The True Story Behind WWE's Deal With Marvel

Hogan WWF Champ
WWE.com

It's an almost direct reversal of the situation some three decades ago, when WWE were hitting the heights of their original 'Golden Era' pomp. Back then, the company wanted Marvel to have as little to do with their singularly popular product as possible - and for one extremely sound economical reason.

The night Hulk Hogan set Hulkamania loose in his history-making defeat of The Iron Sheik at MSG on 23 January 1984, the soon-to-be new champ was introduced to the ring under the guise 'The Incredible Hulk Hogan'. The nom de guerre would stick for the next few months, until a writ arrived in Stamford from lawyers representing Cadence Industries Corp. - the parent company of Marvel Comics.

This was three years before WWE's legal attack dog Jerry McDevitt earned himself a job for life in acquitting Jim Neidhart of assault, and a company just beginning to make a name for itself didn't yet have the brass balls to stare down the challenge. The company settled a convoluted licensing agreement with the cartoonists that stipulated the name 'Hulk Hogan' could never be used in conjunction with the adjective 'Incredible', that 'Hulk' wasn't to be promoted independently, and certainly not more prominently than Mr. Bollea's fictional surname. Furthermore, a green and purple scheme was entirely off-limits for the character, giving rise to the Hulkster's famous red and yellow combination - about as far away on the colour wheel as possible.

The amount of concessions Titan made to Marvel is stupefying in the context of a company which today rarely backs down from a legal fight. Even more galling are the financial forfeitures WWE yielded to their comic counterparts. For the length of the twenty-year licensing agreement, the company would cough up $100 to Marvel for every match Hulk Hogan featured in. In addition, between 0.9 - 1% of all the Hulkster's merchandising sales wound up in the licensee's coffers.

1% on a five dollar lunch box might only amount to a nickel, but given the sheer quantity of apples and oranges Hogan's face was about to guard in schoolkids' backpacks, it quickly added up. With virtually no effort on their part, Marvel turn litigation into a profit centre. According to some enterprising number-crunching by the assiduous folks at Pro Wrestling Stories, the Incredible Hulk coincinym raked in approximately $110,200 for Marvel based on the match condition alone. They further estimate that the iconic 'Hulkamania' shirts brought home about half a million dollars. In effect, WWE indirectly contributed to the gradual revival and ultimate explosion of Marvel - one which would see their own relevance supplanted.

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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.