Disney Fires Marvel Chairman, Iger Dissident in Wave of Layoffs

Another Marvel leader was added to the list of thousands of people being laid off by The Walt Disney Company.

Related: Disney Exec Was “Blindsided” By Firing, But She Repeatedly Violated Her Contract

The past few days have been filled with layoff updates and included the axing of Bob Chapek’s entire metaverse division, “Next Generation Storytelling,” as well as one of the top executives at Marvel Studios.

Now, Marvel Entertainment Chairman Isaac Perlmutter (80) has been fired, and his entire subdivision of the superhero subsidiary will be removed. Co-President Rob Steffens and chief counsel John Turitzin have also been fired. The division’s president Dan Buckley will remain and report to Kevin Feige.

According to The New York Times, 

Disney confirmed the move. Mr. Perlmutter, 80, was told by phone on Wednesday that Marvel Entertainment, a small division centered on consumer products and run separately from Marvel Studios, was redundant and would be folded into larger Disney business units, according to two Disney executives briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel matter.

BREAKING: Disney lays off Isaac Perlmutter, the Marvel Entertainment chairman who unsuccessfully worked to shake up the Walt Disney Company’s board in the past year, according to @brooksbarnesNYT. https://t.co/2Rcaf0YpsQ pic.twitter.com/iZIUQgnL6j

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) March 29, 2023

Related: “There is Life After Disney”: Chapek-Era Employees Share Sorrow, Support Amid Layoffs

But it appears that Mr. Perlmutter, who gained control of Marvel and sold it to Disney, was not known for being a team player and was unapologetically at odds with Feige and the Disney Board. He lost all creative control of movies after a feud with Feige in 2015, during which Disney CEO Bob Iger had to intervene, and he lost oversight of Marvel Television in 2019.

“Well, you’d have to ask Ike about that,” Mr. Iger said in a recent interview regarding the changes to Marvel Studios. “But let’s put it this way: He was not happy about it. And I think that unhappiness exists today.”

Mr. Perlmutter also reportedly has a reputation for being infamously frugal in the name of profit. That, combined with an unwillingness to accept his loss of power, seemed to fuel him in backing activist investor Nelson Peltz’s proxy war for a seat on Disney’s Board of Directors. 

The octagenarian is still a major shareholder in The Walt Disney Company, and he leaves his New York City office for the last time, knowing the one fact that arguably kept him in his position for over a decade, Disney would not own Marvel without him.