Remember fun? Marvel publisher Dan Buckley does, and thinks his company’s comics have been missing that - and he wants it back.

When he says ‘fun,’ Buckley isn’t arguing for strictly light-hearted stories and a lack of darker stories; he wants to re-establish the connection Marvel has had from time-to-time with fans for the characters and the creators who bring them to life.

“We need to convey the fun that Stan and so many other creators and editors in this industry since have projected, because it is infectious,” Buckley said recently in his keynote speech for the closed-door ComicsPRO conference, and laid out what he means by "fun" - starting with getting the creators more involved..

The return of Marvel summits

“I've been lucky enough to sit in a room for the creation of Miles Morales, the genesis of Civil War, and the group conversation with Dan Slott, telling him that ‘Superior Spider-Man and Spider-Verse are two separate stories. Let them breathe. Do not tell them at the same time,'” said Buckley. “Yes, he was going to have Doc Ock save the multiverse - we shut it down. How fun is that?”

In 2023, Marvel and DC both re-started in-person creative summits for its editors, writers, and (sometimes) artists to collaborate, argue, and come to a consensus on its future storylines.

“The recent reestablishment of face-to-face conversations and editorial retreats has reinvigorated the creative and collaborative environment that has always defined Marvel,” said Buckley.

Another part of re-discovering that specific specialness that defined Marvel is finding those seminal stories that act as tentpoles for a moment in time (or an full era) within the comics.

Making Marvel stories matter to the Marvel U (and you)

Buckley says that major Marvel storylines such as Civil War, Spider-Verse, ‘The Death of Captain America,’ and the X-Men’s Krakoan Age were either created only because of those summits or became as good as they were from being honed at those summits.

“One of the key mantras of these meetings is making sure that we ask each creative team why this story matters, and what could be the outcome of this story that leads to the next organically exciting story,” said Buckley. “Basically, this discipline here is to make sure that the creative is taking the lead, and that the marketing and sales are enhancing the results.”

When will this new Marvel fun era begin?

Marvel has several major comic book stories announced for 2024 including the line wide X-Men relaunch ‘From the Ashes’ and the bloody summer crossover event Blood Hunt, which actually started last week - but it’s not there that Buckley says the fun will begin. Instead it’s having to do with Marvel's comic book tie-ins to its sister companies under thr Disney umbrella.

“This commitment will present itself in different ways,” says Buckley. “The reappearance of Wolverine & Deadpool, other surprises, and projects like Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime by Jason Aaron. The fun will attract more readers and help us build an optimistic future.”

While this new 'fun' era of Marvel doesn't necessarily not include the X-Men relaunch or Blood Hunt, Buckley specifically pointing to two other projects that are both more comedic in nature than most other Marvel books, and both are directly or indirectly tying into the broader Disney business beyond the doors for the House of Ideas could be very telling.

Perhaps if Marvel Studios' Blade movie had been released when originally intended - November of last year! - then Blood Hunt, which puts Blade at the center of the Marvel Comics Universe, would be considered part of this more.

Want more? Make sure you've read our list of all the best Marvel Comics stories of all time, and the most powerful Marvel Comics characters (yes, you can debate in the comments!).