Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige has been quite instrumental in building up the MCU to become the biggest Hollywood franchise in history. Now, on the brink of opening up Marvel Phase 5, a new report surfaces, indicating that Feige almost got axed from his position, had it not been for Disney CEO Bob Iger stepping up to defend him.
According to a recent interview with CNBC, newly-reinstated Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that he was well aware of former Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter’s intentions on sacking Feige, urging Iger to step in and defuse the situation himself. Check out his full story below:
“In 2015, [Ike Perlmutter] was intent on firing Kevin Feige, who was running Marvel Studios, or the movie making, at the time, and I thought that was a mistake, and stepped in to prevent that from happening.” The Disney CEO explained, “I think Kevin [Feige] is an incredibly, incredibly talented executive. The Marvel track record speaks for itself, and so I moved the movie-making operation of Marvel out from under Ike into the movie studio.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Marvel Phases 5 and 6 To Feature More Standalone Films, Kevin Feige Promises
There had been previous speculations on the restrained relationship between Feige and Perlmutter, however, now that the report is being confirmed by none other than the returned Disney CEO himself, Marvel Studios would definitely have suffered greatly in losing Kevin Feige. 2015 MCU would just not have been the same.
Iger continued on to say how back in 2009, he had promised the former Marvel executive a job, a job that would not necessarily last forever: “[Perlmutter] was not happy about that, and I think that unhappiness exists today. We bought Marvel in 2009. I promised Ike a job that he would continue to run Marvel after that, not forever necessarily, but after that.”
According to past reports (via ScreenRant), Feige had been long fighting for more diversity within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a choice Perlmutter was in complete disagreement with. Their constant conflict almost urged Feige to leave Marvel Studios for DC at the time, however, it was thanks to Iger's intervention that led Feige to keep his job in running the MCU.
“I knew I had to intervene,” Iger added that to alleviate the tension built between Feige and Perlmutter, he specifically brought Feige under Walt Disney for better management, “And so in May 2015, I made the decision to split Marvel’s movie-making unit off from the rest of Marvel and bring it under Alan Horn and the Walt Disney Studios. Kevin would not report directly to Alan, and would benefit from his experience.”
For now, Marvel Phase 5 opens with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on February 17.
ALSO READ: Disney Plus Suffers From Shocking Drop of Subscribers For The First Time
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!