Point is, Marvel was in deep trouble, and the hero who saved them was ... Ike Perlmutter, a weird-ass rich guy. He gives no interviews, had like one photo on the internet until a few years ago, and like all billionaires, is involved in a long-running feud with another rich guy who tried to steal his DNA.
In recent years, Perlmutter and his wife have donated millions to Donald Trump, and in an unrelated development, Trump gave him and two other Mar-a-Lago pals control of the Department of Veteran Affairs. Just one of those nice gestures you occasionally do for your unqualified buddies.
So how did this guy end up getting involved with Marvel? Perlmutter was one of the owners of Toy Biz, which made all your favorite Aunt May and scuba-diving Wolverine action figures. When Marvel went bankrupt, Perlmutter and his partner Avi Arad saved the company by merging it with Toy Biz. Perlmutter later took over as CEO and began cutting costs by, for instance, salvaging paper clips from the trash or wanting to only serve potato chips at the Iron Man premiere -- which he reportedly attended in glasses and a fake mustache. (Maybe he was cosplaying as Stan Lee?)
Perlmutter is also the one who decided to sideline the X-Men and the Fantastic Four from the comics because Fox had their movie rights, since to him, the comics are nothing but ads for the movies (which are ads for action figures). And speaking of the MCU, Perlmutter butted heads with Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige by trying to stop Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and basically any movie not about a white man from getting made. Feige almost quit over this. Anyway, we're glad they've never given Perlmutter any cameos. The supervillains are ridiculous enough as it is.
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