Iron Man's comic book is set during the Vietnam War, while in reality America is waging a war on terror against Afghanistan.

Hollywood is quick to respond to hot topics, and film companies large and small are planning to launch films and television dramas related to anti-terrorism themes.

Messer took one step and directly changed the background of the movie version of Iron Man to Afghanistan.

On the one hand, rubbing the heat of current affairs is one thing, and on the other hand, I also want to take the opportunity to catch a special "gold father".

Pentagon!

Although the war is being fought on Afghan soil, the "propaganda war" in the United States must also be waged at the same time.

Although after 911, the support of Americans for this war on terror was very high.

But even the most optimistic Americans do not think that this war will end in a very short time.

Ten years ago, the Gulf War, which established the world's military hegemony in World War I, ended in half a year.

In this Afghan war, although the disparity in strength between the two sides was even greater than that of the two belligerents in the Gulf War, the United States can be said to have an overwhelming advantage.

Mao Xiong also thought so back then, thinking that it would be a matter of minutes to win Afghanistan with absolute strength.

In the end, Afghanistan's reputation as the "graveyard of empires" was achieved.

Although the so-called war on terror against Afghanistan is famous, the vast majority of Americans believe that the war will last at least one to two years or more.

It is estimated that the president who started this war also thinks so, after all, the predecessors of the Elephant Party who launched the Gulf War have proved one thing with their own experience.

Winning a war in the limelight will not lead to re-election, but if the war is extended into the next election campaign, the chances of re-election will increase dramatically.

In the previous life, the United States had not yet finished Afghanistan, so it couldn't wait

Both civil and high-level know that this war will not end quickly.

The U.S. military can certainly see this as well.

The prolongation of the war will inevitably lead to an increase in the number of military casualties and an increase in military spending, all of which will arouse anti-war sentiment among the domestic population.

This is where the role of Hollywood comes into play.

Making more movies that reflect the positive image of the U.S. military can dilute the resistance of the domestic people to the war.

Of course, the U.S. Department of Defense does not directly invest in the filming of a movie, but it can indirectly control the filming of a film by facilitating the filming of the relevant crew.

And if a crew wants to get this kind of convenient support, the price is that the script must be handed over to the relevant departments of the Pentagon for review, and the US military will send representatives to the crew throughout the process to supervise the shooting.

To put it bluntly, if you want to get the filming support of the US military, then there can be no plot in the movie to discredit the US military.

But there are still many black American soldiers in Hollywood, and even Hollywood movies that directly set the US military as villains.

This has caused a misunderstanding for many people, as if Hollywood can shoot whatever subject matter it wants, and creative freedom is not restricted at all.

Not really.

In fact, in all the black US military, even in Hollywood movies with the US military as the villain, the US military that appears is actually a "copycat".

As long as you carefully observe the military uniforms and badges on the villains "US military" in these movies, you will find that there will always be some differences between the details and the real US military.

The difference is probably equivalent to Master Kong and Master Kang.

Hollywood studios are also forced to do this, because the Pentagon owns the copyright to all the appearance of the US military, and if the real US military appears in the movie, it must first obtain authorization from the Pentagon, otherwise it will sue for infringement.

The Pentagon's authorization method is simple and does not require you to pay for it, but the plot of the film must be reviewed by the Pentagon.

In the previous life, the filming of "Iron Man" received strong support from the Pentagon, and the US troops in the movie are all genuine, and they are definitely not the kind of knockoffs that sell dog meat on the head of a sheep.

And this movie seems to be under the banner of anti-war, and in the plot, Iron Man even closes the Stark Group's arms business, but if you look closely, you will find that the military characters in it are all good guys, and none of them are villains.

That's where the Pentagon excels.

When it comes to shooting movies with the main theme, the Pentagon and Hollywood are really several versions ahead of the world.

It's better to be blocked!

The best way to counteract the anti-war sentiment of the people in reality is not to vigorously promote the rationality of the war in the movie, and exaggerate how brave the US military is and how cruel and tyrannical the terrorists as the enemy are.

