Chairman and above CEO of Marvel Entertainment Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, who donated to a Donald Trump cool PAC in 2016, is the absolute acumen for the absence of Black Widow activity figures, according to sources abutting to the studio. A Vanity Fair profile of flat admiral Kevin Feige, the man amenable for the blockbuster success of the growing Marvel Cinematic Universe, reveals that Disney “quietly sidelines” Perlmutter in 2015 due to his “outdated opinions about casting, budgeting, and merchandising.”
The commodity continues: “For example, Perlmutter, citation his years in the toy-making business, reportedly fabricated the accommodation to calibration aback assembly of Black Widow-themed commodity in 2015 because he believed ‘girl’ superhero articles wouldn’t sell.”
Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow aboriginal appeared in 2010’s “Iron Man 2,” but the appearance did not accept her own activity amount until she showed up as allotment of “The Avengers” two years later. The altercation re-surfaced with 2015’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” back the toy adaptation of the character’s key arena featured Captain America instead of Black Widow. Zoe Saldana’s Gamora from “Guardians of the Galaxy” is additionally clearly missing from Marvel merchandise.
Fans accept continued been doubtable Perlmutter was the one amenable for the studio’s tone-deaf affairs choices, but this is the aboriginal time a flat antecedent has accepted it. Earlier this year, The New York Times appear that Perlmutter is generally apparent at Mar-a-Lago, and had “been artlessly advising Mr. Trump on veterans issues.”
Given Trump’s well-documented misogynistic angle and behavior, it is not hasty that a accepted accessory of his would authority agnate views. What is hasty is that Disney/Marvel listened to him for so long. With Warner Bros.’ and DC’s contempo success with “Wonder Woman,” here’s acquisitive Marvel won’t accomplish the aforementioned mistakes again.
Read the abounding Vanity Fair contour on Kevin Feige and Marvel here.
