在第10屆紐約國際動漫展上，《財富》雜志觀察了一本漫畫書如何成為好萊塢電影，最終成為一個商業帝國的有趣歷程。沒錯，本文講述的正是漫威電影的宇宙系列。

當時，第10屆紐約國際動漫展被數以千計的角色扮演者、動漫收藏家和超級粉絲擠得水泄不通。他們紛紛向心愛的漫畫小說、電子游戲、電影和電視節目表露忠心。

自2006年舉行首屆動漫展以來，來自曼哈頓的簿記員約瑟?維加每年都參加這一盛會。接受《財富》采訪時，他表示，根據自己的參會經歷，這屆動漫展的首日無疑是人數最多的一次。他說：“我有點驚訝，這次比以前要擁擠得多。我覺得動漫展正被越來越多的人接受?！?/p>

如果此話不假，那么幾乎可以肯定，漫威電影宇宙對此功不可沒。

如果你對此不太了解的話，這是一系列關于超級英雄的電影，漫威動畫的所有角色互有關聯。自2008年發布《鋼鐵俠》以來，該公司就一部部地推出電影大片。在這部根據同名漫畫書改編的電影中，小羅伯特?唐尼扮演的億萬富翁托尼?斯塔克身穿一件他自己創造的高科技裝甲套裝，變身為一位令全球恐怖分子聞風喪膽的無敵鋼鐵俠。

根據票房數據公司Box Office Mojo的數據，《鋼鐵俠》的全球票房為5.85億美元，從那時起到現在，漫威系列產品的全球總收入已經接近90億美元。在維加看來，由于它們的火爆，人們對紐約漫展的狂熱看起來像是古代才有的事情。

維加表示：“漫威展臺的人氣比以前旺多了。電影帶來了許多觀眾……我注意到過去幾年來，他們的粉絲數量一直在穩步增長?！?/p>

從漫畫書到系列電影

這一切并非偶然。自2007年起，漫威電影宇宙就開始拍攝電影，到目前為止，它走過了三個苦心規劃的階段。

第一階段的電影介紹了漫威的所有角色，以2012年的《復仇者聯盟》為終點。

第二階段的電影在現有的角色上進行了劇情拓展，還引入了新角色，例如2015年的《復仇者聯盟2：奧創紀元》和《蟻人》。

漫威動畫計劃在2016年進入第三階段，屆時將推出的電影包括《美國隊長3：內戰》和《奇異博士》。這一階段還會有兩部《復仇者》續集。該公司還在不久前宣布將于2018年推出《蟻人》的續集《蟻人與黃蜂女》。

每個人都在猜測接下來還會有什么電影。不過目前似乎可以肯定，沒有人想要讓“綠巨人”和他的朋友們在可預見的將來優雅謝幕。實際上，在2014年接受彭博新聞社采訪時，漫威工作室的董事長凱文?費格就表示，他們拍攝電影的計劃可以延續到2028年。

迪士尼是笑到最后的贏家

如果他們真的做到這一點，并且目前的趨勢能夠持續下去，那么，迪士尼公司將會獲得一筆史無前例的收入（國防業除外）。然而，人們之前并不這么想。迪士尼在2010年以40億美元收購漫威娛樂時，其股價曾經下跌。畢竟，漫威最流行的角色蜘蛛俠已經屬于索尼影視了，誰想去看一堆關于“雷神托爾”的電影？

但如今，迪士尼顯然才是笑到最后的贏家。兩部“托爾”電影在全球共斬獲超過10億美元的收入。

超能力的“北歐人托爾”和“美國隊長”等其他角色讓漫威厚積薄發，贏得了品牌認可。很難想象，如果沒有如此高的品牌認同，2015年夏天上映的《蟻人》能夠在全球獲得4.1億美元的票房。當年10月7日，迪士尼公司2015年度的總票房突破40億美元大關。正是《蟻人》和《復仇者聯盟2：奧創紀元》的助陣，才使得迪士尼完成了這樣的壯舉。

網上發行

迪士尼為漫威勾畫的藍圖并不僅僅限于大銀幕。2015年，漫威與流媒體服務商Netflix合作的劇集《超膽俠》首次亮相，它的成功足以激勵該公司在2016年拍攝第二季。如果你等不了那么久，還可以看看《杰西卡?瓊斯》，這部劇集已經在2015年11月在這家流媒體服務平臺上線。兩部劇集都是為漫威的另一部連續短劇《捍衛者》做準備。有人預測，這部作品也會衍生出系列電影。

除了電影大片，他們還出售衍生產品。

漫威在網店銷售自己的品牌商品，包括以復仇者為主題的Dooney & Bourke尼龍挎包（售價268美元），以及漫畫藝術家亞歷克斯?羅斯設計的《秘密戰爭》藝術微噴（售價1,500美元）等等。漫威也沒有忘記孩子們，店里還有身穿反綠巨人裝甲的鋼鐵俠模型和托爾的雷神之錘模型（售價25美元）。

不過，漫威也不是唯一出產超級英雄的公司。2016年《蝙蝠俠大戰超人：正義黎明》也將上市，這是2013年電影《超人：鋼鐵之軀》的續集。這部電影將會有《潛水俠》和《神力女超人》的人物出場。隨著英雄們擁擠出場，消費者很可能會感受到超級英雄疲勞癥。如果真的這樣，請不要慌張。

此后兩個月，《星球大戰：原力覺醒》如期上映，這是迪士尼在2012年收購盧卡斯影業之后推出的第一部星戰系列電影。當時，該電影甚至還沒開始賣票，就被預計將獲得20億美元的收入。制片方還計劃推出大量續集和衍生產品。所以，不要為迪士尼哭泣。無論如何，這家公司畢竟還有鋼鐵俠和R2-D2這樣的人氣角色為其貢獻收入。（財富中文網）

譯者：嚴匡正

審校：任文科

At the 10th Annual New York Comic Con, Fortune takes a look at the amazing path a comic book series took to Hollywood movie franchise, and more.

