comic sales as well as the fact that they likely get a percentage point on those films too so they would most likely profit if the upcoming X-Men film does well.

As everyone is saying, Wolvie will stay dead for maybe 6 months to a year. It's common strategy to kill a major character off every few years and then bring them back or even retcon their origins a bit. At the end of the day if you blink for a year and pass on this series and aren't an avid current comic book reader you likely won't notice. There's no financial gain in killing off a major fictional character who is popular and bringing in money unless you are going to resurrect them. End of story.

EDIT: Is it really a spoiler that they're killing off Wolverine by the way? I mean it's in the title of the series. I don't think there's a need to spoiler tag it as people will need to buy a comic book titled "The Death of Wolverine" in order to actually see him die anyways.

I understand movie rights quite well thank-you, including the alleged clause in the case of the x-men/wolverine that transfers them back to Marvel/Disney if they aren't used. So it's quite an obvious ploy to have new customers, interested in x-men/wolvie enough to go and seek out a comic in the stores or online, informed that the character is dead but "there are all these other Avengers/Iron-Man/Hulk/GotG characters who are still alive, and in upcoming movies too". Sure, comics are a smaller pool than movie-goers but lots of little attacks on the brand's credibility can and in all likelihood will filter in some form into the general collective conciousness if Marvel/Disney keep at it enough. They've repeatedly shown now that they're willing to take their time and do things the way they want, this may well be part of the opening salvo for Marvel-movies-generation-2, 10 years from now.

Shameless attempt by marvel to get their movie IP back "in house" by killing off the cash cow their competitors have been using to keep hold of the licence.

Can you explain how killing him off in the comics is going to impact the movies in any way? I could see it working the other way around, but comics are niche and X-Men movies are big money. Remember, they made changes to the X-Men comics to fit the movies, not vice vera.

See above.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Eh, forget killing off people like Batman, remember when "they" killed Stephanie Brown?

Mind you, not that long after she was brought back, she was retconned out of existence, which seems an odd way of doing it.

 

[Lieju]

Obviously he will be brought back to life.

It's possible they will be able to tell great stories with his death, but why should I care? Even if it brings major character-development to someone, it won't matter in the long run.

It's not just that death won't stick, it's that the same goes for everything.
So why care?
I mostly bother with the elseworlds-type of stuff these days for Superhero comics.
There you can have a complete story that feels like something happened.

 

[Something Amyss]

See above.

Except that didn't answer me. The problem is, people go into the comic stores because of the movies. You're still making a case for the movie harming the comics, yet presenting it as though the comics will harm the movies.

I doubt many Wolverine fans will actually avoid the movies because he's temporarily dead in the comics, either.

So see above:

Can you explain how killing him off in the comics is going to impact the movies in any way? I could see it working the other way around, but comics are niche and X-Men movies are big money. Remember, they made changes to the X-Men comics to fit the movies, not vice vera.

Because 'First Class' is the worst performing X-men film while 'X2' and 'The Wolverine' are the best performing is why Fox focuses so much on Wolverine.

Where are you getting that? I just checked Box Office Mojo and their numbers say The Wolverine is the worst grossing, behind both Origins and First Class. The same is true of their opening weekends.

O
It's possible they will be able to tell great stories with his death, but why should I care? Even if it brings major character-development to someone, it won't matter in the long run.

I'd say the good stories in the interim are the only reason to care, period. Tomorrow, they may fuck up any comic. I'm not sure it diminishes the good stories. There have been some really stupid Spider-Man stories, but I still enjoy some of the better ones (and even some of the mediocre ones). Batman has been changed and rebooted and revisioned nine million times, and there are a ton of good arcs there. Civil War was stupid as crap, but it didn't do anything to take away those old comics.

If there are good stories that come from it, it seems the only reason to care. Because if there's one thing I know about comics, someone will eventually do something stupid. A good story, however, will be remembered. Even after a bad one has killed a franchise.

