Ike Perlmutter Makes Excuse For Resisting BLACK PANTHER As Iger Prepares For Ousted Exec To "Fire" At Disney

Ike Perlmutter Makes Excuse For Resisting BLACK PANTHER As Iger Prepares For Ousted Exec To "Fire" At Disney

We recently learned that Former Marvel Entertainment Chairman Ike Perlmutter had returned, seemingly with a view to taking revenge on Disney CEO Bob Iger. Now, Ike's plan has begun to take shape...

By MarkCassidy - Jan 03, 2024 06:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Studios

Late last year, we learned that controversial former Marvel Entertainment Chairman Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter had joined forces with veteran Disney executive Jay Rasulo and pledged his considerable Disney shares to billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz.

Peltz's firm, Trian Partners, has a $3 billion stake in Disney, and after taking their case to shareholders, the investor is looking for three out of the twelve seats on the board.

Disney has come right out and stated that Perlmutter has a "personal agenda" against Iger and that his interests "may be different than that of all other shareholders," but with Ike's shares alone making up 80% of Trian's stake, they could obviously cause some big problems.

According to a new report from THR, the ultimate goal is to get board seats for both Peltz and Rasulo, and, most likely, install Rasulo as new CEO.

“Jay has credibility. He’s not some Palm Beach crank," one Disney insider tells the trade. "He’s a very legitimate voice about where Disney was eight years ago. Ike is angry and eating three nights a week at Mar-a-Lago but Jay showing up on that side is a very significant event.”

Perlmutter’s long-time attorney, John Turitzin, dismisses the perception that his client is seeking retribution, however.

“It’s an absurd suggestion to make,” he says. “[Perlmutter] has got, I don’t know how many billions of dollars tied up in Disney. He’s not going to [play] a revenge game with the majority of his personal wealth.”

Perlmutter made a lot of enemies during his time at Marvel, and reportedly attempted to stand in the way of the studio developing both Black Panther and Captain Marvel because he didn't think toys depicting Black and female superheroes would sell.

According to one source, when the decision was made to replace Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle in the 2010 Iron Man sequel, Perlmutter told a Disney executive that the move saved money and no one would notice because "Black people look the same" (Turitzin denies that Perlmutter said this).

Turitzin also addressed Perlmutter resisting Black Panther, claiming that it was “not because [he was] racist but because it had never been done before and its success wasn’t guaranteed."

Perlmutter is no fan of Kevin Feige, either, so if he does manage to regain some power at Disney, some major changes at Marvel Studios could well be on the horizon.

We'll be sure to keep you updated as this situation develops.

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AvalonX
AvalonX - 1/3/2024, 6:08 PM
There is no denying the success the MCU had while Ike Perlmutter was there. I keep seeing the same couple of alleged "incidents" trying to take the guy down. Feige, like most creators need to have some kind of checks and balance. What about all the things he went along with?

Either way, a company is most successful when they are willing to listen to differing opinions. What Iger did was get rid of anyone that disagreed with their agenda (which is really funding from Blackrock and Vanguard). The worst thing to happen to Feige is he won this political battle.

Not every project is a good idea.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 1/3/2024, 6:11 PM
@AvalonX - No, but the two movies Ike is said to have tried to block both made over a billion. Doesn't seem like a particularly clever exec to me.
dracula
dracula - 1/3/2024, 6:14 PM
@AvalonX - They had success when he was around, but Marvel's most successful run was after he left.

Phase 3 consistently knocked it out of the part with 1 or 2 exceptions, but always brought in good money at the box office
MadThanos
MadThanos - 1/3/2024, 6:23 PM
@MarkCassidy - Captain Marvel sandwiched between the two biggest MCU movies of all time?

Without that, you can clearly see The Marvels box office.

He was also so freaking wrong about Black Panther.
AvalonX
AvalonX - 1/3/2024, 6:29 PM
@MarkCassidy - Come on Mark, we know why the first Captain Marvel did well. The second is their biggest flop so he was probably right.
AvalonX
AvalonX - 1/3/2024, 6:31 PM
@dracula - Phase 3 stuff still had his influence. He helped build the MCU. Those first 2 phases set the tone for billion dollar movies. Without him? They are in a tank so its not a fair comparison.

Again, Im not saying the guy isnt a douche. Im just saying sometimes you need business people.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 1/3/2024, 6:40 PM
@AvalonX - I mean, yeah the MCU was pretty much untouchable at the time, but CM still did a lot better than some of its contemporaries.
TheUnworthyThor
TheUnworthyThor - 1/3/2024, 6:46 PM
@AvalonX - He was very wrong about Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel is now and forevermore a far more valuable asset to Disney. I don’t know why people continue to only keep their gaze in these tiny boxes as if theatrical receipts are the only things that matter to these companies.
Origame
Origame - 1/3/2024, 6:47 PM
@MarkCassidy - ok, I'll give you black panther. But after the marvels it's clear captain marvel only made a billion because it was hyped as being super important to endgame when the mcu was in its peak popularity.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 1/3/2024, 6:48 PM
@MarkCassidy -
You can speak about success after the fact, but try selling a $200m female-led Superhero movie to a group of people when the only prior examples you had at the time were films like Elektra and Catwoman which both lost money on lower budgets.

Similarly, try justifying the production of a $200m Black Panther movie when the $40-$60m Blade films barely made any profit.

If Ike had seen financial potential in the concepts, he would have done so, but you can't be a reckless idiot in business otherwise you wind up with Phase 4/5.
Origame
Origame - 1/3/2024, 6:51 PM
@TheUnworthyThor - literally the last two properties attached to this character failed. Ms marvel, which was always attached to this franchise, ended up being the lowest viewership of the mcu shows at the time, and the marvels is their biggest box office bomb. Outside of that is endgame, but she's barely in it and is part of all of the parts people call the worst.
AvalonX
AvalonX - 1/3/2024, 6:51 PM
@MarkCassidy - Mark all im saying is this guys gets labeled a racist for basically two alleged decisons. Iger outted him and gave Feige full control. If you compare the before and the after, its not close in terms of quality and profitibility. The reality is, the people who deserve the most credit for Phase 3 are probabay the Russos who took the integration of the entire MCU to another level. Thats means things like Guardians had to happen which was a risk. You can take two (alleged) decisions in a vacuum because you disagree with it. Someone, maybe not this guy has to reign Feige in because Iger is controlled by the board (who is controlled by Blackguard and Vanguard)

Now does that sound totally racist that he didnt think a black toy would sell? Sure. But if you take the emotion out of it, this guys entire fortune is tied up in Disney. He wants to make money. He doesn't care about toys. You need the creator and the business man. No different than any company where I have to deal with the CFO all the time when I have a great idea. Sometimes I cant get funding and I dont like it but that doesnt mean the CFO is some kind of racist.
Origame
Origame - 1/3/2024, 6:52 PM
@Scarilian - I actually agree. Black panther could've failed based on what we've seen before.
AvalonX
AvalonX - 1/3/2024, 6:55 PM
@TheUnworthyThor - Are you insane? They reduces her role in Endgame. They made her sequel an ensemble and it bombed. Why is she a valuable asset? She barely wants to play the character.

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