On April 2nd, Marvel Entertainment sent out a slick negotiation team led by their Chief Operating Officer, Dan Buckley, to Twentieth Century Fox. Their mission? To chat with Tom Rothman about bringing some heroes back into the Marvel fold.
Dunn didn't meddle in this one—he trusted Tom Rothman's smarts. If Tom wanted to dodge past conflicts and shift toward cooperation, he'd have to cough up some serious benefits. Otherwise, no deal!
Right now, Dunn's got a bigger headache: figuring out who's gonna be the president of Marvel Studios. Back when he made his big bold promise, he swore that if he nabbed Marvel, he'd flesh out Marvel Studios into something real—not just some hollow shell. And now, with Dunn Studios borrowing $7 million from him to seal the acquisition, he's gotta make good on that vow.
Dunn's secret weapon? The Sunglasses System. Thing is, this system only dishes out stats for "Producers," "Directors," and "Actors"—no dice on management-type talent. So, for picking the right person, he's stuck relying on his network, headhunters, and some fuzzy foresight from his past-life memories.
The Marvel Studios president has to be a film industry vet—no question about it. Dunn's brain quickly churned out a few names: Grant Hill, David Heyman, Lionel Wigram, and Rick McCallum.
Grant Hill, the guy who produced Titanic, had a blast working with Dunn. Pros: he's capable and their bond's solid. Cons: no management experience, and he's Bill Mechanic's right-hand man—tough to poach him without stirring trouble.
David Heyman, currently helping Dunn snag the full Harry Potter book rights, has a killer eye, great management skills, and rocks at PR. But he's got his own UK production company, Heyday Films—would he really ditch that to work for Dunn?
Lionel Wigram, a Warner producer and the one who pushed Harry Potter Dunn's way, has solid vision and producing chops. Plus, he's a comic book artist who created gems like Sherlock Holmes. A guy who blends comics and film? Perfect for Marvel Studios' top spot!
Rick McCallum, the producer behind Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, is Tom Rothman's buddy and a fun collaborator for Dunn. He's imaginative, great with sci-fi, and has real film integrity. Downside: he's seasoned, older, and might be a handful to manage.
Dunn mulled it over for a while, then shook his head, crossing Lionel Wigram off the list. With his selfish streak, Dunn knew the Harry Potter project would already tick off Warner. Poaching Wigram too? That might just set Warner off big time.
Head pounding, Dunn slipped on his sunglasses and started scouting for other roles—mostly for the production and writing departments. As Dunn Studios grows, tons of slots need filling, so he jotted down a bunch of names to beef up both Dunn Studios and Marvel Studios' production teams.
Then—bam!—his eyes lit up. At a production stat of "81," he spotted a name that felt both familiar and fresh: Nina Jacobson.
Dunn's memory sparked, and he quickly pulled up her stats. No director or actor skills, just producer traits:
Production: 72
Market Judgment: 91
Artistic Taste: 67
Project Evaluation: 89
Writing: 48
Casting: 93
Set Control: 87
Management: 88 (on-set, not corporate)
PR: 82
Nothing crazy standout, which is why she hadn't popped up before. Dunn's usual picks were wildcards—insane in one area, total flops in others, nowhere near ready to run the show. But Nina? No sky-high stats, just rock-solid all-around skills—a producer who could totally hold her own.
And that name—it hit him like a thunderbolt! She's a Hollywood legend, one of the rare female powerhouses! Basically, one of the top five women in the game:
Sherry Lansing, Paramount's current big boss.
Amy Pascal, Columbia Pictures' president, later Sony Entertainment's
Gail Berman, head of Berman Digital Media, later Paramount prez, then Fox Broadcasting chief.
Nina Jacobson herself!
Kathleen Kennedy, the highest-grossing female producer ever, eventual Lucasfilm president.
