'A necessary step': Disney CEO Bob Iger opens up about the ejection of Isaac 'Ike' Perlmutter
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Disney is the hub of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and many animated movies. The company has been on the cutting edge since it laid off many employees. It has begun cutting 7,000 jobs as part of a massive staff restructuring and a $5.5 billion cost-cutting drive. These efforts also resulted in the departure of executive producer Victoria Alonso from Marvel Studios last month. Alonso has been a part of the MCU since its inception, helping to shape 'Iron Man' in 2008.
Recent reports showed Disney CEO, Bob Iger, getting candid about the ejection of Ike Perlmutter. The Mouse House announced last month that it would shut down the Marvel Entertainment division. With that, the company let go of Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, the CEO of that division. Perlmutter has been the CEO of Marvel since 2005, and he was the executive in charge of the company's $4 billion sale to Disney in 2009. Following Disney's acquisition of Marvel Studios, he remained on the board as chairman of Marvel Entertainment. So what did Iger say?
RELATED ARTICLES
Inside $10M-a-year 'consultant' Bob Iger and Bob Chapek's frosty relationship amid Disney CEO drama
Bob Iger calls it a 'necessary step'
In a recent interview with Time, the Disney CEO explained the ejection of Ike” Perlmutter. He said, "It was a necessary step in the direction of us creating a more efficient company." Iger, during his cover interview with the outlet for its 100 Most Influential People edition, opened up and said that the decision to shut down Marvel Entertainment was motivated by the redundancy in Marvel management.
Perlmutter was let go on March 29, his oversight included comic book publishing, game licensing, and arena shows. Perlmutter spoke out a week ago, saying he was fired for insisting on fiscal discipline and supporting Peltz, who waged a public proxy battle with Disney for months before withdrawing as a board candidate before Disney announced the streamlining measures. Iger cleared that the decision to fire Perlmutter "would have been made regardless of that." Alonso and Perlmutter's departures signal major changes ahead for Marvel.
Issac 'Ike' Perlmutter's role in Marvel
Perlmutter's involvement with Marvel dates back to the early 1990s when he was a member of the company's board of directors long before the MCU was created. It is no secret that Marvel experienced severe financial difficulties in the 1990s. It led the comics company to sell the film rights to several major characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Hulk, to various studios to avoid bankruptcy. Perlmutter was instrumental in easing Marvel's financial burden, primarily through his work on the company's early films.
In the end, Perlmutter's departure from Disney will most likely have little impact on the MCU. Since losing his power struggle with Feige in 2015, Perlmutter hasn't had the same creative control over Marvel's films and series.
