Disney has made a surprising move in their effort to cut costs at the company. It’s just been revealed that Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter has been fired from his position.
As shared via The New York Times, Marvel Entertainment will now be folded into larger business units in the company. It’s worth noting that Marvel Entertainment is a separate entity from Marvel Studios. In particular, Marvel Entertainment focuses on consumer products for the company.
It appears that two Disney executives made the decision to have Perlmutter fired. Of course, the controversial executive has already lost control in the company before. It’s been well-known that he has struggled for power with Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige. And, in 2015, Perlmutter lost oversight of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One such reason for this is that he believed fans wouldn’t support diverse content like Black Panther or Captain Marvel.
Many fans will no doubt be glad to see Perlmutter gone. And, for Disney, a company that’s been trying to cut costs – it’s only an additional benefit of their decision. The company has already started laying off around 7,000 employees in an effort to cut as much as $5.5 billion to improve their financial gains. It’s possible we’ll continue to see such surprising executive decisions in the near future.
Ike Perlmutter initially gained control of Marvel Entertainment in the late 1990s. He was later involved with the $4 billion sale of Marvel to Disney in 2009. Though in recent years his position was focused mostly on comic book publication and some merchandising.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional Disney and Marvel updates as we have them. For now, it looks like we’ll be seeing a version of Marvel without Ike Perlmutter for the first time in decades. It’ll be interesting to see what direction this will ultimately take the brand.