Why Graphic Novels Are Lucrative IP for Web3: From MEFaverse to Metaverse

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Marvel's multi-billion dollar IP business is devouring the movie and streaming market, but the metaverse is providing new opportunities and creating a whole new market.

Marvel is valued at nearly $6 billion for movies alone, $40 billion for streaming, and around $3 billion for consumer products, according to a 2021 Forbes analysis. media dominates the lion's share of graphic novel intellectual property in entertainment within film and streaming, the metaverse offers new opportunities for graphic novel intellectual property. The "entertainment metaverse" market share is expected to reach $28.92 billion by 2026.

The entertainment market is essentially expanding with the creation of the Metaverse, providing opportunities to replicate the lucrative success that Marvel has enjoyed. But what made Marvel so popular and why is the multiverse ready for the metaverse?

Since the inception of the metaverse as a concept, some of the earliest explorations have included creating and adapting graphic novels for this new virtual environment. From Method Man's MEFaverse comic, to Dan LuVisi's adaptation of the iconic Last Man Standing: Killbook of a Bounty Hunter, to Killtopia for Japan "Otaku" community of manga and anime fans.

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But why is the IP of graphic novels so attractive to directors writing for a digital medium with an interactive audience? And what opportunities do they potentially remain on the table? To understand the appeal of graphic novel IP, just look at the formula for success that Marvel and DC have built.

Marvel's intellectual property is not a story, but a universe that continues to expand. Recent editions of Marvel's on-screen world include She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Ms. Marvel and the upcoming Secret Invasion. The stories that come to life in film and television are often based on specific heroes from this universe or, more accurately, the multiverse.

In the movies, appearance-altering costumes, special makeup FX, and visual effects (VFX) allow directors to choose different actors to play the same character in the franchise. The most popular and talented actors, the most followed in the box office target population, can in turn play the hero. In fact, actors no longer need to sign long-term multi-movie contracts with Marvel.

The Metaverse offers even more creative diversity. Graphic novel characters can be customizable to the themes of different concept artists, and the same character can travel through a manga world in a photoreal world. Perhaps a good take on Dr. Strange's journey through the multiverses, as we see him go into a variety of differently stylized works...