Marvel strikes FX deal, sets toon outlet and may crossover

Marvel's struck a deal with FX for the TV rights to "Iron Man" and "Incredible Hulk." These is a big deal that has potential to pay off for the comics studio big time as evidenced by this passage from John Dempsey's Variety story:

As with most of the basic-cable pre-buys, the net agrees to pony up a license fee that hovers at around 11% of the domestic gross, a figure that cuts off at $200 million. If all five movies end up as $200 million-plus blockbusters -- a very big if, of course -- FX would pay the maximum $22 million apiece for a grand total of $110 million. That's a gigantic license fee, but lots of people watch big-hit movies on cable TV, so there wouldn't be any complaints from FX.

Over at MTV, Robert Downey Jr. talks about the crossover cameos between "Iron Man" and "Incredible Hulk," possibly paving the way for a crossover movie or the hotly anticipated "Avengers" pic.

Meanwhile, Marvel's "Iron Man" and "Wolverine and the X-Men" toons are set to air on Nicktoons in the first quarter of 2009.