Why did Marvel Comics file for bankruptcy in 1996?

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Christopher Reeve as Superman flies over a city at night, wearing a blue suit with a red cape and yellow belt, from the 1978 film Superman. — Superhero Christopher Reeve in *Superman* (1978).

Marvel Comics filed for bankruptcy in 1996 primarily due to a combination of questionable management decisions and a general slump in sales across the comic book industry.1

Following a period in the 1980s and 1990s where the company changed ownership multiple times, these financial pressures became unsustainable, leading to the bankruptcy filing. Marvel eventually emerged from this process in 1998 and subsequently shifted its strategy to diversify its output and expand its cinematic presence.1