Lately it seems as if every other day there’s a brand new rumor or report released teasing fans of potential projects that may or may not ever come into fruition.
Unlike most other reports, however, the latest one circling the web has some hefty evidence attached.
According to former Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter (and Geekosity, who first broke the story), Marvel Studios might be in development on a Secret Wars project. How might he know this, you ask? He doesn’t, per se. However, at a recent panel held at Megacon in Florida, Shooter shared an anecdote about how Marvel had recently reached out to him to work on (what looked like, at first) a Secret Wars novelization. He, of course, wrote the original series which ran between 1984 and 1985.
Upon a closer look at a contract he was given by a Marvel rep, Shooter realized that the novelization was only a fraction of what he was really being asked to do. After declining, the Senior VP of Operations and Procurement of Publishing at Marvel Entertainment named David Bogart followed up and offered him a generous $10,000 in advance for work that they may need him to do on a future project.
Due to Bogart’s persistence, Shooter eventually put two and two together and figured that the money was just a way for the company to acquire the rights to his work while they worked on something bigger.
So he asked Bogart, “This means you’re making a movie right?” When Bogart simply replied, “I’m not allowed to tell you that,” Shooter had already figured it out.
Long story short, Shooter did eventually sign the contract, but the joke is Marvel because they already own the rights to the material and the story. Should there actually be something planned in the future, he’d probably just be brought on board as a consultant.
For those who aren’t familiar with the original Secret Wars storyline, it essentially revolves around a massive cosmic content where several heroes and villains are brought together on a planet known as Battleworld to face off against each other. The title was later reused for a 2015 storyline which revolved around the destruction of multiple universes.
Though the latter series would probably fit in with what Phase 4 has already set up, it would be interesting to see so many of our favorite heroes face off in a Mortal Kombat-esque scenario too.
Now, as always, we must urge readers to take this info with a grain of salt because not even Shooter himself seems sure now whether or not the project will happen the way he believes. And if it does, it may be a very long time before we see any adaptation of the Secret Wars play out in the MCU. Feige is infamous, after all, for saying that he plans stories out years in advance.
Regardless, as Phase Four continues to expand, we’re excited to see what happened.