The new book, MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, has unveiled a lot of Marvel juicy bits, including a Steve Jobs-Disney connection. Marvel was going through a period of financial struggles and the CEO of Marvel at the time, Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, was desperately searching for ways to save the studio. As per the book, Steve Jobs played a crucial role in Disney’s acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009, which saved the studio eventually.
Disney purchased the studio for $4 billion and compensated Marvel’s shareholders with both money and shares. With Disney as its parent company, Marvel turned over a new leaf, ultimately building a movie franchise valued at nearly $30 billion.
Steve Jobs’s Role In Disney’s Marvel Acquisition
After facing power struggles within the company he co-founded, Steve Jobs departed from Apple in 1985. He funded the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm in 1986, which later became an independent Graphics Group called Pixar. Jobs was credited as the executive producer of Toy Story, the first film from Pixar in partnership with Disney, released in 1995.
The Disney-Pixar relationship became strained after the negotiations between the former’s CEO Michael Eisner and Jobs fell apart in 2004. Jobs even declared that Pixar would never collaborate with the entertainment conglomerate. However, when Bob Iger took over as the new head at Disney, he made efforts to repair the relationship with Jobs. The negotiations resulted in the acquisition of Pixar. Jobs, who secured a 7% ownership stake in the company, became its largest shareholder, even surpassing Eisner.
Bob Iger counted on Pixar’s success to convince Marvel Entertainment to agree to the acquisition. In the newly released book, MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, it is revealed that Bob Iger tasked Steve Jobs with the responsibility of personally calling Ike Perlmutter and explaining the benefits of the Pixar acquisition. It can be assumed that Jobs was successful in this task, as Marvel eventually agreed to the deal.
Disney’s Marvel Acquisition Helped The Brand Achieve Billion-dollar Success
The acquisition played a crucial role in revitalizing the Marvel brand in several ways. After the acquisition, Perlmutter was allowed to continue in his position. However, Disney soon found out the creative differences between Perlmutter and Kevin Feige concerning the MCU movies. The tussle between Perlmutter and Feige continued until Captain America: Civil War when the company finally decided to intervene.
Through its infamous Marvel Creative Committee, the studio made several bad decisions including one to remove Iron Man from Civil War, which Feige opposed. The parent company finally severed ties between Perlmutter and the movie franchise, bringing the MCU directly under Feige’s control and the company’s purview. This decision is believed to have positively impacted the quality of further MCU films.
In 2019, the mass media company also placed Marvel Television under Feige, a decision that began the streaming of MCU series on Disney+. MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, written by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards, is now available to purchase on Amazon.
