If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Marvel Studios & Marvel Comics are now working "much more closely" this year to get MCU fans into comic stores says publisher

The House of Ideas has a good idea - selling Marvel Comics to fans of the Marvel Studios movies & TV shows.

Deadpool & Wolverine
Image credit: Marvel Studios

Marvel Studios is born out of the cradle that is Marvel Comics, but ever since adaptations of comics into movies and TV have been made, there's been the question of just how to best promote the source material. DC Studios CEO James Gunn and his team have made it a point to promote DC Comics on the backs of its movie & TV trailers when released online, and now Marvel seems to be turning a corner in directing eyeballs back to the comics as well.

During a closed-door meeting with comic book store retailers at the ComicsPRO Annual Meeting, Marvel Comics publisher Dan Buckley said that his team is working "much more closely" with Marvel Studios than ever before, with a goal to "drum up excitement for comics relating to major studio events."

While Marvel has released a specific reading guide for people watching Deadpool & Wolverine, don't expect that to be the case for every upcoming Marvel Studios project; instead, Buckley says, this "coordination [will be] specific to each studio offering and sometimes."

While Marvel Comics are sold in bookstores and digitally, Buckley says that that Marvel's promotion of comics will be focused on driving MCU fans to comic stores.

Buckley confirms that Deadpool actor/producer Ryan Reynolds' tweet promoting the Marvel comic Deadpool and Wolverine: World War Three wasn't part of this cordination, but says it as "a very pleasant surprise."

As part of this, Buckley says Marvel Comics' previous efforts at doing this were "not coordinated as well as they could have been over the past couple of years," but says the various teams - marketing, sales, editorial, and creative - have "re-established closer ties... to ensure we’re pulling proper PR and digital marketing levers."

Buckley hasn't specified what these new efforts will be, but given Deadpool & Wolverine is roughly one month away from release, those plans would ideally begin to appear soon.

"It is a priority for Marvel Comics to leverage the power of Marvel Studios to generate awareness, trial, and traffic, with the intent to convert those MCU fans into customers for you," Buckley says, referring to comic store retailers.


Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant: Chris Arrant is the Popverse's Editor-in-Chief. He has written about pop culture for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel, Newsarama, CBR, and more. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. (He/him)

Comments

Want to join the discussion? Please activate your account first.
Visit Reedpop ID if you need to resend the confirmation email.

View Comments (0)

Find out how we conduct our review by reading our review policy