Kevin Feige’s Conflicts With Former Marvel CEO Victoria Alonso Have Just Been Made Public

President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige and now-fired executive Victoria Alonso had several significant clashes before Alonso was let go in March 2023.

Victoria Alonso, one of Marvel Studios’ first executives, left the firm earlier this year after serving for 17 years. After being elevated from executive vice president of production in September 2021, Alonso most recently held the position of president of physical and post-production, visual effects, and animation production.

In March 2023, Alonso was let go from her position at Marvel Studios; her longtime coworker Kevin Feige was neither involved in nor intervened upon concerning this decision.

Kevin Feige Disagreed with the Former Head of Marvel Studios

The recently released book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, written by Joanna Robinson, chronicles the whole story of the superhero company and, remarkably, provides fresh information regarding Victoria Alonso’s disagreements with Kevin Feige.

The book described how Alonso had “broken one of Feige’s cardinal rules” by publicly criticizing previous Disney CEO Bob Chapek over a year before she left the company:

“Alonso had broken one of Feige’s cardinal rules: don’t speak out publicly against the company.”

Alonso, a lesbian, publicly criticized Chapek in April 2022 after the latter failed to oppose the anti-LGBTQIA+ “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida, which forbids talking about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools.

Variety claims that the now-fired executive was barred from participating in MCU publicity because of her public remarks against the Disney CEO.

The book from Marvel Studios also mentioned Feige telling Alsonso that she had “outgrown her role” and advising her to “‘keep her head down and ‘do the work:'”

“A source close to the matter said that later that year Feige suggested to Alonso that she had outgrown her role at Marvel. He reportedly cautioned her to “keep her head down” and “do the work.”

Additionally, Alonso “refused to act” when asked to have LGBTQIA+ insignia removed from Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania so that the film could be released in several international regions, even though it was eventually done:

“In early 2023, Alonso refused to act on Marvel Studios’ request to remove LGBTQ pride symbols from Quantumania for foreign markets. The atmosphere at the studio was tense: the department of ‘yes’ had said ‘no.’ D’Esposito outsourced the VFX work anyway, an act Alonso regarded as a betrayal.”

The former head of Marvel Studios was fired in March 2023 for violating her Disney contract by producing the Academy Award-nominated film Argentina, 1985 at competitor studio Amazon.

Following her termination, Alonso hired legal counsel in anticipation of a prospective legacy action. A Disney representative referred to this as an “indisputable breach of contract and a direct violation of company policy.”

Since then, Alonso has come under fire for being held “singularly responsible for Marvel’s toxic work environment” about VFX artists. According to the same source, she was “bigfooting all major creative decisions” at Marvel Studios, allegedly stealing creative power even from directors.

Given that Victoria Alonso appeared to have violated one of Kevin Feige’s “cardinal rules,” it is now more evident why, albeit not being engaged in the decision either, he allegedly chose not to step in and stop the termination of his 17-year MCU colleague.

Will Marvel Studios Be Better After Victoria Alonso Leaves?

It’s obvious why it was time for Alonso to leave Marvel Studios after all these years—her public criticism of then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek, the hostile work atmosphere she was reportedly responsible for fostering, and her contract violation in developing Argentina, in 1985.

Although Variety pointed out immediately after Alonso’s departure that her broad function encompassing post-production, visual effects, and animation may need more than one person to fulfill, a new CEO has not yet been named to succeed her.

In light of Alonso’s involvement in fostering a poisonous workplace environment that deprived directors of creative autonomy and resulted in difficult working circumstances for visual effects artists, it is only fitting that the studio is making progress toward betterment following her departure.

The VFX artists at Marvel Studios unanimously decided last month, according to Variety, to form a union and begin negotiations with the company. They want “demanding fair pay for the hours they work, healthcare, a safe and sustainable working environment, and respect for the work they do.”

The Marvels, which opens in theatres on Friday, November 10, 2020, is the next film from Marvel Studios. For the time being, new Loki Season 2 episodes air on Thursday nights on Disney+.

Victoria Alonso related other information

Victoria Alonso was overcome with emotion at the Oscars this year.

The seasoned producer of the nominated film “Argentina, 1985” and executive at Marvel Studios was stopped on the red carpet as she posed for photographers tasked with capturing top executives on the biggest night in Hollywood. However, something startled her.

“Observe this! Two females! Regarding the female photographers recruited for the assignment, Alonso said (because women outnumber males in the photo industry in most parts of Hollywood). Filled with emotion, Alonso demanded that the two put down their cameras and take a picture with her in front of a massive Oscar statue. “We’ve worked so hard to get here, and we’re not going anywhere,” she remarked, to their collective smiles.

She lost her job as Marvel’s president of physical production, post-production, visual effects, and animation eight days later, according to three people with knowledge of the situation who spoke with Variety. Many in the entertainment industry and the large Marvel comic book fandom—a community with a significant online following as well as an in-person following at the several multiplexes where the studio screens its films—were taken aback by the reorganization.

The firing of Alonso has sparked a lot of inquiries into the inner workings of the highly regarded content engine, which has led to yet another negative news cycle as Disney CEO Bob Iger tries to keep the parent business stable in the face of economic turmoil.

The decision to fire Alonso was taken by a group that included officials from Disney Entertainment, human resources, and the company’s legal department, among others. Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman, to whom all of Marvel Studios reports, was among those involved in the decision-making process. According to another source, Alonso’s longtime manager and Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige felt trapped in an impossible scenario and eventually chose not to step in. Another insider said that Alonso was taken by surprise.

For this story, an Alonso spokesman declined to comment. Marvel Studios remained silent.

In 2006, three years before Disney paid $4 billion to purchase the label, Alonso joined Marvel Studios. She has worked alongside co-president Louis D’Esposito and chief creative officer Kevin Feige for more than 17 years. She is Feige’s right hand. In addition, she strove to establish herself as a brand in her own right. She is a unique example of an out LGBTQ woman of color in a public leadership position, and she is well-known for her ferocious enthusiasm and outspokenness over diversity and inclusion in Marvel’s narrative.

Kevin Feige-related other information

Since Iron Man, American producer Kevin Feige has overseen every movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Beginning with the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie, he worked as an executive producer and associate producer on Blade: Trinity, The Punisher, Daredevil, Ang Lee’s Hulk, the original X-Men trilogy, and Tim Story’s Fantastic Four films. One of his productions, Avengers: Endgame, is one of the highest-grossing superhero movies.