This week, you've likely seen some rumours doing the rounds about a supposed clash on the set of Avengers: Doomsday. "Fans" on social media have since fabricated a confrontation between Robert Downey Jr. and Ryan Reynolds, with some outlets reporting it as fact.
It's bullsh*t, and if there are arguments on set between actors, it's something we rarely ever hear about and certainly not something they ever discuss. However, there's been plenty of behind-the-scenes drama behind the doors of Marvel Studios over the years.
Kevin Feige has been at the centre of many of those, though the studio certainly hasn't been in the wrong on every occasion. In this feature, we're looking back at some of the biggest behind-the-scenes clashes between studio executives, filmmakers, actors, and more.
You can learn more about each of them by clicking the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.
8. Victoria Alonso vs. Marvel Studios
In 2023, Victoria Alonso, President, Physical and Postproduction, VFX and Animation Production, was fired from Marvel Studios after 16 years.
There have been conflicting reports about what happened, ranging from her taking time off to promote outside projects to her anger at Disney for its stance on Florida's divisive "Don't Say Gay" bill. Ultimately, Feige is a company man and reportedly didn't appreciate Alonso speaking out against the House of Mouse.
In the MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios book, it was revealed, "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."
Alonso, who is a lesbian, making these moves isn't surprising, and many will agree with her taking this stance. Disney and Marvel Studios have insisted that she breached her contract, with Alonso since blamed for "Marvel's toxic work environment" toward VFX artists.
7. Marvel Studios vs. Sony Pictures
Spider-Man: Far From Home was deep into production when Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios failed to reach a new deal to share the web-slinger. With that, "Spider-Man 3" looked set to move forward without any input from Feige.
Fans were horrified at the prospect and made their unhappiness known. So did the Russo Brothers, and even Tom Holland personally appealed to Disney CEO Bob Iger to find a way to repair the rift between the two studios. Fortunately, that happened, and a new agreement was made.
Marvel and Sony had clashed before, with Amy Pascal reportedly throwing a sandwich at Feige the first time he suggested the studio needed Marvel Studios' help. Still, it's hard not to wonder what might have been.
We certainly wouldn't have got Spider-Man: No Way Home. In fact, rumour has it that Kraven the Hunter was going to be the movie's big bad, with him hunting Peter Parker down after the hero's identity was revealed. We'd guess Spidey would've crossed paths with Venom by now, too.
6. Kevin Feige vs. Isaac Perlmutter
Isaac Perlmutter was Marvel Entertainment's Chairman, and originally the man Feige had to report to. There are plenty of infamous stories about Ike out there, though it wasn't just his habit of pinching pennies that the Marvel Studios President grew tired of.
As well as granting a group of comic book writers and executives the power to overrule Marvel Studios' plans, he was happy to let Robert Downey Jr. go rather than pay him for Captain America: Civil War.
That and his attempts to force an Inhumans movie on Marvel Studios (Perlmutter viewed them as a natural replacement for the Fox-owned X-Men on the page and screen) led Feige to appeal to Disney CEO Bob Iger to make Marvel Studios its own entity.
Iger obliged, and Perlmutter no longer had any say in what we saw from the MCU. Ultimately, he was ousted from the company entirely.
5. Edgar Wright vs. Marvel Studios
Fans were excited to learn that Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright had signed up to take the helm of Ant-Man. Unfortunately, his commitments to other projects meant that the movie continued to slip down the calendar, all while the MCU continued to evolve.
The studio now had a shared world in its hands, and a standalone Ant-Man movie that wouldn't tie into the wider MCU was just no good. Kevin Feige tasked some in-house writers with making changes to Wright's screenplay so it would tie into this shared world, and sent the filmmaker notes about what they now wanted from the movie.
For an acclaimed writer like Wright, that was a borderline insult.
"I was the writer-director on it and then they wanted to do a draft without me, and having written all my other movies, that’s a tough thing to move forward [with]," he previously said. With that, Wright walked away from the project due to "creative differences," but only after casting most of the movie and choreographing its main set-pieces.
4. Alan Taylor vs. Marvel Studios (And James Gunn?!)
When Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor was chosen to step behind the camera to helm Thor: The Dark World, the hope was that he would bring a Westeros feel to Asgard.
Instead, it was a mostly generic blockbuster set primarily in London, and before the sequel even arrived in cinemas, Alan Taylor was speaking out against the changes Marvel Studios has made to his movie, going so far as to very vocally distance himself from its post-credits scene.
At the premiere for Thor: The Dark World, Taylor said he was "very happy not to take responsibility" for the stinger shot by James Gunn that linked the Aether to Guardians of the Galaxy's Collector.
"The Marvel experience was particularly wrenching because I was sort of given absolute freedom while we were shooting, and then in post it turned into a different movie," Taylor has said. "So, that is something I hope never to repeat and don’t wish upon anybody else."
3. Marvel Studios vs. Edward Norton
The Incredible Hulk was released shortly after Iron Man, but it didn't receive anywhere near as positive a response as the movie that came before it. Ultimately, it was largely ignored until this year's Captain America: Brave New World was released.
Actor Edward Norton had a reputation for being difficult, and after taking American History X away from Tony Kaye, he tried to do the same with Marvel Studios and filmmaker Louis Leterrier's plans for The Incredible Hulk.
While he was initially allowed to arrive on set and rewrite whatever was being worked on that day, the actor became incensed when his contributions didn't really shine through in the editing room. As a result, he refused to promote the finished cut.
Norton arguably crossed the line here and contributed to The Incredible Hulk not being a hit on the same level as Iron Man.
2. Marvel Studios vs. Marvel Television
There was a huge divide between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television, which has now been resolved...by Disney giving Feige complete control over all Marvel Cinematic Universe stories told on the small screen.
Before that, Isaac Perlmutter and Jeph Loeb (the former president of Marvel Television) were pulling the strings. Left with the scraps Marvel Studios either didn't want or were forced to give away, it was clear from the start that Marvel Television's shows had only loose ties to the MCU.
Feige repeatedly dodged questions about why characters like Daredevil and Luke Cage couldn't appear in movies, and even admitted to not having watched the Man Without Fear's series at one point. Before fan pressure, Daredevil: Born Again was planned as a total reboot.
We've since learned that Marvel Studios deliberately hampered Marvel Television's efforts, destroying S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier with no regard for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and banning the TV team from using M.O.D.O.K., for example.
1. Joss Whedon vs. Marvel Studios
Joss Whedon delivered Marvel Studios its first $1 billion hit with 2012's The Avengers. The filmmaker wasn't rewarded with much in the way of creative freedom for 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, and has revealed that he fought to keep several key scenes.
Those included the visions the team had courtesy of the Scarlet Witch and their visit to the farmhouse. However, Whedon also found himself forced to shoehorn in arguably the movie's worst sequence: that big Infinity Stones tease courtesy of Thor's meandering subplot.
"With the cave, it really turned into: they pointed a gun at the farm’s head and said, 'Give us the cave, or we’ll take out the farm' ... in a civilised way," Whedon shared. "I respect these guys, they’re artists, but that’s when it got really, really unpleasant."
Feige may have also lied to the filmmaker, telling him he could include Captain Marvel in that New Avengers Facility scene, only to replace her with Wanda in post-production. This is why Whedon didn't return for Avengers: Infinity War, in case it wasn't clear.