Source: Gilbert Flores / Getty / Victoria Alonso
Marvel’s 2023 is off to a rare bad start. First Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania didn’t make that much noise at the box office, then Jonathan Majors caught a domestic violence case, and now one of the company’s longtime execs is gone.
The firing of Victoria Alonso by Marvel Studios sent shockwaves throughout Hollywood. Reports were all over the place regarding the reasoning behind her abrupt exit from the company.
As seen on CBR via Variety’s initial reporting, One report claimed her termination had to do with the “allegations she had created a hostile work environment for Marvel’s visual effects department, which she oversaw as the studio’s President of Physical, Post Production, VFX and Animation.”
The website also reports Alonso got the boot for working on a documentary, Argentina 1985, with Disney/Marvel’s competitor Amazon Studios as a producer. Alonso’s attorney, Patty Glaser, hit back against those allegations saying, “Victoria, a gay Latina who had the courage to criticize Disney, was silenced.”
Glaser also said Alonso “was terminated when she refused to do something she believed was reprehensible. Disney and Marvel made a really poor decision that will have serious consequences.” She also notes Alonso vocally criticized former Disney CEO Bob Chapek over his waffling on Florida’s stupid “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Other Reporting Claims Disney Had A Legit Reason For Firing Victoria Alonso
Reporting on the firing claims that Marvel let Alonso go for a contract breach, according to Heroic Hollywood, via Puck News.
Per Heroic Hollywood:
The report points out that Disney could have simply paid her out for any number of reasons, according to the recent backlash against Marvel VFX in the public eye. According to Puck’s Matthew Belloni, the dispute first came up in mid-2021 while renegotiating Alonso’s contract, with Disney discovering she had been producing Argentina, 1985 for Amazon Studios, a direct competitor.
Despite this breach, Disney granted leeway to Alonso due to her tenure at Marvel Studios and allowed her to keep her name on the project as long as she didn’t promote it. In the following months, Alonso would give an interview to Indiewire about the project, as well as attend the BAFTAs in London. These incidents are what ultimately led Disney to let Alonso go.
Whatever the case is, Alonso was part of the epic ride that is the MCU for 17 years. She was the co-producer and visual effects producer for 2008’s Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger.
For her hard work, she got a promotion to become an executive producer for The Avengers. While things seem shaky between Marvel Studios and Alonso, Puck news also reports Alonso and Disney are working on a settlement.
We will continue to monitor this situation to see how it plays out.
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Photo: Gilbert Flores / Getty