Inside The Marvel Clash: Ex-Chairman Denies Kevin Feige Firing Claim

Former Marvel Chairman Isaac Perlmutter Denies Trying To Fire Kevin Feige In 2015 And Criticizes Marvel’s Movie Production Costs.

By Amitabh Mukherji
April 7,2023
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Isaac Perlmutter, former Marvel chairman, recently claimed that he did not attempt to get Kevin Feige fired in 2015. The tension between the two reached its peak in 2015, and Feige went to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who partitioned off Marvel Studios’ business from the rest of the company and away from Perlmutter. Perlmutter denied any intention of trying to get Kevin Feige fired from the company, describing their clash as a disagreement over budgeting.

Perlmutter Critical Of Marvel’s Production Costs

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Marvel Studios

According to The Wall Street Journal, Perlmutter received profit-and-loss statements for every film Marvel Studios produced before having his access to such reports cut off in 2021. He was largely critical of the amounts being spent on these productions. Despite being denied access to Marvel’s financials, Perlmutter requested to see the studio’s statements on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ profitability. He also complained to then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek that Feige’s team’s spending was out of control.

Kevin Feige Vs Isaac Perlmutter Explained

Kevin Feige Vs Isaac Perlmutter

Marvel Studios was in a different place in the mid-2010s. It was responsible for one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, but it was also at the mercy of the Marvel Creative Committee, which kneecapped many of the choices made by directors and producers on their MCU films. Furthermore, Feige and his team were under the thumb of Perlmutter, who was notoriously frugal. He would insist on getting more use out of memo pads by ripping them up into smaller pieces.

Perlmutter was also highly resistant to green-lighting Black Panther and Captain Marvel, arguing that movies starring Black people and women wouldn’t be profitable. However, both films went on to gross over a billion dollars each. After a certain point, Kevin Feige went over Perlmutter’s head and straight to Bob Iger, who restructured Marvel Studios so that Feige reported directly to Disney Studios head Alan Horn. Perlmutter was relegated to control of Marvel’s TV division.

Perlmutter Laid Off From Marvel And Disney

Perlmutter

Perlmutter has been laid off from his position with Marvel and Disney, leaving the 80-year-old to presumably collect all of his millions of dollars into a giant bin and keep it all to himself, Scrooge McDuck style.

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