After filing for bankruptcy in the 1990s, Marvel has had a renaissance in recent years, largely thanks to its enormously popular Marvel Cinematic Universe of overlapping films featuring some of the most popular superheroes in comic-book history (which made big news last week with the announcement of Phase 3 of that film universe, with a number of titles slated over the next several years). It took a long time — 75 years, to be exact — for Marvel Comics to reach this point, but it’s a fascinating history, and one that will be explored in the one-hour ABC special Marvel: 75 
Years, From Pulp to Pop!, premiering Nov. 4 at 9pm ET and hosted by Emily VanCamp.
From ABC:
“The special goes back to Marvel’s roots, beginning in 1939 as Timely Comics with Martin Goodman and Stan Lee emerging as key figures in Marvel’s history in the 1940s, along with the creation of Captain America, the impact of World War II and the decline of superhero stories and subsequent downfall of the comic book industry in the 1950s. After a decade of decline, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the modern super hero team in 1961 with the Fantastic Four, helping to bring back superhero stories and ushering in “The Marvel Age,” which saw the creation of the Hulk, Iron Man, The X-Men and Spider-Man. A shift in the character paradigm in the 1970s also brought culturally relevant characters such as the Black Panther, Falcon, Black Widow, Luke Cage and Ms. Marvel to the forefront. But the mid-1990s were not so kind to Marvel as the company fell into bankruptcy. However, a new batch of creative visionaries brought about a modern day renaissance, revitalizing publishing. Soon, after Marvel saw its characters and stories take over the silver screen, and Marvel Studios was born, leading into today’s successes on the big screen and television.”
Given ABC and Marvel’s shared parent in Disney, it’s likely this special may turn out to be primarily an infomercial for Marvel’s current and upcoming films, but the company does have an incredible history, and it’s likely fan-favorite heroes will turn up in one way or another, both in film clips and comic-book images.
Marvel: 75 Years, From Pulp to Pop! premieres Nov. 4 at 9pm ET on ABC.
Guees it won’t be on tonight thanks to all of the stupid election coverage. Thanks alot for advertising a show and not actually broadcasting it.