Marvel Studios
The next film licensed from Marvel Studios was "Spider-Man" by Columbia Pictures, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man. The film was released on May 3, 2002, grossing $403,706,375 in the United States and Canada and $821,708,551 worldwide. The early success of "Spider-Man" led the film's studio to issue a seven-figure advance for a sequel. Arad spoke of the deal, "Movies make sequels. Therefore, it's a big economic luxury to know that a movie's going to get a second and third. This is a business of precedence." According to a Lehman Brothers analysis, the Studios made only $62 million for the first 2 Spider-Man movies. Marvel was making more from half the consumer product licensing fees while making relatively little from the movie, but was enough for Marvel to regain its financial footings. In October 2002, Marvel Studios announced deals for Sub-Mariner and Prime with Universal Studios.
Superhero film
Alex Proyas' "The Crow" (1994) became the first independent comics superhero film that established a franchise. As Joel Schumacher's "Batman & Robin" (1997) was critically panned for being too jokey and tongue-in-cheek, "The Crow" brought in a new realm of violence absent in previous popular superhero films targeted at younger audiences and bridging a gap to the more modern action film. The success of "The Crow" catalyzed the release of a film version of "Spawn" (1997), Image Comics' leading character. The success of the "darker" Image Comics characters shifted the direction of comic book movies. Marvel soon released their films to become franchises, "Men in Black" (1997) and "Blade" (1998). After Marvel bought Malibu Comics (The company owned "Men in Black"), Marvel and Columbia Pictures released the "Men in Black" film and comics in 1997. The film became the first Marvel property to win an Oscar and the then highest-grossing comic book adaptation until the release of Sam Raimi’s "Spider-Man" in 2002. "Blade" was also a mix of a more traditional action film as well as darker superhero film with the title character having vampire powers as well as carrying an arsenal of weaponry. The success of "Blade" began Marvel's film success (which debuted in Marvel Comics) and set the stage for further comic book film adaptations.