Kevin Feige is synonymous with Marvel Studios, which is responsible for one of the biggest and most memorable franchises in Hollywood history. Under his reign, Marvel Studios has released blockbuster after blockbuster, many of which are some of the highest-grossing films in Hollywood history. However, things could have looked very different, as the brilliant and talented executive was almost ousted from Marvel Studios in 2015, according to reinstated Disney CEO Bob Iger.
During a recent interview with Alex Sherman of CNBC, where he provided insight into some of his plans and actions since he returned as Disney CEO, Iger revealed that he stepped in to stop Kevin Feige from getting fired from Marvel Studios in 2015. At the time, Feige was embroiled in conflict with Ike Perlmutter, who headed Marvel Entertainment and was Feige’s direct boss.
Disney CEO Bob Iger says Ike Perlmutter was intent on firing Kevin Feige in 2015, and Iger stepped in to stop it. And that made Perlmutter unhappy — an unhappiness that exists today.
— Alex Sherman (@sherman4949) February 9, 2023
According to past reports, Feige and Perlmutter clashed over Feige’s vision and plans for Marvel Studios. For instance, Perlmutter had a problem with Feige’s intention to make the Marvel Cinematic Universe more diverse and inclusive. The two also reportedly clashed over the budget of Captain America: Civil War, with Perlmutter favoring a reduction in the film’s budget and Feige taking the opposite stance.
Iger stated, "In 2015, he 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. I think Kevin 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."
The returning Disney CEO also revealed that Perlmutter is still unhappy about his interference today. He stated he had to intervene; hence, his decision to move Marvel’s movie-making arm away from Perlmutter’s Marvel Entertainment and directly under Alan Horn’s Walt Disney Studios.
Given Iger’s revelation, one is left to wonder what the MCU would have looked like if Perlmutter had his way. Besides, reports that surfaced in 2022 indicated that the Marvel Studios head was close to leaving for DC Studios given his frustration with Perlmutter, which also begs the question of whether he would have had the same impact there as he has had at Marvel.
Meanwhile, Feige is hard at work trying to take Marvel Studios to even greater heights. The 49-year-old Boston native recently teased the X-Men's arrival to the MCU. Also, ahead of the studio’s release of the third Ant-Man installment, titled Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, on February 17, one of the studio’s producers revealed they are already talking about another installment.
