Former Marvel Executive Ike Perlmutter Hits Back at Disney, Claims He Was Defending the ‘Bottom Line’

The Walt Disney Company has undergone significant changes recently, including the return of Bob Iger as CEO, along with thousands of layoffs across the company. However, one key change that happened was the public firing of longtime and contentious studio head Issac “Ike” Perlmutter. During his tenure, he had been a controversial figure in Marvel’s leadership, among other things seeking to fire popular executive Kevin Feige in 2015.

Following his removal, Perlmutter is hitting back at Marvel in a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, detailing his view on why he was fired from the company and his working relationship with Disney.

“It was merely a convenient excuse to get rid of a longtime executive who dared to challenge the company’s way of doing business,” said the former head of Marvel in the Wall Street Journal interview. “I have no doubt that my termination was based on fundamental differences in business between my thinking and Disney leadership because I care about return on investment.”

Throughout the Wall Street Journal interview, Perlmutter states that he clashed with current Disney leadership in recent years to ensure the “bottom line,” particularly over the growing costs of producing Marvel films and their respective runtimes. He asserted in the interview that Disney was focused on box office growth, and that talks ultimately led to nowhere because, as he stated in the interview, “the creative people at the Walt Disney Company are very powerful.”

It was merely a convenient excuse to get rid of a longtime executive who dared to challenge the company’s way of doing business

Following Iger’s initial departure, his successor Bob Chapek shared similar views with Perlmutter, but it still led to clashes with Disney executives and shareholders. Perlmutter also insisted that Disney executives and Disneyworld theme park leadership stay out of Florida’s growing conservative influence. This came to a head with current governor Rick DeSantis’s efforts to strip Disneyworld’s tax status and control content at the theme park with his “Don’t Say Gay” law and other conservative legislation.

A point of contention

While the Disney corporation has not put out any statements denying Perlmutter’s claims, it is clear that the former head of Marvel has been a point of contention throughout his time in leadership. Among other things, Perlmutter attempted to scuttle plans for the Black Panther and Captain Marvel movies, as revealed in Bob Iger’s 2019 memoir, stating that he believed that Marvel movies starring women and Black characters would not be successful (both Black Panther and Captain Marvel broke box office records).

Another point of controversy revealed in a Vanity Fair profile from 2017 was that Perlmutter intervened with merchandising plans for the Avengers movies, particularly in having Black Widow toys removed from production, as he believed female superhero toys wouldn’t sell. Currently, Marvel Studios has generated close to $30 billion in box office returns, which also doesn’t account for merchandise and other products outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including comics and video games — which includes merchandise focusing on diverse casts of characters across different genders and cultures.

Originally sold to Disney in 2009 for $4 billion, Marvel Entertainment (which includes movies, television, comics, games, and other merchandise) has been become a key fixture in pop culture. Following the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, other upcoming Marvel films and shows include the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on May 5 and Secret Invasion on June 21.

Alessandro Filllari is a freelance writer at IGN.