The Marvel Cinematic Universe is going through a strange phase right now, and no, I’m not talking about phase five, which started with it Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Within a few days it became clear that the common cinematic universe was changing a lot, and not for the best of reasons. From actors to workers to top executives, Marvel is going through it all right now.
Marvel, as a subset of Disney, was just part of a huge series of layoffs involving Mickey Mouse and friends earlier this week Reduction of over 7000 jobs. Only the first wave of those cuts happened this week, and the final figure of 7,000 is expected to appear sometime in April. Employees are being dismissed company-wide one of the largest corporations in the worldbut even outside of the egregious labor issues, Marvel has been addressing some more precise changes in its workforce.
Top executives are laid off
Marvel recently fired Victoria Alonso, who AV club describes her as “one of the greatest architects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” having worked on the Connected Universe project for over a decade before leaving the company in early March. At the time of her departure, she was President of Physical Production, Post-Production, VFX and Animation at Marvel. according to a diversity reportThis was part of a joint decision between Disney Human Resources, Legal and executives, including but not limited to Alan Bergman, Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige reportedly didn’t intervene, and Alonso was “blinded.” The overall situation is enter legal territory. Disney says Alonso’s firing was part of a breach of contract over her production work Argentina, 1985
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Additionally, there seems to have been a conflict between Alonso and Disney/Marvel regarding queer issues within the company diversity And The Hollywood Reporter. Alonso, who is gay, reportedly fell out over an issue Disney wanted a scene in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania altered to blur a Pride memorabilia storefront in Kuwait, which has anti-LGBTQ+ laws. This comes after she publicly spoke out against then-CEO Bob Chapek at the GLAAD Awards for Disney’s response to Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law and was told she was no longer allowed to do press for Marvel. Attorney Patty Glaser, representing Alonso, released the following statement diversity:
“The idea that Victoria was fired for a handful of press interviews related to a personal passion project about human rights and democracy that was nominated for an Oscar and that she was allowed to work on with Disney’s blessing is absolutely ridiculous,” says Glaser. “Victoria, a gay Latina who dared to criticize Disney, was silenced. Then she was fired when she refused to do something she felt was reprehensible. Disney and Marvel made a really bad decision that will have dire consequences. There’s a lot more to this story and Victoria will be sharing it shortly – in one forum or another.”
While Alonso’s influence on the MCU is significant, dating back to the earliest films like the original iron manShe has also been named in ongoing reports on the dire state of the animation industry, as reported by vulture and allegedly blacklisted artists working on Marvel projects she had trouble with. In general, Marvel’s animation and VFX staff have spoken out about apparently toxic work environments and unfair contracts while working on the studio’s projects. This has reportedly been the case with Disney+ projects such as B. particularly difficult She Hulkwith smaller budgets and shorter turnaround times that still expect film-quality work.
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Another high-profile departure is that of Ike Perlmutter, which it was fired from the company this week. Perlmutter has a long, colorful history at Marvel, including serving on the board (as well as chairman of the board), serving as the company’s vice chairman in the early 2000s, rising to the position of chief executive officer in 2005, and then remaining CEO , after Disney acquired the comics company in 2009. He reportedly ran Marvel Studios until 2015 very tight on production budgets
Jonathan Majors domestic violence case is ongoing
While executive departures will affect things later, the most immediate problem Marvel films have to contend with is that ongoing domestic violence case against actor Jonathan Majors. The actor who last played Kang the Conquerer Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, was arrested in Manhattan for assault, strangulation and molestation. The Majors legal team, led by attorney Priya Chaudhry, claims he is innocent and shared text messages allegedly sent by the victim in the case. The lyrics say this is “not an attack,” claiming blame for the argument because she “was trying to grab.” [Majors’] Telephone” and denied the allegations of strangulation. The alleged texts state that authorities were called because the woman fainted and that Majors was arrested on suspicion of a domestic dispute Compulsory Arrest Laws related to domestic violence cases in New York.
The future of Majors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is unclear as investigations continue, but the US Army has halted ads starring the actor until the investigation is complete. The reason this is so significant from a Marvel perspective is because Majors’ character, Kang the Conqueror, is essentially Marvel’s main villain right now. He has only appeared in two projects so far, one of which is this Loki Disney+ show, and the second is quantum. But the shared universe franchise leads to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty And Avengers: Secret Wars, both of which are said to have Kang as the main antagonist. He’s a Thanos-style character that Marvel can’t just pull from the story. If the investigation results in a guilty verdict, Majors is likely to be retried.
While all of these developments have happened for a variety of reasons, be it corporate greed, office politics, and a case of domestic violence, Marvel as a production is going through some serious upheavals. Not everything seems to be wanted by the company, but things are changing for Marvel at a time when the brand has lost a lot of staying power. quantum is the last Marvel film to hit theaters and was one of the worst-received of the series, garnering an approval rating of 47 percent Rotten tomatoes.
While Marvel movies still make more money than you or I will ever see in one room at a time, the franchise is trending down a bit at the box office. quantum still made $470 million in its theatrical release date, but that’s significantly less than Ant Man and the Wasp manufactured in 2018, which totaled around $623 million. Several Marvel films have broken below the half-billion mark in recent years, such as eternal And Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Black widow is one of the underperforming films of the franchise’s lifetime at $379 million, but has been severely handicapped by the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving fewer people ready to hit theaters in 2021. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever did manage to gross over $859 million, but that was even less than the original’s $1 billion.
It’s unclear what, if any, changes this might bring to the franchise, but figureheads and employees who have been with the brand for a long time have left. Reading through it all now, my sympathies most are with the workers who were affected by the layoffs. Alonso and Perlmutter will be fine, but the people who worked (and apparently suffered) under them are in a much worse position.
We’ve reached out to Marvel, Majors, and Alonso to comment on this story and will update if we get any feedback.
To update: This article has been updated with information about Alonso’s reported disputes with Disney regarding queer content in his films.
