Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld has very publicly severed ties with Marvel.
He’s worked with them on and off for over three decades. However, after dropping a scathing new edition of his Robservations podcast, Liefeld has laid out his many issues with the studio in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter...and they mostly seem to boil down to how he was treated at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere.
One of his biggest grievances was discovering at the event that neither he nor his family had been invited to the after-party. "It was meant to embarrass, diminish, defeat me," Liefeld bemoans, sharing his disappointment that Disney allegedly deleted photos of him with the movie’s creatives taken on the red carpet.
While Liefeld points to deeper issues - such as Marvel Studios’ decision to give Marvel Comics editor Roy Thomas a co-creator credit on Wolverine - he’s particularly upset about not getting a splashy credit at the beginning of Deadpool & Wolverine (along with special treatment like invites to global premieres and promotional opportunities). Money wasn’t an issue because it sounds like he's been paid handsomely for his efforts.
After sending a scathing email to Marvel, Liefeld was ignored but told by his agents that it wasn’t appreciated. While the company has not shared a direct response to his comments from earlier today, one insider points to his previous attempts to diminish the role Fabian Nicieza played in co-creating the Merc with a Mouth. "While we respect what he’s contributed, he does not respect what others have contributed," they note.
Despite only receiving a mention at the end of the credits, Liefeld had a store named after him in the movie’s biggest action scene and was invited to visit the set. Without elaborating on why, he claims to have been made to feel unwelcome during that trip to London (and, unlike with Deadpool and Deadpool 2), he wasn’t asked to be part of test screenings or the marketing team's work on Deadpool & Wolverine).
"Kevin Feige does not treat comic book creators well. That is my personal experience," Liefeld said on his podcast before telling the trade, "Do I think he can improve his relationship with comic creators? Yes." This comes after the writer and artist believes Feige snubbed him at the premiere.
Worth noting is the fact Feige is often seen name-checking and meeting with comic creatives; he even welcomed them to a Daredevil: Born Again panel at last October’s New York Comic Con.
"You can’t always share your hits. Sometimes you have to share your misses. This one was a miss," adds Liefeld, still hurting from the falling out. "It was important for me to do the podcast, so people could hear my voice. You didn’t hear anyone who was angry. At times, it was hard to hide how sad I was."
Deadpool 4 isn’t officially in development as we write this but Ryan Reynolds is expected to return as Wade Wilson in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. It’s unclear what the future holds in store for Liefeld, though his last Marvel Comics work drops this month.