Social communication theory has long pointed out that public opinion is the best catharsis for social emotions!

The anti-war advocated in the movie can allow the audience to imperceptibly vent the anti-war sentiment in reality during the viewing process.

The filmmakers have a good reputation, the Pentagon has benefited, and the cooperation really shouldn't be too tacit.

It was precisely because of this that Messer would turn his mind on the Pentagon.

According to Messer's line of thinking, the superheroes in Marvel's hands now are indeed inferior to Iron Man.

After all, Iron Man himself is a cultural product of the Vietnam War era, and it is easiest to rub off on the heat of the current Afghan war.

And compared with other superheroes who have become powerful by relying on various abstract superpowers, Iron Man's growth experience of becoming powerful by real technology is also easier to be recognized and accepted by the audience.

In the previous life, "Iron Man 1 and 2" were actually still following the path of science fiction films, and it was not until "Iron Man 3" began that the style slowly moved towards abstract fantasy films.

So everything comes back to the keyword that Messer came up with at the beginning.

Rationality!

If the current superhero movies want to be recognized by the market and the audience, the most important thing is to be as close to reality as possible.

The success of "Iron Man 1" in the previous life is largely related to this, and an even more successful example is DC's Nolan-like Batman trilogy next door.

In order to get closer to reality, Nolan even gave up some of the surreal superhero movie settings.

As a result, "Iron Man 1" was released and won $580 million at the global box office.

and "Batman: The Dark Knight", which was released in the same year, exceeded $1 billion at the global box office.

The first head-to-head battle between Marvel and DC, DC won completely.

At that time, including Marvel itself, it is estimated that no one would dare to believe that in a few years, DC will be completely pressed to the ground by Marvel.

It is precisely because the Batman trilogy pursues too close to reality that DC won one game first, and then lost the next ten years.

At present, for Messer, who is ambitious to build the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man, the most realistic and reasonable of Marvel's many superheroes, has become the best choice to open the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

At the dinner table, in front of Messer, Jamie asked bluntly:

"Mr. Messer, after you said so many reasons why Iron Man will definitely succeed, aren't you worried that my lion will open his mouth and increase the difficulty for Marvel to take back Iron Man?"

Messer shrugged and replied:

"I'm more worried about Mr. Dutton being dismissive of my claims than not being able to get back the rights to Iron Man, because now the whole of Hollywood knows that Mr. Dutton is the most loyal and avid Iron Man fan, and if even you think I can't make it, then how can I convince the bank to lend me a loan to make this movie?"

Jamie looked at Messer with a smile.

"So I can interpret what you just said to mean that you want me to endorse you and persuade the bank to lend money to Marvel to make a superhero movie, and for this reason you and Marvel are even willing to accept some of my excessive demands, right?"

Messer nodded.

However, at the same time, he also emphasized that Marvel's acceptance of Jamie's request depends on how much Jamie can help Marvel shoot superhero movies.

The implication is that it is not enough to return the rights of Iron Man to Marvel, it is better for Jamie to be deeply involved.

For example, share a part of the film investment.

Messer only mentioned this slightly, and Jamie rejected it without hesitation.

Even if you know that investing in "Iron Man" is 100% profitable.

But now that Messer and Marvel have made it clear that they want to prostitute Jamie for nothing, this is definitely not possible.

"There's only one possibility for Iron Man to return to Marvel, and that's on loan!"

"Marvel uses Iron Man to start the Cinematic Universe project, and every time Iron Man shoots a movie, you all need to pay me a certain percentage of the royalties."

"If it's a movie where multiple superheroes team up to fight monsters, the proportion of account sharing is determined according to Iron Man's role in the plot of this movie."

Jamie said what he wanted in one breath.

His words translated, you don't want to prostitute me for nothing, but I will definitely prostitute you for nothing!

If it were someone else, it would be estimated that he would have to leave on the spot when he heard this excessive request.

