Tuesday, March 31, 1993
The next day after the ZAGE USA branch officially opened, Zaboru left the office in the late morning to go to Marvel Company.
Zaboru had already held a brief discussion with Stan Lee, the lead creative at Marvel, during which he shared his ambition to develop games based on Marvel characters. At the time, Stan Lee hadn't shown much interest—after all, Marvel was under Zaboru's ownership, and expanding into video games could only enhance the brand's visibility. Zaboru had mentioned that he would implement changes at Marvel once the ZAGE branch officially launched. Now, with that milestone achieved, he was convening a formal Marvel company meeting to kick things off.
Zaboru arrived at Marvel HQ, stepping into a spacious yet slightly dated office that maintained a sense of order and cleanliness. Making his way to one of the meeting rooms, he found four individuals already seated and waiting for him:
Stan Lee – Marvel Creative Leader
Dave Williams – Marvel Vice Creative Leader
John Gregory – Marvel Marketing Head
Mark Ackerman – Marvel 36% Shares Owner
Zaboru was surprised to see Mark there and couldn't help but say, "Oh hey, Mark."
Mark chuckled. "Hello, Zaboru. Surprised to see me?"
Zaboru shrugged. "You bought the remaining shares, didn't you? No matter. Anyway, let's start the meeting. This meeting has already been postponed long enough," to which all participants agreed.
Zaboru then began to speak. "Okay, thanks everyone for joining this meeting. As you already know, a couple of months back, I bought 64% of Marvel shares from Mark there, and I also already reached out to you three—Stan, Dave, and John—that we would conduct a meeting about Marvel's future after the ZAGE USA office officially opened, which just happened yesterday."
Zaboru started writing on the whiteboard. "First, this is my project called the 'Marvel Resurrected Plan.'" He then wrote four points:
Make games based on Marvel characters
Reboot the comic book storyline
Make great TV animations for Marvel characters
Increase Marvel character toy quality and quantity
Zaboru then continued, "Okay, these are the four milestones we need to focus on to make the Marvel Resurrected Plan a success. The first—developing video games based on Marvel characters which is already underway with ZAGE. With the surging popularity of video games, creating Marvel-based titles will significantly elevate our brand's visibility. This task is fully managed by me and the ZAGE team, so the Marvel team only needs to stay informed." No one objected; everything Zaboru said was accurate, and his expertise in the video game sector was well recognized.
"Next... this might offend some of you, but I believe Marvel's comic storylines need a full-scale reset. We're all aware that the current state of Marvel Comics isn't at its best. While there are many underlying causes, I think the primary issues are uninspired story arcs and the fact that readers have largely lost interest in the narratives. It's time we rethink and rebuild the foundation of our storytelling."
Dave Williams, the Vice Creative Leader, quickly responded. "This is outrageous! Even though you are the owner, you can't just reset history! No matter how far Marvel has fallen, Marvel Comics stories are always legendary!"
Stan Lee, meanwhile, interjected. "Bold of you to assume that rebooting the comic storyline will increase revenue. Do you think the current stories in Marvel Comics are bad!? And you think we're just a bunch of incompetent fools!?" Stan Lee fumed again. "And you think you can create it and reboot it successfully? You still know nothing about comic books! I've been writing comics long before you were even born!"
Zaboru sighed. He had expected this response from Stan Lee and Dave Williams. But before he could answer, John Gregory, the Head of Marketing, responded, "With all due respect, Stan and Dave, the state of Marvel's stories right now is really a mess. When we try to publish our comic issues and distribute them across the country to comic shops, most of them aren't even willing to take a lot of stock. Our comics have become really unpopular. So I think we can try Zaboru's idea to reboot the stories." John sighed and said, "I even saw some comic stores give our books to the homeless, and they ended up using them to fuel a bonfire..." Stan Lee and Dave's eyes widened in disbelief. The weight of Marvel's deteriorating condition hit them hard, leaving them deeply saddened and speechless.
Zaboru smiled and nodded. "Of course, we can't just reboot it on a whim. Let's create a story to explain it. For example, there could be a very strong being in the comics that resets the Marvel timeline—so even though we reboot it, it still contributes to the story." Stan Lee's eyes widened—what Zaboru proposed didn't sound bad at all. An extremely strong being rebooting the universe in the Marvel comic? That sounded great.
Dave spoke again. "Even if we do agree, how do we approach this? Should we create characters based on your designs or what?"
Zaboru smiled and said, "There will be some of that, but I promise I'm not going to create half-assed characters and force them into release. Rather than that, let's focus on Marvel's current roster first, which in my opinion has huge potential."
Zaboru then continued, "Right now, the only Marvel hero who still holds some popularity is Spider-Man. But in my opinion, many of the other heroes—like Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and countless others—are truly amazing. They each have unique traits and compelling stories that, if properly revitalized, could make them incredibly popular again."
Stan Lee nodded. "I agree with that."
Zaboru then continued, "So can we agree on this point? As for how the detailed reboot will work, we'll have another meeting later. But if you want to create a draft of how to approach a universe reset in Marvel, go for it—and I might give some ideas too."
Stan Lee sighed and said, "Okay then. For now, I agree with this. But we still need to do this properly!"
Zaboru smiled. He knew Stan Lee cared deeply about Marvel. Zaboru then began to speak again. "So, after this, we need to create animations based on the Marvel comics we've rebooted. This way, even audiences who don't read comics but enjoy watching animations can come to love Marvel stories as well." No one objected to this suggestion, as it was still closely related to the previous discussion points.
Zaboru nodded and continued, "Lastly, regarding toys—John, can I ask what the current condition of Marvel's toy line is?"
John sighed and replied, "We do have some toy manufacturing partners, but most of them are reluctant to work with us. Our toy line just isn't very popular at the moment, and many of these companies prefer to make toys for DC instead."
Zaboru nodded. "That's understandable, but we need to enhance this sector quickly. Okay, John, if I asked you to look for manufacturers who would be willing to produce exclusive Marvel toys, would you be able to handle that? Of course, this would be after Marvel becomes more popular—once we achieve the first three milestones. Can you take that on?"
John nodded. "I might try. I think I can pull some strings there," he said, his voice thoughtful. But before he could say more, Mark interjected, "I could help John with that. I might know some manufacturers who'd be willing to partner with Marvel—for the right price, of course."
Zaboru smiled warmly. "That would be a tremendous help, Mark."
The meeting continued for a short while longer, wrapping up with a renewed sense of purpose and excitement. From this point forward, it was officially Marvel's time to shine.
After everyone had left, Zaboru decided to linger at Marvel HQ a bit longer. He and Stan Lee sat together..
to be continue
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