 

[GeekFury]

Status Quo Effect takes like 6 months normally, but correct me if I'm wrong, hasn't he already died like 4 times already? And been to hell and back? Also wouldn't this invalidate Old Man Logan which was if I recall established as cannon Wolverine's history?

Though I agree with above statements this won't last, look at DC death has a revolving door, and Marvel is no diffrent. Besides moment sales slump they be like 'And now read the exciting new return of Wolverine!'.

10 to 1 on the odds.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Alright, taking all bets guys. How long do we think this is actually gonna keep this time?

I'm going to guess a year and a half. Long enough to pretend they mean it, but not long enough to get lynched by fanboys.

 

[Josh o Lantern]

"Killing" off a popular character... I've never seen the words "creative retreat" used more appropriately...

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Alright, taking all bets guys. How long do we think this is actually gonna keep this time?

Maybe a little longer than the most recent Spider-Man death.

Spidermans "death" was never intended to keep, it was part of a long game story arc... unless you're talking the death of Ultimate Spiderman, that's going to stick considering Marvel's ending that line.

Still, offing one of your "All Time Most Popular Characters Who Still Has Tons of Appearance In Other Media" is always a bad idea, it hurts sales when people who are fans of Wolverine from the movies pick up an X-Men comic and realize that it doesn't have Wolverine in it.

 

[Vivi22]

Or Phoenix/Jean Grey.

To be fair, Jean's still dead barring a single appearance I can think of in a mini series where she was briefly brought back and died again. And her teenage self is running around now, but there hasn't been an actual resurrection yet ignoring her previous ones. That's still going on 11 years without a full blown Jean resurrection. I'm honestly surprised they have that level of self control.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Didn't superman bite the bullet at one point too? It's just I've story arc in which he dies. He'll be alive and well in others.

Xavier died at one point too, sparking the age of apocalypse iirc.

 

[The Great JT]

Know he's going to come back, nothing ever sticks in comic books, who cares.

That said, good riddance, get rid of him, he's overexposed and I'm glad to be rid of his stupid, scowly face. Move on to a fun character.

 

[Trishbot]

Didn't Wolverine die and go to hell no less than TWO YEARS AGO?!

Nightcrawler just came back from the dead in the very issue currently on news stands.

Where's that "Death & Return of Superman" video... Death is a revolving door in comics.

 

[Sean Strife]

Alright, taking all bets guys. How long do we think this is actually gonna keep this time?

I'm calling until the next X-Men movie comes out at the latest.

But seriously, death has become just a minor inconvenience in comic books. It's the one thing I hate about comics: most other places, death is finality... in comic books, death's no worse than a sprained wrist.

 

[Mangod]

I am a Marvel fan, but deaths in Marvel comics have less impact than in a high-level D&D game.[footnote] Playing the Nerd Card? Moi?[/footnote]

Dude, when my friends level 16 fighter kicked the bucket we held a f***ing wake for him. When a Marvel/DC character dies, you just pull out a stopwatch and start counting.

I've mostly given up on comics, because A) nothing ever changes; status quo is God in these matters, so of course the "death of Wolverine" won't matter in any way, and B) CrossGen was the last time that someone released a comic I had any interest in, but since the company went belly up... *shrugs*

 

[Something Amyss]

Divide worldwide gross by 2 then subtract production budget to get profit of film.

Not a perfect way but the closest we can get with the information available

If your closes way of doing it is a complete asspull, then don't do it. The methodology makes no sense. If you have insufficient data to use a formula, don't use it. What we have to work with tells a different story.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Alright, taking all bets guys. How long do we think this is actually gonna keep this time?

My money is going to be the same as Death of Superman (oddly familiar title). Wolverine will be killed, then "unkilled" by the end of the arc.

Yeah, a Wolverine-esque hypersleep type thing, I totally see that coming.

 

[Reaper195]

Remember when they killed off Steve Rogers?
Remember when they killed off Peter Parker?
Remember when they killed off Jason Todd?
Remember when they killed off Brian Griffin?

We know this song well enough to sing along, now.

Instructions unclear. Dick stuck in mouth.