Big shake-ups have taken place behind the scenes over at Marvel Studios. Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter and creative genius behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe and President, Kevin Fiege, recently fought over the massive budget for the upcoming epic Captain America: Civil War that nearly saw Fiege quit the company.
It was reported last weekend that going forward Fiege would no longer report to Perlmutter but rather Disney Studios boss Alan Horn. What followed after the incident were rumours that Marvel Studios‘ Creative Committee, a think tank consisting of top Marvel Executives and talent including Joe Quesada and Brian Michael Bendis who hold sway over creative and economic decisions was being made effective in other areas keeping them away from Marvel‘s Film division.
In an article by The Hollywood Reporter the fracas has been clarified with sources revealing that ‘the budget on Civil War ballooned accordingly, which didn’t sit well with the famously frugal Perlmutter. ‘New York [Perlmutter and the Creative Committee] wanted to scale it down,’ which according to THR lead to ‘Feige … contemplated leaving Marvel … before Disney CEO Bob Iger approved a reorganisation that sees Feige reporting to Horn.’
In a move that would see Fiege receive more freedom over Marvel‘s cinematic universe, the re-shuffle will apparently not affect Marvel‘s Television unit which will remain under the frugal Perlmutter. Which sounds like bad news for shows such as ‘Agents of Shield’ and Netflix’s ‘Daredevil‘ whose success should permit a loosening of the pursestrings which seems unlikely at present.
Talent reps however have told ‘THR‘ that Perlmutter being forced to step aside in its films division will lead to better paydays and merchandising royalties for their clients. This shake-up will also work out for the fans of Scarlett Johansson‘s Black Widow. With ‘Birth.Movies.Death‘ also revealing that ‘the reason there are no Black Widow toys is specifically because Ike, with a background in toys, believes girl toys do not sell and thus vetoed them again and again. One guy was the roadblock.’
Although in-place, these changes will be effective as of completion of Captain America: Civil War and the upcoming Doctor Strange.
#Peace.Love.Marvel
