Chadwick Boseman bestowed Marvel buffs with perhaps one of the most iconic superheroes in the treasure trove of the MCU. The late actor – who portrayed the eponymous character in Black Panther – is ubiquitously cherished by fans even today, over half a decade after his debut as the regal and peerless T’Challa. And rightly so.
Surprisingly enough, we almost didn’t get the cinematic masterpiece helmed by Ryan Coogler owing to a former Marvel executive’s controversially outmoded beliefs who threw his weight behind an all-white male Avengers lineup and was hell-bent on foisting obsolete ways on the studio. In a twist of fate, however, the said exec has now bid farewell to his entire stake at Disney.
Ex-Marvel CEO Has Reportedly Sold His Disney Stake
Ike Perlmutter – the former chairperson of Marvel Entertainment who was ousted from the company last year and who’d infamously clashed with Disney CEO Bob Iger throughout his tenure – used to be a crucial Disney stockholder. Up until now, that is.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Perlmutter, 81, sold about 25.6 million shares for roughly a whopping $3 billion after a fruitless proxy fight involving him and activist Nelson Peltz. The ex-Marvel boss had joined forces with Peltz to secure two seats on Disney’s board of directors, but it looks like Lady Luck refused to side with them.
The Israeli-American billionaire had promised his shares to Peltz, 82, who in turn, had nominated himself as well as Disney CFO Rasulo to be the company’s board members. But since Peltz lost the vicious proxy battle with a scanty 30% of votes for the board seat, Perlmutter appears to have said a teary goodbye to the totality of his Disney stake.
Is this what New Radicals meant by You Get What You Give?
A Glance At Ike Perlmutter’s Controversially Orthodox Views
Perlmutter had previously made headlines after Iger pulled the curtain on his scandalous move that almost cost the studio raving tentpoles like Black Panther and Captain Marvel. While the industry mogul was keen on greenlighting films ushered by superheroes of color and female leads, he faced sundry “roadblocks” from Perlmutter who insisted otherwise (via Iger’s memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime | ScreenRant).
We had a chance to make a great movie and to showcase an underrepresented segment of America, and those goals were not mutually exclusive. I called Ike and told him to tell his team to stop putting up roadblocks and ordered that we put both Black Panther and Captain Marvel into production.
Little did Perlmutter know that he’d get the proverbial slap in his face after both the Chadwick Boseman-led outing and Marvel’s first female-led superhero venture would go on to bank over $1 billion at the global box offices (via Box Office Mojo).
Not only had he lobbied against blockbuster hits like Captain Marvel and Black Panther, but Perlmutter had even tried to steer Avengers – who happen to be one of the core pillars of the MCU – his way (and by now we know his way is the epitome of outdated).
While the Avengers we know today comprise a diverse assortment of fan-favorite superheroes, the former Marvel CEO wanted only white middle-aged men to lead the fabled action squad. He didn’t even want Black Widow to be an Avenger! (via MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios) Yikes.
Alas, he seems to have lost what was left of his power over Disney, and you know what they say, all’s well that ends well.
