10 Fascinating Comic Moments That Almost Happened
2. Marvel Almost Bought DC/DC Almost Bought Marvel
There have actually been various times over the years, where Marvel and DC characters could have shared the same universe.
The first known instance of this was in the seventies. DC were in financial trouble and tried to make a deal with Marvel to sell-off some of their characters. Marvel backed out of the deal though when they found out they wouldn't be getting Superman or Batman. Marvel also had an opportunity in the eighties to licence the DC characters (essentially meaning DC would have to pay Marvel to use their own heroes), but the deal collapsed due to legal issues.
The tables were turned during the nineties, when Marvel's business collapsed and they faced bankruptcy. Warner Bros. (who own DC) were offered a chance to buy the entirety of Marvel, but ultimately decided to pass on the opportunity.
There were also going to be more amicable deals between the two, involving characters crossing between universes. The plan for for Wonder Woman and Daredevil (whose titles were about equal in sales) to swap places for a year, with Diana Prince coming over to the Marvel Universe and Matt Murdock would spend time in the DC Universe. Unfortunately, concerns over copyright led to the plan's cancellation.
Looks like we're stuck until Disney or Google just buys every corporation on the planet.