"Huang, as per your request, I've sent out the creation of this new superhero!" Isaac Perlman said.
The entire setup of this superhero was arranged by Huang He, and Isaac Perlman was merely the one to announce Huang He's commands.
"Huang, will this superhero really be popular?" Isaac Perlman asked with a hint of concern. He actually disliked this superhero because it was completely different from American tastes.
Americans liked superheroes who gained their powers through money, mutations, or lineage. Isaac Perlman was quite worried about a hero who relied on self-cultivation to gain superpowers, especially one that used Chinese cultivation scriptures. He found it hard to imagine such a superhero becoming popular, let alone becoming a future pillar of Marvel.
"Perhaps!" Huang He didn't know either, as this character didn't exist in his previous life. This was entirely created by Huang He himself, and who knew if this superhero would be popular?
However, this character would definitely allow Chinese culture to gradually permeate into America, and it would also spark an interest in cultivation for some Americans, leading them to learn more about Chinese culture through cultivation. That would be enough.
Some people might think that Huang He was insulting Chinese culture, and that Chinese cultivation should not be shared with foreigners.
Please, this is about invading foreign markets, and currently, America holds the cultural advantage. If Americans saw a Chinese person dominating in America, constantly blowing up cities, would Americans accept it?
Therefore, the protagonist had to be American, but his cultural core and abilities were Chinese. This was essentially a Trojan horse, meant to promote Chinese culture.
Of course, Huang He couldn't answer like that, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry. Although everything you said is correct, the very points you mentioned are precisely why current superheroes are too similar. Now, here's a completely different superhero who doesn't rely on any external powers but solely on his own strength. I believe readers will be interested."
"Moreover, it involves mysterious Chinese cultivation techniques, which at least provides enough hype. Furthermore, there will be Chinese Xianxia-related movies released in the future, which will boost overall popularity. There won't be any problems!"
"..." Isaac Perlman shrugged. He didn't care anymore. Huang He was the boss, and as long as he didn't hinder Isaac Perlman's authority, that was fine.
Thus, the task was issued. Eventually, a Chinese-American editor at Marvel acquired the rights to create this hero. This editor grew up reading Jin Yong and was very familiar with both traditional Chinese culture and American culture. His capabilities as an editor were unquestionable.
Additionally, Huang He assigned a senior editor to be responsible for the superhero's plot. Huang He had only one principle for the plot: it had to be satisfying, arranged however it could be most satisfying.
Finally, Huang He established a preparatory committee at Marvel Studios to select directors and actors, and to prepare for the filming of Iron Man.
Marvel Studios was not a newly established company. In fact, Marvel Studios was founded as early as '93 and had been involved in various film and television-related businesses, even planning and shooting two or three TV series. It was a film and television company with considerable work experience.
Therefore, Marvel Studios only needed a slight reorganization to begin movie preparation.
Oh, right, Huang He directly transferred a guy named Kevin Feige to become the head of Marvel Studios. Historically, it was this Kevin Feige who single-handedly built the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Copying the answer should be fine.
Kevin Feige was also very excited. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was also something he dreamed of, and the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with Iron Man, was the result of Kevin Feige's careful consideration and market observation.
He just didn't expect this idea to be completely identical to the new boss, which greatly surprised Kevin Feige, making him feel like he had found a kindred spirit.
However, legend has it that after Kevin Feige took office, he was called into the new boss's office for a day-long private meeting. Afterward, Kevin Feige's expression was a bit peculiar, but when asked what happened, he refused to say anything.
After completing his work with Marvel and Weta Workshop, Huang He had basically finished his business in the United States. A day later, he boarded a flight back to China. He expected to return to China smoothly, but unexpectedly, he encountered a severe storm mid-flight. The plane had to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles Airport, and the earliest it could resume its journey was tomorrow.
"I can't believe I'm back!" Boss Huang exclaimed. When he landed in the United States ten days earlier, it was at this same Los Angeles International Airport.
Originally, he was flying back directly from New York this time, but he ended up landing in Los Angeles. It made one marvel at the strangeness of fate, but more strangeness was yet to come.
Since the flight was scheduled to resume the next morning, Huang He did not choose to go into the city to rest. Instead, he opted to stay at a hotel directly at Los Angeles International Airport.
However, what no one could have anticipated was that the closed-circuit television in the hotel where Huang He was staying was broken. He called a service staff member to fix it, but the staff member said it couldn't be repaired.
He wanted to switch rooms, but due to the increasing number of emergency landings, the hotel had no vacant rooms.
However, the staff member mentioned that their hotel was equipped with DVDs. If he wanted to watch a movie, he could directly go to a nearby video rental store to buy a DVD and then play it in the hotel.
When renting DVDs, he could use his hotel room card for registration, which would exempt him from a deposit and allow the hotel front desk to return it directly, saving him the trouble of returning the discs.
