Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is now reporting directly to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment Chief Operating Officer Ike Perlmutter. Feige’s resistance was so much that he talked openly of quitting the company, according to these reports, before Disney CEO Bob Iger stepped in to oversee the reorganization that was revealed earlier this week.
Advertisement
Feige will now report to Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn, as opposed to what THR calls the “infamously micromanaging” Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, who was allegedly obsessed with secrecy, and generally hard to work with.
Feige, who is generally credited with the success of Marvel Studios, is reportedly happy with this shift, which he himself has been fighting for. Then came rumors that Marvel Studios’ Creative Committee – a brain trust of Marvel execs and talent, including Joe Quesada and Brian Michael Bendis, who have a say on Marvel Studios’ creative and economic decisions – was effectively being scuttled, at least where it comes to Marvel’s film division. Walt Disney Studios President Alan Bergman also will be heavily involved with the Marvel team. The TV arm still reports to Permutter and the committee. It features nearly every actor from the Avengers movies, including Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, and introduces Tom Holland as a new screen version of Spider-Man. Having too many cooks in the kitchen can often be problematic, and that seems to have been the case with this Creative Committee. This has been a long time coming. “Why would it change?” says one top agent. On the other, we had Feige, knowing full well that RDJ’s Iron Man is the foundation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ike was the guy that saved Marvel from bankruptcy and secured the funding to kick off the version of Marvel Studios that we know and love today.
Perlmutter’s company, Toy Biz, helped to rescue Marvel from bankruptcy back in the mid-90s, so it’s somewhat understandable he would want the comic-book giant to take a financially frugal approach going forward. “It certainly can’t get any worse”.
Advertisement
So while this change may not have a major effect on the Marvel Universe seen in theaters for a few years, it is significant from a corporate level. For example, Marvel, with several exceptions, does not pay merchandising royalties, which is not the industry norm, according to this source.
