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Universal and Marvel Buyout Plans

2002 Marvel Acquisition Attempt:

“Daily Mirror” (August 8, 2013) (archived)

Madcap Michael Jackson hoped to star as Iron Man in the big screen film versions made famous by Robert Downey Junior.

The singer, who died four years ago, had hundreds of millions of pounds ready as he dreamed of becoming Anthony Stark in the blockbuster flicks.

But his plans fell apart after he was hit by allegations of child sex abuse in the mid 1990s.

Jackson hoped to play a black version of the superhero, which has since become one of the biggest movie franchises on the planet.

Jackson’s former manager Dieter Weisner confirmed that Jackson wanted to buy Universal Pictures and use them to leverage rights to star in superhero movies.

And a source close to the Jackson family added: “Michael was a visionary in the sense of how he knew that the Marvel universe’s superheros were hit movies waiting to be made.

“He saw himself as leading men in these films, and especially felt Iron Man was a possibility as he felt he was similar to Tony Stark - an enigma, mastermind and at the same time childlike,

“We never knew how fans would react to it as Stark was a always a white character, but Michael always loved to break boundaries.

“However after the Jordie Chandler sex case, some of his backers and his focus switched away from that.

“Michael always thought his next step after his music comeback was to head back into movies. He had moderate success with Moonwalker, and obviously the Thriller music video was a winner.”

Jackson’s friend and European manager Dietner Weisner admitted the movie loving star plotted to become a leading light in the film industry.

On an audio recording owned by Wiesner, Jackson admits he wanted to buy out Universal - the then owners of Marvel.

Jackson said: “We could easily go in to Universal and buy it. We would own Jaws, E.T., Close Encounters...all of the classics from Universal, own all of that stuff. And that would allow us to do a Marvel Channel, not only the Marvel characters but Marvel films.

“We can do anything we want from restaurants to retail, theme parks.”

As Jackson ploughed his focus into rescuing his reputation, Disney purchased the business instead.

Wiesner confirmed: “Disney ended up buying Marvel and doing exactly what Michael had predicted, and making a fortune at it.

“That was the second part of his life. He did want to do this. And he knew exactly every single detail, what he wants to do. And he was absolutely right.”