If there’s one business that’s worth getting in right now, it’s the superhero business. Netflix has been getting in on the action for a bit now, teaming with Marvel for a series of shows including DAREDEVIL and this month’s THE DEFENDERS. But now it seems they want to start dishing out their own content, as it was announced today that the massive entertainment company has just bought out Mark Millar’s Millarworld.
The announcement was made this morning that Netflix has bought the comic book company, with plans to make films and TV shows based on some of the company’s classic characters and stories. There were no details as to which stories would be getting the adaptation treatment first, but it was also said that Millarworld would create new storylines and franchises under the Netflix label.
Millar wrote about the purchase on the Millarworld site, citing how this is one of only three times a major studio has purchased a comic book company:
Warner Bros bought DC Comics in 1968. Disney bought Marvel in 2009. Today Netflix purchased Millarworld and I’m still blinking. This is only the third time in history a comic-book company purchase on this scale has ever happened.
I started Millarworld as a creator-owned comic-book company nearly 15 years ago, after talking some artist pals into being their own bosses. We’d all had success at DC and Marvel, but this was a chance to control the characters created and reap the rewards from any future movies, TV or merchandise that ever came from those characters and books. Over the years, Millarworld has amassed twenty different franchises working with the world’s greatest artists and now Millarworld has been bought by the hottest, most exciting entertainment company on the planet. To say this is the best thing that ever happened in our professional lives would be an understatement.
Millar’s work has indeed already found its way to the big screen, with adaptations of KINGSMAN, KICK-ASS, and WANTED being fan favorites and large money-earners, with the latest KINGSMAN movie hitting theaters next month. As well, his work with Marvel led to the creation of “The Ultimates”, the Avengers arc that inspired 2012’s THE AVENGERS, and “Civil War”, the massive superhero clash that was the foundation of 2016’s CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR.
This is exciting news for fans of Millar’s work – and of anyone else working under the Millarworld label – as now all of those creations are now up for their own movie and TV adaptation. No word yet on which will be coming first, but one of the most popular Millarworld exports is “Jupiter Legacy”, which has been in-development for some time and could have a new home at Netflix. Millar's most popular work has already hit the big screen, but I'm sure there are a lot of little gems in his canon of work that could fit right into the Netflix model.
KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE arrives September 22.