Nina Jacobson's claim to fame? Dunn remembered her 2007 ousting from Disney, where she'd been president of the production department and chair of Buena Vista Group. She'd clashed hard with M. Night Shyamalan, who took his original project Lady in the Water to Warner after she shot it down. Disney wasn't thrilled about losing a big director like that, so they canned her—partly because she was on maternity leave too.
The irony? Lady in the Water tanked at the box office with Warner, proving Nina right. After Disney, she started her own company and dropped the mega-hit Hunger Games series. Before that, she'd delivered Disney blockbusters like The Sixth Sense, Remember the Titans, The Princess Diaries, and Pirates of the Caribbean—huge wins in both cash and cred.
Her resume landed her the Crystal Award for women in film and a spot on the "100 Most Powerful Women in the World" list in 2005. Dunn wasn't sure where she was working now, so he called in his secretary to dig up her info ASAP.
That afternoon, Reese Witherspoon came back with the scoop. Nina Jacobson, born 1965, graduated from Brown University in 1987. She'd bounced around Silver Pictures and MacDonald Pictures before landing at Universal, one of the Big Six, as a production VP. There, she oversaw 12 Monkeys and Dazed and Confused. Later, she jumped to DreamWorks as head of film production, developing The Peacemaker. But after clashing with Spielberg and others, plus a flop with The Jackal, she left DreamWorks last year for Disney. Now? She's stuck in a lower gig, supervising scripts.
Compared to Dunn's trust in his market analyst Andrew O'Hare, Nina—barely a year into Disney—must be struggling to find her footing. Reading her file, Dunn's heart raced with excitement.
"Talk about a golden opportunity!" he grinned. "I love being the hero in a pinch!"
He was dead certain: offer her the Marvel Studios president gig, and she'd jump at it without blinking. Disney's gig was peanuts compared to this. Sure, Marvel Studios was an empty shell right now, but with Dunn's golden name attached, it screamed potential.
He called Reese back and handed her a list. "Get these people in for interviews, pronto."
Reese blinked at the dozen-plus names, a little dazed. Where'd this guy get all this confidence? Hiring straight into probation without interviews?
Dunn ignored her hesitation and slid her another note. "Send invites to these two, under Dunn Studios and Marvel Studios' names, right now."
Reese peeked at it, jaw dropping:
"Nina Jacobson, Marvel Studios President."
"Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President's Assistant."
"Dunn, isn't this a bit rushed?" she asked.
He waved her off with a grin. "Relax, I've got this!"
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The next day, Dunn had quick, sharp meetings with Nina Jacobson and Kevin Feige. Right after, Marvel Studios paid Disney a $250,000 breach fee and hired 34-year-old Nina Jacobson as president. They also brought on 26-year-old Kevin Feige as her assistant and assistant producer, helping her run the company and kick off Marvel's film slate.
Meanwhile, good news rolled in from Marvel Entertainment. Dan Buckley's team nailed their talks with Twentieth Century Fox. Tom Rothman brought his A-game, and for a cool $300,000 total, Marvel snagged back the rights to Deadpool, Daredevil, and Elektra—plus a partial collab deal.
Since Deadpool's story ties into tons of X-Men characters, Fox agreed to share rights to his main teammate Cable, but with a hard "no X-Men mentions" rule. It's like Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver showing up in The Avengers without a peep about Magneto being their dad.
Only three-and-a-half heroes back, but Dunn was pumped! Deadpool's a no-brainer—the snarky anti-hero's charm will spice up the massive Marvel Universe Dunn's building. As for Daredevil? That's tied to another huge industry play he's got up his sleeve.
Now, Marvel's reclaimed most of its superhero rights—only X-Men is still out there. The Sony-Fox-Marvel standoff from his past life? Gone. So Dunn's ready to snatch Sony's old turf and maybe even elbow into DC's space while he's at it.
Daredevil's carrying a big, shiny mission. Marvel movies are about to soar—and under Dunn's lead, they'll shine brighter, bolder, and way more Hollywood-dominating than in his old world!