The 10th Annual New York Comic Con was in full swing, and thousands of cosplayers, comic collectors and all-around superfans have swarmed to Manhattan’s sprawling Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to pledge fealty to their beloved graphic novels, video games, movies and television shows.

Jose Vega, a bookkeeper from Manhattan, has attended the festivities every year since the first gathering took place in 2006. He told Fortune that the opening day of the convention was the most crowded Thursday he’s ever seen in all his years of attendance, hands down.“I’m just surprised,” he said. “It’s more packed than normal. I think the con is becoming more mainstream.”

If this is true, you almost certainly have the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU, to thank for it.

If you don’t know what that is, it’s a superhero movie series with interconnected Marvel Comics characters, and it’s been producing one cinematic blockbuster after another since 2008’s “Iron Man.” An adaptation of the comic book of the same name, Robert Downey, Jr. plays billionaire Tony Stark, who dons a high-tech armored suit of his own creation to become the invincible Iron Man, scourge of global terrorism.

According to Box Office Mojo, “Iron Man” went on to earn $585 million at the worldwide box office, and since then, the properties released under the MCU rubric have collectively earned almost $9 billion globally. In Vega’s view, their popularity has made Comic Con’s longtime cult status a thing of the distant past.

“The Marvel booth was a lot more crowded,” Vega said. “The movies brought a lot of people… I’ve noticed a steady increase for the past couple of years.”

From comic book to movie franchise

None of this has happened by accident. The movies of the MCU have been in production since 2007, and so far comprise three painstakingly planned phases.

The first phase introduced all of the characters and culminated in 2012’s “The Avengers.”

The second expanded on the existing characters and introduced new ones, in such films as 2015’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Ant-Man.”

The third phase begins its planned rollout in 2016 with “Captain America: Civil War” and “Doctor Strange.” This phase will see two further “Avengers” sequels and the 2018 sequel to “Ant-Man” that was just announced, “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”

What happens after that is anybody’s guess. But for now, it seems safe to assume that nobody’s thinking about having the Hulk or any of his colleagues bow out gracefully anytime in the foreseeable future. In fact, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told Bloomberg News in 2014 that there have been proposals to keep making movies as far off as the year 2028.

Disney’s get a lucrative last laugh

If that happens, and current trends hold, Walt Disney Studios stands to make a sum of money that is without precedent outside of the defense industry. However, that wasn’t always the conventional view. When Disney bought Marvel Entertainment in 2010 for $4 billion, Disney’s stock price dropped. After all, Marvel’s most popular character, Spiderman, already belonged to Sony Pictures, and who wants to see a bunch of movies about Thor?

That Disney had the last laugh is now beyond dispute. The two “Thor” movies grossed over $1 billion combined at the worldwide box office.

The success of the super-powered Norseman and such other also-ran properties as Captain America built momentum and brand recognition for Marvel, and it’s hard to imagine that last summer’s “Ant-Man” would have taken in $410 million at the worldwide box office otherwise. So when Walt Disney Studios crossed the $4 billion mark at the 2015 global box office on October 7, “Ant-Man” and “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” had helped make that unparalleled success a reality.

Online distribution

Disney isn’t limiting Marvel’s reach to the big screen. 2015 also saw the premiere of “Daredevil” on Netflix, and it was successful enough to earn a second season in 2016. If you can’t wait that long, there’s also “Jessica Jones,” which is scheduled to premiere on the streaming service in November 2015. Both shows lead up to the “Defenders” miniseries, another Marvel property that, one assumes, will spawn other franchises.

And there’s the stuff for sale

Marvel also sells branded merchandise in its shop, including a $268 Avengers Nylon Satchel by Dooney & Bourke and a $1500 ”Secret Wars” Giclée by comic artist Alex Ross. The Marvel shop hasn’t forgotten about the kids either, and sells such urchin bait as the $25 Iron Man Hulkbuster Action Figure and Thor’s mighty hammer, Mj?lnir.

Marvel isn’t the only studio in the superhero game. 2016 will see the release of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” the sequel to 2013’s “Man of Steel.” The movie will feature appearances by Aquaman and Wonder Woman, and with a field that crowded, there is a very real risk of consumers contractinga terminal case of superhero fatigue. If this happens, don’t panic.

Two months later, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” opened, the first film in the “Star Wars” saga since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. The movie has been projected to earn $2 billion before a single ticket has even gone on sale, and it’s scheduled to be followed by numerous sequels and spin-offs. So weep not for Walt Disney Studios. With Iron Man and R2-D2 in its talent pool, the company will probably be okay, whatever happens.