Posted in: Comics | Tagged: disney, HRL, Mark Millar, marvel, millarworld, netflix

Did Mark Millar's Netflix Deal Make His Co-Creators Millionaires?

When Mark Millar released a statement on the acquisition of Millarworld by Netflix, he compared it to Disney buying Marvel. But as Bleeding Cool Rumormonger-in-Chief Rich Johnston pointed out, unlike the $4 billion Marvel sale, the Millarworld sale didn't explicitly mention money changing hands.

"While the words 'sale' and 'buy' were commonplace, the word used in the official press release rather than the subsequent casual statement by Millar was 'acquisition'. A deal has been done but the use of that word suggests it may not have involved money. Shares? A deal on future media exploitation? A seat on the board? There are all sorts of possibilities, and 'acquire' doesn't rule out money was paid but it does suggest something else was going on.

But a new report from THR claims to be able to put a dollar amount on the acquisition, and they're saying it's $30-$50 million, according to unnamed sources. But the most interesting part may have been this passage in THR's story:

"Complicating things were side deals Millar had to make with his co-creator artists to sew up rights in order to make the ironclad sale to the streamer. Some artists may have walked away with six- or seven-figure payouts, sources say."

Which artists may have been made millionaires by Millar's Netflix deal? And might they have made even more by holding out for an individual movie deal rather than being part of the Netflix package?

One thing we do know is that the deal doesn't include most of Millar's best known properties, like Wanted, Kingsman, and Kick-Ass, and even lesser known properties like Starlight, Superior, and Chrononauts. And another interesting fact is that the rumored $30-$50 million deal is about the same amount as is rumored to have been paid to Jack Kirby's estate in their settlement with Disney. And in that case, Disney was paying for Kirby's best-known creations, which make up the majority of the Marvel universe.

So in that respect, Millar didn't do too bad, did he?

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