Disney CEO Bob Iger has revealed that Marvel’s Ike Perlmutter didn’t want Black Panther and Captain Marvel to be made.
Black Panther and Captain Marvel proved to be two of the most successful entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the former garnering major awards recognition and both ascending to the billion-dollar club. However, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige encountered resistance to the idea of greenlighting Black Panther and Captain Marvel during the period when the studio was not yet a separate entity from Marvel Entertainment.
In his memoir The Ride of a Lifetime, Disney CEO Bob Iger explained that Kevin Feige was in full support of producing a Black Panther film but a New York executive for Marvel Entertainment raised objections. The executive pointed to the outdated idea that films with black leads underperform at the worldwide box office, which prompted Bob Iger to call Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter and order him to instruct his team to cease obstructing the production of Black Panther and Captain Marvel:
“I’ve been in the business long enough to have heard every old argument in the book, and I’ve learned that old arguments are just that: old, and out of step with where the world is and where it should be. We had a chance to make a great movie and to showcase an underrepresented segment of America, and those goals were not mutually exclusive. I called Ike and told him to tell his team to stop putting up roadblocks and ordered that we put both Black Panther and Captain Marvel into production.”
Marvel Studios was eventually separated from Marvel Entertainment, granting Kevin Feige more creative control of the Marvel Studios film series without having to report to Ike Perlmutter.
Now, Marvel Studios is developing sequels to Black Panther and Captain Marvel. Details on the Captain Marvel sequel are currently unknown, though Brie Larson is set to reprise her role as the titular heroine. Meanwhile, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is signed on to write and direct the second film.
Marvel Studios’ future features with Disney also include Black Widow, The Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Thor: Love and Thunder.
Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for the latest news on Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel 2 and Black Panther II.
Source: The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company (via ScreenRant)
