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Former Marvel Exec Victoria Alonso Settles with Disney Over Firing

Brian Welk
·3 min read

Former Marvel executive Victoria Alonso, who was suddenly terminated last month after being with the studio since the original “Iron Man,” has reached a settlement with Disney over her exit, IndieWire has learned.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Disney and Alonso’s attorney Patricia Glaser did not respond to a request for comment.

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At the time of her exit, a studio insider said the reason for Alonso’s firing was because of a breach of contract involving her work as a producer on the Oscar-nominated film “Argentina, 1985.” The film, which was distributed by Amazon Studios and on which she was one of eight credited producers, amounted to a violation of company terms she signed in 2018 stating that Disney employees would not work with competing studios.

The insider claimed Alonso was given numerous warnings to not work on the film or do press on its behalf and did not receive permission from Disney to produce the project. However, IndieWire reported otherwise during Oscar season, writing that “producer Axel Kuschevatzky persuaded Alonso to get permission from Disney and Marvel to help him to produce.” The source claimed that Alonso never received permission, and that her continuing participation in other appearances and press interviews on behalf of “Argentina, 1985” fractured her relationship with the studio.

Glaser in a statement last month threatened legal action and claimed her client was being “silenced” as a result of her termination.

“The idea that Victoria was fired over a handful of press interviews relating to a personal passion project about human rights and democracy that was nominated for an Oscar and which she got Disney’s blessing to work on is absolutely ridiculous,” Glaser said. “Victoria, a gay Latina who had the courage to criticize Disney, was silenced. Then she 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. There is a lot more to this story and Victoria will be telling it shortly—in one forum or another.”

Alonso was elevated to her role as president of physical and postproduction, visual effects and animation production in 2021 and became a fixture alongside Marvel chief Kevin Feige and co-president Louis D’Esposito. But her promotion came at a time when Marvel was in the midst of a massive production swell, with the studio ramping up production from just three movies per year up through 2019 and Phase 3 of the MCU to producing seven films and eight Disney+ series since then.

As a result, Marvel’s VFX and post-production work — with Alonso serving as president of physical and postproduction, visual effects and animation production — came under increased scrutiny and criticism, particularly with the critically maligned “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and its visual effects. VFX sources who recently spoke to IndieWire said they became embarrassed by the quality of the work they produced under the Marvel banner, and one source additionally said that Alonso may have spread herself too thin promoting her other film at a time when the studio was facing criticism.

Deadline first reported the news.

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