SCOTS comic hero Mark Millar hailed the "biggest news ever" today as international entertainment company Netflix bought his firm for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition is the first in the history of the streaming firm and will see the US streaming giant develop films, TV series and children's content from characters created by the Glasgow-based writer.
Announcing the move yesterday, Millar said: "Warner Bros bought DC Comics in 1968. Disney bought Marvel in 2009. Today Netflix purchased Millarworld and I’m still blinking. This is only the third time in history a comic-book company purchase on this scale has ever happened."
Millar made his name working on long-established comic franchises like Superman, X-Men and The Avengers before branching out to create his own universe of heroes like Dave Lizewski of Kick-Ass – a teenage vigilante based on Millar's own youthful fantasies – and Gary London of spy hit Kingsman.
Both of those characters spawned big budget Hollywood movies, with much of Millar's earlier work informing recent blockbusters like Logan and Captain America:Civil War, which took more than $1.1 billion at the box office.
Now other works from his publishing company like Jupiter's Legacy and Reborn could be heading for the small screen as Netflix – which has already developed several series based on Marvel characters – aims to capitalise on the continuing popularity of Millar's fantastical works.
Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix, said: "As creator and re-inventor of some of the most memorable stories and characters in recent history, ranging from Marvel’s The Avengers to Millarworld’s Kick-Ass, Kingsman, Wanted and Reborn franchises, Mark is as close as you can get to a modern-day Stan Lee.”
Announcing the deal, Millar, from Coatbridge, paid tribute to his wife Lucy Millar, a director in the company. The couple met with Netflix execs last Christmas and yesterday he said: "She’s the genuine business brain at our company. She and I had flights from Scotland to LA for sometimes just three hours of meetings during this lengthy negotiation, scrabbling for baby-sitters and jet-lagged to Hell, but still she managed to always be smiling, keeping it all on-track."
Millar fell in love with comics as a child and before making it big lived on a Lanarkshire farm with his cat. The writer could only afford dinner for one of them each night and eventually the cat left to get regular meals at a neighbouring house.
He is now preparing to "strategise the next steps" with executives in Los Angeles and will soon reveal details of a charitable foundation established by the couple aimed at revitalising parts of Coatbridge.
It is understood that the five-year charity building project has local government backing and Millar said: "We can’t wait to go public with the idea. I’ve had an enormous amount of luck in my life – none more than today – and I look forward to explaining how I’m planning to use what this deal brings us to help improve an area I grew up in and owe everything to.
"Comics have been my passion my entire life. I started working with them as a teenager and I’ve never been more excited about where we’re going next as Millarworld joins the Netflix team.
"I feel like Richard Dreyfuss, wide-eyed and walking around the mothership at the end of Close Encounters when I see their global plans and it’s crazy-exciting to be a part of it.
"This is going to be brilliant."
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