Is it true that Michael Jackson wanted to buy Marvel to play Spider-Man?

Who Michael Jackson was not: a singer, a singer, a dancer, a song author, a music producer, and a choreographer, but, according to Internet publications, he wanted to add to his track record and the “Marvel Superhero” item. We checked whether the king of pop music wanted to play Spider-Man.

On different sites and in social networks, you can often stumble upon this statement: “In the 90s, Michael Jackson tried to buy Marvel only in order to produc a film about Spider-Man and play a title role there.” For example, in VKontakte posts with such information Walking for many years and Collected thousands of likes. Do not do without mentioning the desire to play Spider-Man and numerous Collections On the topic of little -known facts About Jackson's life. Over the decades, history has overgrown with various details, so we will try to figure it out in its essence.

In the 1990s, Marvel Entertainment Group was going through the best of times. She incurred large losses, and in order to escape from complete bankruptcy, at the end of the decade she I had to Combine with Toy Biz - a toy company. If you believe the rumors, around that time, Michael Jackson planned to buy a company responsible for creating many popular superheroes, including Hulk, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men and, of course, Spider-Man.

What Jackson wanted to buy Marvel, confirmed many times himself Stan Lee - One of the most iconic figures of the comic book industry. Lee was not only a co-author of many heroes, including Spider-Man (Alter Ego Peter Parker), but also worked as the chief editor and publisher of Marvel Comics for many years. In addition, he said that Jackson tried to enlist his support and help in that planned major deal.

The most detailed story about an attempt to buy Marvel stated In the release of The Comics Journal No. 270 for 2005. If you do not go into details, then in 1998, Lee and his partner Peter F. Paul, who, as a result, sat down for fraud, created the Stan Lee Media (SLM) company. Paul was obsessed with the idea of ​​buying Marvel, and Michael Jackson, a fan of Lee and comics, became a potential acquisition partner. Once he came to the SLM office to discuss the details of the transaction. The meeting was also attended by the former Marvel editor Jim Salikrup, who then worked in SLM. According to Salikrup, Jackson asked Lee: "If I buy Marvel, will you help me in management?" He replied: "Of course." The transaction did not eventually take place, since the parties could not coordinate the conditions of sale (They saythat the cost of Marvel specially overestimated to $ 1 billion).

But if the failed purchase fans and journalists came to consensus, then with the alleged Jackson superhero roles the situation is more difficult. According to various sources, the musician tried to get two roles of famous comic book heroes at once.

In 2011, at the annual conference of the American producers, Ralph Winters, which produced several paintings by the film franchise about the team of mutants from the Marvel comics called "People", Shared Interesting details of past castings. So, according to him, Jackson advanced to the role of Charles Xavier, nicknamed Professor X. And in 2017, David Hayter, one of the scriptwriters of the first two films about mutants, confirmedWhat Michael wanted to play the professor, and his sister Janet Jackson could allegedly get the role of a thunderstorm (or storm). As a result, the role of Xavier was played by the English actor Patrick Stuart.

In 2012 in Moviefone It turned out An interview with Stan Lee, in whom Jackson’s desire to buy Marvel and his alleged attempts to realize the creation of Lee-Professor X and Spider-Man on the screen. Below the passage of the conversation.

Moviefone: Last summer, at the conference of the producers guild, I heard about the most interesting casting solution that could practically happen: the producers of the X -Men said that Michael Jackson lobbied his statement on the role of Professor X.

Stan Lee: I did not know that Michael Jackson wanted to play Professor X. I knew Michael Jackson. Based on those things that he discussed with me, I felt as if he wanted to play Spider-Man. It was this character who interested him. He never discussed X people with me.

Mf: What do you think he would have coped with the role of Spider-Man?

Sl: In my opinion, he would be good. I think he would be very good. But I must say that Toby Maguire was beautiful.

Mf: I am amazed that Jackson worked with Stan Lee Media and tried to buy Marvel in the 90s.

Sl: Yes, he wanted. He felt that this was his only way to play Spider-Man. (Laughs.)

Mf: What do you think the company would look like if this deal took place then?

Sl: I can’t imagine how much it would be very different, but maybe she would not be so successful. Michael was not a great businessman.

Based on the interview, Jackson’s desire to buy Marvel for the role of Spider-Man is only an assumption of Lee. But this is not the only time he discussed Jackson. Below the passage material 2009, when Lee was at the annual Comic-con festival in San Diego just a month after the death of the artist.

“I was at his house in Nonerland. He wanted to make Spider-Man, ”Lee said. “I'm not sure if he just wanted to produces or wanted to play a role.” Our conversations did not go so far. ” When he was asked if Jackson wanted to play the main role, Lee answered: “I suspect that yes. He thought that I would be the person who could provide him with such an opportunity (creating a film about Spider-Man. Ed.), And I told him that I could not. ” Lee added: “In order to achieve his goal, he should turn to the management of Marvel. We eventually made friends, and he turned out to be a great guy. ”

Also on the Associated Press YouTube channel you can find a video where it tells about the same story: “I met Michael Jackson several times. The first time it was like this: he wanted to talk to me and called me, I agreed to come. He wanted to be a spider man, buy the rights to Spider-Man. I think he wanted to play the role of Peter Parker. He never said this, but I understood that. When I told him that, in my opinion, the company is unlikely to sell the right, he wanted to buy the whole Marvel. He said: "I will buy Marvel!" I don't know what happened next. Obviously, he did not buy Marvel, but he really wanted this. "

In 2020, whether the words partially confirmed And Tai Jackson is Michael's nephew. In an interview with the PopCorned Planet YouTube channel, he was asked about whether his uncle wanted to buy the rights to Spider-Man or the entire company. “We were talking about everything Marvel, I remember that,” Tai answered. “I remember how he and the brothers and I talked about the purchase of Marvel.” He wanted to do this with Lee Stan, they discussed it more than once. Unfortunately, nothing came of it. I think they were not allowed to do this. I don’t know the reasons, but they were definitely interested in buying. ”

When Tai specified whether Michael wanted to buy Marvel to create a film about Spider-Man, he replied that it was not only in one superhero: “In addition to Spider-Man, he was a big fan of all Marvel. He knew all the characters. So it was not only about Spider-Man. But yes, he probably wanted to be a spider man. ”

So, according to several authoritative sources, Jackson really attempted to buy Marvel. However, Lee and Jackson’s nephew could not remember Michael directly expressed his desire to play Spider-Man. Therefore, most likely, this story will forever remain a legend.

Legend

What do our verdicts mean?

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