The tension between Feige and Ike Perlmutter forced Disney CEO Bob Iger to intervene to stop Feige from leaving Marvel Studios, he said.
Marvel Studios, the company behind one of the most successful and enduring franchises in Hollywood history, is synonymous with Kevin Feige. He has overseen the production of blockbuster after blockbuster at Marvel Studios, many of which rank among the highest-grossing movies in Hollywood history. However, as the intelligent and skilled leader nearly lost his job at Marvel Studios in 2015, according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who has since been reinstated.
Iger stated that he intervened to prevent Kevin Feige from being dismissed from Marvel Studios in 2015 during a recent interview with Alex Sherman of CNBC, in which he gave insight into some of his objectives and activities since his return as Disney CEO. Feige at the time was at odds with Ike Perlmutter, the head of Marvel Entertainment and Feige’s immediate superior.
In the past, there have been rumours that Feige and Perlmutter spat over Feige’s vision and intentions for Marvel Studios. Feige’s plans to make the Marvel Cinematic Universe more inclusive and diverse, for example, were problematic in Perlmutter’s eyes. Additionally, it is said that the two disagreed over the budget for Captain America: Civil War, with Perlmutter advocating for a cut and Feige supporting an increase.
Then Iger said, “I intervened in 2015 because I believed it was a mistake for him to try to fire Kevin Feige, who was in charge of Marvel Studios or the movie production at the moment. Kevin, in my opinion, is an executive with extraordinary talent. The Marvel filmmaking effort was relocated from under Ike into the movie studio because of the company’s proven track record.”
The resuming CEO of Disney also disclosed that Perlmutter is still dissatisfied with his meddling today. He claimed he had to step in, which is why he chose to place Marvel’s filmmaking division under Alan Horn’s Walt Disney Studios rather than under Perlmutter’s Marvel Entertainment.
Given Iger’s admission, one is left to speculate about how the MCU may have turned out had Perlmutter gotten his way. And given his dissatisfaction with Perlmutter, stories that appeared in 2022 suggested that the Marvel Studios head was on the verge of switching to DC Studios, which raises the issue of whether he would have had the same impact there as he has at Marvel.
Feige is working hard to raise the bar for Marvel Studios in the meanwhile. The Boston native, 49, recently hinted at the X-entry Men’s into the MCU. Additionally, one of the company’s producers claimed they are already discussing another installment before the third Ant-Man film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is released on February 17 by the studio.