When Marvel Studios executive Victoria Alonso suddenly exited Marvel Studios last month, it was a surprise and there was much comment. Disney was cutting back and reducing roles, and yet she wasn’t part of the natural downsizing.

She had been with the company since the days of Iron Man and had been an Executive Producer or Producer since the early days. She came aboard as chief of visual effects and post-production and in 2021, was promoted to president, physical and post-production, visual effects, and animation production.

She was there as Marvel Studios established itself as a major player and grew to control the largest-grossing franchise in cinematic history in a little over a decade.

So what went wrong for her?

According to Disney, she was let go because she breached her terms of employment by promoting and producing Argentina, 1985 for rival Amazon Studios. Alonso’s attorney Patty Glaser called that reasoning:

“…absolutely ridiculous…”

She alleged that the reason was actually because Alonso had flat-out refused to alter a movie by doing:

“…something she believed was reprehensible…”

The rumor is that the reprehensible action was to remove an LGBTQIA+ flag digitally from Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania for release in less gay-friendly oversees markets.

Alonso, a gay Latina who had pushed back against Disney for their support of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, was seen as an internal activist and ally for LGBTQIA+ causes.

Last year there was another issue surrounding the studio with Alonso at the heart of it. The VFX industry was alive with stories about how challenging Marvel was to work for, with short deadlines, squeezed margins and constantly changing demands. It was stated that if Marvel weren’t so big, many VFX houses and freelance artists would have simply refused their work, as they were that difficult.

Then other stories began to leak out about Alonso and her alleged behavior internally. She was said to have favorites, and Vulture and New York Magazine reported that Alonso ran a toxic work environment instilled with fear. Apparently, she would reward unquestioning loyalty with an avalanche of work but maintained a blacklist of VFX artists who would be frozen out of future projects regardless of their ability.

Then came the release of Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, which was heavily criticized for substandard visual effects after the same complaints were made over Thor: Love And Thunder.

For their part, Disney had fired back with a statement, saying it was “unfortunate” that Alonso was:

“…sharing a narrative that leaves out several key factors concerning her departure, including an indisputable breach of contract and a direct violation of company policy.

We will continue to wish her the best for the future and thank her for her numerous contributions to the studio.”

Based on personal experience as a senior leader in the corporate world, and in my personal opinion, what could have happened here is this. Between the Pride Flag, internal activism, and the issues surrounding VFX, her days were numbered. However, removal as part of the downsizing would have meant a significant payout.

The organization saw an opportunity to avoid the payout and not be seen, by industry watchers, to be rewarding “bad” behavior. The Argentina, 1985 issue was the excuse they needed.

As is traditional in these situations, lawyering up and making statements brings the situation rapidly to a conclusion. According to Variety, she has reportedly resolved her dispute with Disney via a multimillion-dollar settlement. Funny how that always makes things better.

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