July 17 (Reuters) – Marvel Comics will relocate its publishing division from New York City to Burbank, California, ending a nearly 90-year presence in the city where the comic book publisher was founded, The Hollywood Reporter said.
Employees were informed at a town hall meeting at Marvel’s Midtown Manhattan office that the publishing unit would move to Burbank, home to Marvel Studios and parent Walt Disney’s entertainment operations, the media outlet reported on Thursday.
The move comes alongside a leadership shake-up at the comics division. Stephen Wacker, a longtime Marvel editor and producer, has been named editor-in-chief, replacing C.B. Cebulski, who has led the division since 2017, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Disney did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
New York was home to many of Marvel’s most influential creators, including Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and served as the setting for several of its best-known characters and teams, including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.
Marvel is now seeking to have all of the New York-based employees of the comics and franchise group, just over 100 people, relocate to California by July next year, according to the report.
The relocation reflects Marvel’s push to more closely align its comics division, the source of many of its characters and storylines, with its film, television and animation businesses.
The changes come as Marvel is betting on a year-end release of “Avengers: Doomsday” to revive momentum in its film franchise after several recent releases failed to match the box-office success of the studio’s earlier blockbuster run.
(Reporting by Rashika Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
