More from Marvel Mess – Variety

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From the box office disappointment of ‘Quantumania’ to assault allegations against star Jonathan Majors, Marvel Studios is facing one crisis after another.

Since 2008, Marvel Studios has been the epitome of a modern small studio.

Creative Director Kevin Feige and his small group of executives have delivered an unbroken string of global blockbusters to theaters, and starting in 2021, they’re smashing TV shows for Disney+. And they’ve done so while keeping almost all of their behind-the-scenes dramas from spilling over into public view.

It only took a week for that impeccable reputation to all but collapse, when Disney, Marvel’s parent company, fired Victoria Alonso, Feige’s most famous aide, after 17 years with the company, most recently as head of visual and post-production. . Effects and animation.

“She’s always been a big part of Marvel,” said former Marvel Studios CEO Jeremy Latcham (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) diverse On March 26th. “I was very surprised to see the news. I hope it all works out, and everyone ends up being friends. It’s a great group of people who have always been really good to each other. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be anything.”

Unfortunately, it has already happened. Disney sources say Alonso was fired over her decision to move on to Amazon Studios as a producer of the Oscar-nominated international film “Argentina, 1985,” without notifying the company’s Management Audit Organization, a committee that approves extracurricular business activities. (For example, Disney movie executive Sean Bailey got his approval to invest In Teremana, Dwayne Johnson’s tequila company.)

Things became untenable, these sources say, after Alonso continued to promote “Argentina, 1985” during award season despite signing an amended employment agreement that expressly prohibited her from doing so. Alonso’s attorney, Patty Glaser, calls the allegation “absolutely ridiculous,” and counters that the executive was terminated “when I refused to do something I thought was reprehensible” — although what was still unclear.

Representatives for Marvel and Alonso declined to comment for this story.

Adding to the intensity is Alonso’s claim that she was “silenced” after a speech at the 2022 GLAAD Awards where the executive, who is openly gay, called out then-Disney CEO Bob Chbeck by name for his treatment of Florida’s “don’t-say” bill. Jay.” While Alonso sat out numerous interviews in the months following her speech, she didn’t seem to have pressed “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — the studio’s first major awards season contender since the original “Black Panther” — out of the show. The first for the movie on the red carpet, where she spoke to him briefly diverse and other outlets.

The dominant topic of press that Alonso has made of late is her passionate belief in expanding representation at Marvel, making her acrimonious departure from Disney even more prominent. Arguably the film industry’s most prominent Latina executive, she emphasizes aligning herself with organizations at the intersection of the communities she represents — such as ReFrame, the initiative founded and led by Women in Film and the Sundance Institute to promote diversity in film crews. And in the executive suites.

“Anytime we approached Victoria and asked about something, whether in her official capacity at Marvel or to participate as a mentor, she always said yes,” said Kirsten Schaffer, CEO of Women in Film, describing Alonso as having had a profound impact on gender equality in the film. the job. “Her willingness to get involved and advocate for women and other underrepresented people is unparalleled. There are very few people who do what she does.”

Similarly, Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD, hailed Alonso as a “pioneer” in the entertainment industry, who has advocated for the inclusion of LGBT people, women, and people of color, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. “Her emergence as a senior industry executive calls attention to the urgent need to cultivate diversity among leadership in studios and networks,” says Ellis.

Ben Lopez, who worked with Alonso when he was executive director at the National Association of Independent Latino Producers, said he wasn’t surprised that Alonso used her industry influence to champion “Argentina, 1985,” a project about the trial of the military juntas that ruled her hometown.

“It’s in keeping with her ethos, which is to make sure she always speaks for the unrepresented, for people who can’t speak for themselves,” he says. “I really look forward to seeing where she lands next. Whether that’s a world class studio or her own company, she will continue to innovate and be a powerful voice for underrepresented communities.”

While industry text threads and Slack chats were abuzz with speculation about what happened and where Alonso would land next, there wasn’t much public uproar.

“I think people are worried about rocking the boat,” said one veteran producer. diverse On condition of anonymity, he believes. “No one wants to upset Disney.”

Another industry leader questioned the potential impact of Alonso’s exit on her upcoming memoir, which Disney’s Hyperion Avenue was due to publish in May.

“If you give someone of that caliber a platform like a book and present that person as a shining example — where they can be used not only to make the brand look good but also to empower the next generation — you don’t want to,” says the CEO. “It feels inconsistent.”

Regardless of any potential mitigating circumstances, the veteran producer sees Disney’s decision in stark terms.

“A lot of people in the field think they’re indispensable and fly too close to the sun, then are shocked to find they no longer work,” says this product. They add that while Alonso’s record is certainly “extraordinary and impressive, and I’ve earned the right to be frank, I don’t think anyone has the right to breach his contract.”

Alonso’s messy exit would be bad enough for Marvel, but it comes amidst fierce headwinds from all directions. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” with a worldwide gross of $500 million, is unlikely to break even in its theatrical run, making it the first financial loser in a non-pandemic era for the company. This film was the latest in several Marvel titles (from “Thor: Love and Thunder” to “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law”) to weather criticism for second-rate visual effects – one of Alonso’s main areas – as VFX artists have repeatedly done He repeatedly called the studio, claiming he was forcing them to accept impossible hours and reduced pay.

Meanwhile, one of the stars of “Quantumania,” Jonathan Majors, was charged on March 26 with multiple counts of assault and harassment of an unnamed woman. The actor’s lawyer says there is video evidence that exonerates him, and the case is pending. But Majors’ character, Kang, is supposed to be Marvel’s latest Big Bad. He filmed Season 2 of “Loki” with Tom Hiddleston, set to premiere later this year, and headlined “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” in 2025. A criminal trial for one of its new stars is exactly the type From headache Marvel do not need.

Furthermore, Disney currently doesn’t have a timetable for naming an executive — or executives — to take on Alonso’s duties, even though several titles — like this year’s “The Marvels” and 2024’s “Captain America: New World Order” — are in the works. Its way through the Marvel pipeline.

“Trying to replace him is definitely a big deal,” Latcham says. “It really is a huge job.”

Matt Donnelly and Mark Malkin contributed to this report.