Victoria Alonso's Shock Departure And More Controversies Marvel Studios Would Rather You Forget

Marvel has found itself embroiled in controversy following Victoria Alonso's departure from the company, but it's not the only time the outfit behind the MCU has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.

By JoshWilding - Mar 31, 2023 12:03 PM EST

Filed Under: Marvel Studios

During Phase 4, Marvel Studios developed something of a quantity-over-quality issue. It appears the blame for that can be laid at the feet of former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, though it's hard not to wonder whether Kevin Feige and company have become a little too confident in their abilities following the success of the Infinity Saga.

Thankfully, the MCU now appears to be back on the right track, but the studio has still been making headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks.

As the headline suggests, we're referring to the shock departure of Marvel Studios veteran Victoria Alonso. We'll delve into that a little later in this feature, but as much as we love this studio and everything they've achieved with the MCU, there are some controversies from the past decade and a half we know they'd rather we forget.

Lucky for you, we haven't, and you can take a look back through those by tapping the "Next" button below.

6. Marvel Studios vs. Marvel Entertainment

This wasn't a decision made by Marvel Studios, but by recently fired Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter. With the MCU rapidly increasing in popularity, he wanted to hurt 20th Century Fox's X-Men and Fantastic Four movies and decided to do so by ordering Marvel Comics to reduce the number of comic books featuring those characters.

Marvel's First Family went on a trip into the cosmos and the X-Men were sidelined and replaced with the Inhumans. It was an initiative that failed miserably, and when he tried and failed to force an Inhumans movie on Kevin Feige, Perlmutter ended up instead getting Marvel Television to develop a series that proved to be an embarrassment.

This was one of many reasons Feige pushed Disney to allow Marvel Studios to become a separate entity. However, the two had butted heads for years, and Perlmutter was the reason Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard as War Machine after he refused to give the actor a raise and allegedly declared that no one would notice the difference between two Black actors.

5. Hulk Fired!

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.

For a long time, it was the black sheep of the MCU, in large part because of the utter sh*tstorm its release created. Edward Norton had a reputation for being difficult, and after taking American History X away from Tony Kaye, the actor tried to do the same with Louis Leterrier's vision for The Incredible Hulk and clashed with Marvel Studios execs in the process.

While Norton was initially allowed to rewrite various scenes on the day they were shooting them, the actor was later incensed when his contributions didn't really shine through while the movie was being edited. As a result, he refused to promote the finished cut. This was a PR nightmare and is what led to him being replaced by Mark Ruffalo.

4. Disney vs. Black Widow

Black Widow was released simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+'s "Premier Access," and while Disney touted impressive opening weekend numbers, one person who wasn't happy was lead star, Scarlett Johansson.

Shortly after the movie's debut, the actress filed a lawsuit against the House of Mouse for losses of more than $50 million she should have gained from box office revenue. Johansson and Disney eventually settled out of court, but this was another controversial move by former Disney CEO Bob Chapek that saw him eventually replaced with his predecessor, Bob Iger.

In fairness to Marvel Studios, this wasn't their fault and it's no secret that Kevin Feige was unhappy about the situation. Johannson is expected to return to the MCU in some capacity, but this was a big, very controversial story, at a time the studio was facing huge challenges in the midst of the pandemic.

3. An Insult Too Far

The strange thing about this one is that no one actually realised it was offensive at the time! In The Avengers, Loki is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and has a tense confrontation with Black Widow aboard the Helicarrier.

During their conversation, he calls the hero a "mewling quim," an insult that, well, sounds like something an Asgardian might say. The problem is, for anyone who went home and Googled the phrase, they'd have realised that Joss Whedon managed to sneak a variation of the word "c*nt" into a PG-13 movie...and the first MCU title to be distributed by Disney.

Some television broadcasts have since replaced "quim" with "child," and there was a lot of discomfort online that a female character had been referred to in this way. Given some of the claims since made about Whedon regarding how he's treated actresses on set, this moment now takes on a much darker light.

2. Press Junket Blunder

This was a great example of what not to do during a press tour, and we're sure Marvel Studios kept a closer eye on talent after this Avengers: Age of Ultron faux pas.

Attempting to have fun during a neverending series of interviews, Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner weighed in on Black Widow's romantic involvement with Bruce Banner in the sequel. The latter chimed in to jokingly call the character a "slut," while Evans would add that his fellow Avenger is "a complete whore."

Fans didn't take kindly to these sexist remarks and both Evans and Renner were quick to apologise. Ultimately, it was a mistake, and the comments were made about a fictional character. More troubling was how Black Widow was portrayed by Joss Whedon in The Avengers sequel, but in a post-#MeToo world, these two might be cancelled if this happened now!

1. Ongoing Controversies

As we write this, Marvel Studios finds itself in the midst of a number of controversies. They continue to face backlash for how VFX vendors are treated, with claims they're overworked, underpaid, and even blacklisted for doing anything that slightly upsets their employers.

Victoria Alonso is believed to be responsible for creating that toxic culture, though she's going down fighting after a breach of her contract - producing and promoting a documentary - led to her being fired. As well as suing Disney, Alonso has claimed she was let go for refusing to censor an LGBTQ+ flag in the latest Ant-Man movie so it could be released in certain countries.

Then, there's the Jonathan Majors problem. The actor is currently facing serious charges of assault following an alleged altercation with a woman, and while we've heard that there's evidence that proves his innocence, the case hasn't gone away...yet. As a result, Marvel Studios might find itself forced to find a new Kang...

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Victoria Alonso's Shock Departure And More Controversies Marvel Studios Would Rather You Forget

Marvel has found itself embroiled in controversy following Victoria Alonso's departure from the company, but it's not the only time the outfit behind the MCU has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.

6. Marvel Studios vs. Marvel Entertainment

5. Hulk Fired!

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3. An Insult Too Far

2. Press Junket Blunder

1. Ongoing Controversies

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