Messer was still holding on.

He knew that if Jamie really didn't want to cooperate, he just refused, and he didn't have to make such an excessive request that looked like he was rushing people.

This just shows that Jamie is very confident in "Iron Man".

And what Messer lacks most now is the confidence to convince others that "Iron Man" can succeed.

"Mr. Dutton, you know that under normal circumstances, the Marvel board would not be able to grant such a request, unless you can come up with something more to convince them."

Jamie looked at Messer with interest.

"For example?"

Messer replied with a firm gaze:

"A script!"

Messer's words actually have some gambling elements in them.

The fact that Jamie wanted to make a live-action movie about "Iron Man" is not even a secret in Hollywood.

And Jamie even proposed the idea of a cinematic universe earlier, which made Messer more and more convinced that Jamie's acquisition of the copyright to "Iron Man" must be more than just love.

Messer is now betting that Jamie has a full-fledged script ready for Iron Man.

If the bet is won, Messer can take the ready-made script and go to the bank to raise funds.

"Betty!"

Jamie raised his hand and called his assistant to him.

Penny came along, wanting to get into the action faster and not just be a beautiful vase in the eyes of outsiders.

"Write down Mr. Messer's email address and go back and send him the Iron Man script."

Betty immediately nodded in obligation.

After noting Messer's mailbox, Betty and Penny return to their places.

Penny immediately asks Betty about the Iron Man script, and Betty answers unexpectedly.

She shrugged and told Penny that she hadn't seen any Iron Man script.

Anyway, Jamie said yes, then there will definitely be.

As an assistant, she just needs to do the job that Jamie tells her to do.

On the other hand, Ovitz also asked about the script, after Messer left happy, of course.

"I lied to him."

Jamie explained to Ovitz without any guilt:

"I hadn't figured out how to construct the story of Iron Man until today, but what Messer just said inspired me a lot, and now the story is here."

He pointed to his head as he spoke.

As for Jamie's ability to make up stories, Ovitz had already seen it when he and Cameron discussed the follow-up stories of "The Wandering Earth" before.

So he didn't doubt Jamie's statement at all.

What really worries Ovitz is whether the Marvel board will accept Jamie's harsh conditions.

"I can tell that Messer is telling the truth, but from what I know about him, he must be hiding something."

"For example?" Jamie asked, feigning curiosity.

"In a way, I think Messer exaggerates the importance of Iron Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe."

Ovitz glanced at Jamie and immediately added:

"I'm not questioning your script and vision, and I also know that I definitely don't know as much about Marvel as you."

"But even for someone like me who doesn't know much about Marvel, I know that Marvel has at least one superhero who can be used as a replacement for Iron Man."

As soon as the words fell, Jamie preemptively gave him the answer.

"You're talking about Team America, right?"

Ovitz nodded.

In his opinion, the American team has more advantages than Iron Man, and he is a World War II hero.

The abilities of super soldiers are not too exaggerated compared to the abilities of other superheroes.

From the perspective of rationality and closeness to reality, the American team can compete with Iron Man.

"You are right, but unlike the current war in Afghanistan, the United States in World War II was not only the biggest winner, but also occupied absolute justice, which is recognized by all countries in the world."

"But the current war in Afghanistan is different, and while I'm not a conspiracy theorist, it's clear that the United States can't stand on the commanding heights of absolute morality and justice in this war."

"Although the United States is a victim of 911, many countries in the world, including those allies in the same camp, will surely feel that all this is the backlash of the hegemony of the United States in the Middle East over the past decade."

"Even a lot of Americans think so."

"The U.S. team represents the glory of the past, and the traditional ideas he represents may be what the current official wants to advocate, but it is not what the people of today are willing to accept."

"I admit that Team America plays a higher role in deepening the core ideas of the Marvel Cinematic Universe than Iron Man, but without Iron Man, Team America's traditional concept would not be so easily accepted by the audience now."

(End of chapter)