Marvel’s former chairman, Ike Perlmutter recently opened up about the Kevin Feige controversy wherein he’d allegedly tried to get the latter fired from his position at the company. And it looks like the executive’s story is wholly different from what had been told years ago. A retelling, if you will.
Not only did Perlmutter claim that he had no hand whatsoever in wanting to get the film and television producer, but he also revealed how Marvel didn’t simply lay him off, they’d fired the investor instead.
Former Marvel Studios Chairman Claims He Never Intended to Get Kevin Feige Fired
Back in 2015, Marvel Studios decided to lay off the franchise’s now ex-chairman, Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter. But according to the 80-year-old frugal businessman, that’s not quite how it went down. The Israeli-American financier additionally cleared the air about how contrary to the allegations, he’d never colluded to get Marvel president Kevin Feige fired.
In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, Perlmutter delved into the matter in question, denying the notion of wanting to get Feige fired from the company. He instead claimed that they had a fall-out because they couldn’t see eye to eye on financial aspects, especially when it came to budgeting the studio’s innumerable projects.
“There was no way to force the issue because the creative people at the Walt Disney Company are very powerful,” the former Marvel Entertainment executive stated.
Perlmutter’s main issue was that Marvel threw money a little too exorbitantly on its superhero productions without due regard for “return on investment,” which happened to be his primary concern. Disney-distributed MCU films have grossed over a whopping $23 billion at the global box office, but Ike Perlmutter, who is also one of Disney’s largest individual shareholders, couldn’t care less about that. “I care about the bottom line. I don’t care how big the box office is,” he remarked.
Ike Perlmutter Says He Wasn’t Laid Off, He Was Fired from Marvel
Back when Perlmutter was still in charge of Marvel’s creative output, Feige, 49, along with the rest of the production team used to be under his authority, which meant getting the green light from the former for every major decision. But after Perlmutter’s incessant scrimping, Feige reached his tipping point which made him go over the former’s head to Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger. And after that, Perlmutter’s area of control was downgraded to Marvel’s TV division.
Fast forward to 2019 when Feige was crowned the Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Studios, thereby diminishing what little control Perlmutter had over the company. The billionaire businessman also claimed that the studio didn’t lay him off, they’d fired him instead due to “fundamental differences in business between [his] thinking and Disney leadership.”
“It was merely a convenient excuse to get rid of a longtime executive who dared to challenge the company’s way of doing business,” he said.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
