Netflix has officially acquired Mark Millar's Millarworld comic book publishing company, with plans to develop its own movies and TV series based on Millar's original content. Millar will still continue to develop original stories and character properties for the streaming giant in the future, under the Netflix label.

The co-creator of the comic book source material for Kick-Ass, Kingsman and Wanted, Millar is also the author of the comic book storylines that helped inspire such box office hits as Marvel Studios' Captain America: Civil War and 20th Century Fox's Logan. Millar has increasingly turned his focus towards developing comic book properties with an eye on big screen adaptations, following the success of the original Kick-Ass movie back in 2010. The writer's in-development film slate currently includes such titles as the cosmic buddy adventure Chrononauts and the unconventional superhero drama, Superior, among other comic book-based projects that span an array of different genres and sub-genres (see also Millar's twisted supervillain series Nemesis).

Here is the official statement issued by Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos, regarding the company's acquisition of Millarworld:

“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. We can’t wait to harness the creative power of Millarworld to Netflix and start a new era in global storytelling.”

Millar, who runs Millarworld with his wife Lucy, has also issued an official statement, regarding the Netflix deal:

“This is only the third time in history a major comic book company has been purchased at this level. I’m so in love with what Netflix is doing and excited by their plans. Netflix is the future and Millarworld couldn’t have a better home.”

Fox will release the sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle in theaters this fall and could move forward with a Kingsman 3 after that. However, it is not clear yet whether or not the Netflix/Millarworld deal will have any impact on the many Millar comic book movie adaptations that Fox has been working on in recent years. That list includes not only Chrononauts and Superior, but also the sci-fi titles Empress and Starlight (some of which were being co-produced by Kick-Ass and Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn, with an eye on potentially directing).

The acquisition of Millarworld is an extension of Netflix's ongoing expansion efforts; something that has led the company to take out a $500 million credit line, in order to further help finance. Netflix has already joined forces with Marvel TV to produce several popular small screen series and will be releasing new original movies directed by such name filmmakers as David Ayer (Bright), Ava DuVernay (the untitled Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o buddy comedy) and Martin Scorsese (The Irishman) over the next couple of years. It remains to be seen, however, if Netflix's joint efforts with these directors and Millar prove to be as mutually beneficial as their previous collaborations have been.

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Source: Netflix

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