Since he had nothing else to do, Huang He strolled to a DVD rental store just a wall away from the hotel.
"Huh, this store name seems a bit familiar!" Huang He looked at the Netflix sign, but couldn't recall it for a moment.
So, he decided to go into the store first to pick out a DVD. However, he found that all the movies were in English, which was quite frustrating.
But soon, at the very back of the store, Huang He discovered an area marked with an "18x" sign. It was also separated by a curtain, and a store clerk stood guard at the entrance, warily watching any minors attempting to enter.
"Right, I'll watch this!" Huang He slapped his thigh. Although he couldn't understand English movies, for this type of movie, he wouldn't need to understand any English at all. He could just follow the plot.
Moreover, Leng Zhiruo was by his side. They could learn and practice together later... Thinking of this, Huang He couldn't help but eagerly rush into the curtain.
About twenty minutes later, Huang He emerged with ten DVDs and proudly went to pay.
The clerk was completely unfazed by this. Many East Asians who came here were the same. They would even ask if he had an invoice or something, which was rather amusing.
"Thank you for supporting Netflix," the clerk said habitually after scanning the items.
"Clang!" The DVDs in Huang He's hands scattered on the floor.
"Sir, is there a problem?" the clerk asked, surprised, looking at Huang He.
"It's nothing. You said your company is called Netflix, right?" Huang He asked in broken English.
"Yes!" the clerk nodded.
"Then, may I ask where your company headquarters is located? Can you give me the specific address?" Huang He asked impatiently.
"Are you trying to complain about me?" the clerk looked at Huang He fearfully. "Is there anything about my service that has not met your satisfaction?"
"Of course, there are no problems. I just want to meet your CEO and discuss acquiring your company!" Huang He said with a smile.
"..." The clerk fell silent, looking at Huang He as if he were an idiot.
"This is for you," Huang He pulled out a $100 bill and handed it to the clerk.
"Hello, our company headquarters is located in Los Gatos, California..." the clerk said quickly.
---
"Brother-in-law, why did it take you so long to rent a movie?" Leng Zhiruo asked when they returned to the hotel.
"Cough, cough, tidy up, then notify the other employees, and we'll leave immediately!" Huang He said quickly.
"Going back to China? Has the airport reopened?" Leng Zhiruo asked, surprised.
"No, I don't know if the airport has reopened, but we're not taking this flight. Go call the airline and say we're canceling our tickets." Huang He said quickly.
"Canceling tickets? Brother-in-law, where are you planning to go?"
"Yes, we're going to Los Gatos, right now!" Huang He said impatiently, then muttered to himself, "Damn it, I thought Netflix hadn't been established yet..."
Indeed, Huang He had a new target, and that target was the future renowned Netflix. As the world's largest and strongest streaming media provider in the future, Netflix's earning potential even surpassed that of the six major Hollywood studios combined.
Huang He had always believed that Netflix had not been established yet because the internet in 2002 was not sufficient to support an online streaming media enterprise. For example, the future famous YouTube wouldn't be created until 2005, so Huang He assumed Netflix would be founded around the same time, until today when he saw the Netflix logo in the DVD rental store downstairs.
Afterward, Huang He obtained detailed information about Netflix. It turned out to be an enterprise founded in 1997, whose main business was DVD rentals. They had opened over 20 DVD rental stores in California, making them a large chain enterprise throughout the state.
When viewed in the context of the entire United States, it was merely a small insect, an inconspicuous DVD company.
However, Huang He noticed that starting from this year, Netflix had introduced a mail delivery service. Users only needed to become a member of Netflix and pay a monthly membership fee of $10, and then they could rent a DVD from Netflix for free each month.
This service didn't seem particularly special, but users could not only rent discs at Netflix stores but also log in to the Netflix official website online, browse the catalog of discs, place an order, and Netflix would then mail the desired discs to the user's mailbox via express delivery.
Because the discs were light in volume and weight, they didn't require express delivery and could be mailed directly through the postal service, greatly reducing mailing costs. Netflix then boldly announced free postage, allowing users to choose any disc they liked to watch.
Some people might worry about users taking advantage of this. While there would be some exploitation, it would be difficult to exploit extensively because users could only rent one or at most two discs at a time. And if a set of discs were mailed, it would take at least 2-3 days on the way, making the round trip about a week.
Users could rent five to six sets at most per month, so the cost was not high at all. As for users who rented and didn't return, it didn't matter. They were already paying $10 per month for membership, and this $10 was enough to offset the loss of discs.
Netflix even explicitly told users that if they encountered a DVD of a movie they liked, they could keep it by simply reporting it to Netflix.
Then, they would only need to pay an additional $5 to continue their membership service.
Netflix's policy was groundbreaking. In just half a year, Netflix achieved great success in California. It was said that half of the DVD rental market in California was now occupied by Netflix.