The Disney board proxy fight is heating up as the shareholders come close to decision day, and activist investor Nelson Peltz has criticized Marvel president Kevin Feige for his “woke” strategy, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Peltz told The Financial Times that he questions Feige's decision to make Black Panther and The Marvels under the helm of Disney CEO Bob Iger. While the investor did say that he's not looking to remove Feige — he's campaigning to take current members Michael B.G. Froman and Maria Elena Lagomasino's seats — he wondered how if the Marvel chief has been staying in his position and what moves the studio should be making.
Nelson Peltz vs. “woke” Disney
“People go to watch a movie or a show to be entertained. They don't go to get a message,” he said.
“Why do I have to have a Marvel that's all women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can't I have Marvels that are both? Why do I need an all-Black cast?” Peltz asked.
Peltz isn't alone in his opinions. His friend and supporter in the proxy battle, former Marvel Entertainment chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter said the same things.
According to Iger in his 2019 memoir The Ride of a Lifetime, there were some pushback regarding his idea of diversifying Marvel movies and feature more movies that didn't just feature white men.
When he told Perlmutter about his plan, the ex-Marvel boss replied, “female superheroes never drive big box office.” But Iger pushed on.
“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,” he wrote.
Disney backs Bob Iger
Disney is backing up Iger. The company issued a letter to shareholders that was released on Monday with the title, “Oh, Nelson.” In it, the media giant used the Marvel quotes as well as Peltz's statement: “What sense is being a billionaire if you're not a bully?”
“Imagine the damage Peltz would do to Disney's boardroom with these perspectives,” the letter continued.
The company also described Feige as having an “unparalleled track record at Marvel.” This record generated approximately $30 billion in worldwide box office earnings. Disney also wrote in the letter that Peltz doesn't understand the business, will not contribute to shareholder value and does not bring “additive skills to the board.”
The letter added, “Peltz, including his silent partner Ike Perlmutter, would harm Disney and jeopardize our strategic transformation.”
Both Iger and Peltz have been campaigning for support for the April 3 board meeting. The Disney CEO and the current board have received support from former CEO Michael Eisner, Star Wars creator and presumably the company's largest individual shareholder George Lucas, the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs' widow and also a significant shareholder Laurene Powell Job, as well as Walt and Roy Disney's grandchildren.
Peltz and Trian Partners, on the other hand, have the support of Institutional Shareholder Services. ISS recently recommended adding Peltz to the board to its clients. However, it did not advise voting for Peltz's nominee former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo.
While The Marvels didn't fare well at the box office — for a lot of reasons, but I disagree with Peltz's assessment — the same can't be said for 2018's Black Panther. The late Chadwick Boseman-led superhero film grossed $1.35 billion worldwide. Not a bad number for a character that wasn't as popular as the rest of the Avengers.
Not only were T'Challa and the rest of the Wakandans certified box office record holders, they represented a cultural turning point. In the year the film was released, you could hardly move without people doing the Wakandan salute everywhere.
I've got no skin in the game when it comes to the proxy fight — neither do most of us. However, Peltz saying that The Marvels and Black Panther are part of Disney's “woke” strategy is confusing.
Black Panther had a majority (not all) Black cast because the titular superhero was Black. Can you imagine having a Black Panther movie with mostly white people in it? Social media would have a field day — and not a good one.
As for a female Captain Marvel, you don't have to have one. But why wouldn't you? When Captain Marvel was introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she was played by a woman, Brie Larson. It would have been strange for a solo Captain Marvel movie to be headed by a man. Would it have benefited with a male Captain Marvel? I don't think so.
Just as an aside, the male Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, died in 1982. The second one was female, Monica Rambeau.
I think the Disney letter was right: Nelson Peltz has no idea about this world, and his ideas about what to do with superheroes are a little… shall we say, outdated?
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