Dear Marvel Fans (and Ex-fans, I Guess),
Tbh, I can’t believe I’m making a “receipts” post, but I grow weary of the Marvel posts going around vaguely mentioning a “CEO”, so here we go.
Okay, there’s a lot of stuff flinging around because of a recent (and yes, incredibly terrible) advertising scandal/comic event. And while it’s good that people let their displeasure be known, I want to talk to y’all about one Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter. Because this is where a lot of this nonsense stems from and where it is likely at its strongest.
Ah, yes, Marvel’s real life Lex or whatever.
(Even worse, here’s a more recent image of him with the Big Bad we all know.)
This guy basically became rich by preying on failing businesses, eventually pumping an obscene amount of cash into Marvel after it went bankrupt. His investment paid off for him and so he became an unfortunately important Marvel CEO. That CEO, to be specific. Yes, the one people keep mentioning.
Now’s a good time to mention that the guy likes his privacy. In a traditional supervillain fashion, he--I kid you not--was reported to have come to the Iron Man movie’s premiere in a disguise. This may or may not have eased somewhat, his ties to the government putting him in video and causing a spontaneous airport photo or whatever. Still.
He was the infamous CEO who talked with a Sony Executive, saying that female-led superhero movies weren’t profitable.
It is important to note that Marvel Studios is no longer overseen by Perlmutter, who has said to be a terrible cheapskate (leading to poor working conditions), did not get along with Kevin Feige (head of the MCU), and has been reported to have said all “black people ‘look the same’.”
In other words, the MCU is overseen by Disney, rather than Perlmutter, which is why things are better there than in their comics right now.
So, can we stop throwing around nebulous terms like “Marvel CEO” when we actually know his name? Sometimes, when it’s unknown, it makes sense, but if we’re going to drag Spencer (who is also bad), we might as well go for the big guy.
