We may have an unsung hero in the form of Ike Perlmutter, the eccentric Disney billionaire, who just may have gone so far as saved Marvel Comics.
Perlmutter, whom Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige booted from being involved with the movies and was blamed for massively interfering with the MCU by both James Gunn and the Russo brothers as well as the various Hollywood trade sites.
Perlmutter, who has been accused of being responsible for canceling and killing off the Fox Marvel X-Men and Fantastic Four properties in the comics, gaming, and merchandise.
Perlmutter, who has been blamed for there being no female Marvel movies or action figures.
Perlmutter, whom I even blamed for the downfall of Marvel Comics following the cancellation of Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy years ago, with me having recommended that all of Marvel come under Kevin Feige (boy, am I regretting that now).
Perlmutter, who has played the villain role opposite Kevin Feige’s MCU “champion” for years.
Now Ike Perlmutter may actually be the hero that we all need but don’t deserve.
Kevin Feige’s MCU continues with its PC direction
While Feige’s MCU Phase 4 plans continue to go in a leftist and politically correct direction, it is learned that Ike Perlmutter is going in the opposite direction with Marvel Comics, which has been going that very same route as Feige’s “new” MCU for even longer.
THR hints that Perlmutter is responsible for putting the kibosh and forcing Mark Waid to change a PC-oriented Captain America essay that was supposed to be released in today’s issue of Marvel Comics #1000.
Marvel Comics actually went so far as to include Waid’s original leftist rant in preview copies made available to retailers, but the final printed version that is available today is much different.
Mark Waid forced to change Captain America essay
Here are excerpts of the two different versions, where we see Waid was forced to cave (so much for standing up for what he believes in, eh?):
Original:
“The system isn’t just. We’ve treated some of our own abominably,” he wrote. “Worse, we’ve perpetuated the myth that any American can become anything, can achieve anything, through sheer force of will. And that’s not always true. This isn’t the land of opportunity for everyone. The American ideals aren’t always shared fairly. Yet without them, we have nothing.”
Waid went on to write, “America’s systems are flawed, but they’re our only mechanism with which to remedy inequality on a meaningful scale. Yes, it’s hard and bloody work. But history has shown us that we can, bit by bit, right that system when enough of us get angry. When enough of us take to the streets and force those in power to listen. When enough of us call for revolution and say, ‘Injustice will not stand.’”
Final version:
“It’s a commitment to fight every day for justice, for acceptance and equality, and for the rights of everyone in this nation. At its best, this is a good country filled with people who recognize that those — not hatred, not bigotry, not exclusion — are the values of true patriotism.”
Good country? Values of true patriotism? Wow! Is this Mark Waid we are talking about? Mark Waid, who goes on these strange and weird rants on social media? Mark Waid, who recently accused an African American YouTuber of being a white supremacist? Mark Waid, who allegedly went behind a YouTuber and Marine veteran’s back to get the young man’s comic book canceled, with Waid now in a heated lawsuit over those allegations?
So “all it took” for Waid to change gears was to have Perlmutter, a known friend to President Trump – and ironically enough involved with Trump’s Department of Veteran Affairs – ask for the changes?
Hollywood pretenders
This sounds eerily familiar to what happened with James Gunn, who, too, caved and stopped tweeting his political rants once Disney fired him (Gunn has since been rehired, go figure).
Or how about following having completed his Marvel contract and The Avengers: Endgame having been released, Chris Evans also went on some weird leftist political rant?
Or how about Captain Marvel Brie Larson and Ms. Marvel showrunner Bisha K. Ali complaining about white dudes, but working for them and, of course, not mind getting paid millions by them (ditto for Evans)?
Or how about Feige continuing to replace classic Marvel characters with PC characters while lying about it all?
And Ike Perlmutter is the bad guy?
Kevin Feige is an evil supervillain
What a narrative that has unfolded that paints Perlmutter as some evil villain while Feige has been the superhero — when it seems the opposite is actually true! Now that is a villain plot straight out of the comics if there ever was one!
The report from THR makes mention that Marvel “is not allowing its publications to take a political stance” which follows two weeks ago Marvel Comics turning down Art Spiegelman’s essay that made mention of an “Orange Skull” for Marvel: The Golden Age 1939–1949. It’s further said that Marvel Comics is trying to stay “apolitical.”
The news of the changes to Marvel Comics follows huge fan backlash with sales having tanked and many local comic book shops having closed their doors in recent years as a result of poor sales, not just from Marvel Comics, but DC Comics and other publishers, all of which have been going that very same PC route.
Cosmic Book News
This very website was actually in part created as a result of one of my favorite Marvel Comics characters, Quasar, getting replaced by a PC character at the end of Annihilation way back in 2005-6.
I and a bunch of other fans got together and campaigned the Marvel Comics offices to bring back Wendell Vaughn as Quasar, which included the legendary Quasar cake that was sent to Marvel who responded by actually bringing the character back.
While we had the Marvel Cosmic golden years under Abnett and Lanning (DnA) for a while, things would take a change for the worse when Marvel Comics adopted James Gunn and Kevin Feige’s goofy approach to the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, which saw that stellar line of DnA comics canceled, with – wait for it – Richard Rider Nova replaced by a PC character (interestingly enough which Mark Waid helped spearhead).
Credit to myself and fellow Marvel Cosmic fans as we were having none of it, and the PC wannabe replacement for Richard Rider failed miserably, with Richard Rider Nova now back in the comics, in addition to Quasar, and at the center of a new Annihilation event comic that kicks off in November.
Following Richard Rider getting replaced with PC-characters, Marvel Comics would continue in the same direction with characters such as Carol Danvers, who replaced the iconic Mar-vell, and became Captain Marvel (because of Feige going forward with his PC movie?) and Kamala Khan then taking over Carol Danvers’ former character with Ms. Marvel, and there have been many more examples.
It now seems as if Marvel Comics has been following Kevin Feige’s PC approach to the characters and not vice versa in order to prepare fans for Feige’s PC MCU movies. So in essence, it seems that Kevin Feige is responsible for ruining Marvel and not Ike Perlmutter.
#ComicsGate was right
Then there is #comicsgate, which is a movement from fans and professionals to keep that forced leftist PC-driven agenda and approach out of the comics.
I can recall that while I was blasting Marvel for their PC approach to the new Nova and Captain Marvel (I was the only site to do that) that the aforementioned Marine Veteran started his Diversity & Comics YouTube channel, which went a lot further than anything I had written about in my articles (I kept it cosmic-related).
While I had given up on Marvel Comics and stopped purchasing and basically reading everything Marvel following the cancellation of Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy and the PC-replacement of Richard Rider Nova (Quasar would eventually get replaced by another PC character), Richard C. Meyer would post video after video pointing out how “SJW” Marvel had become.
The #ComicsGate movement would grow even bigger when former DC Comics Green Lantern artist Ethan Van Sciver (pictured above) would come on board and champion the cause. Both Van Sciver and Meyer would go on to crowd-fund there own line of creator-owned comics to the tune of millions and millions of dollars, something most writers and artists at DC and Marvel will never see.
Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld also pointed out that fans were still buying comics, just that they were buying older issues.
What those fans have been doing is avoiding the new PC-driven comics and instead they are buying older comics that came before the SJW infestation that has destroyed the comic book industry and will do so to the Marvel movies (à la Disney Star Wars).
Put Ike Perlmutter in charge of the MCU
By my count, it has been about eight years since Marvel Comics and the comic book industry started to go the PC route, and now we see, at least for Marvel, it seems to be finally over.
Van Sciver is right, #ComicsGate has won.
Can Ike Perlmutter now be put back in charge of the MCU?
