Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld calls time on his Marvel work, as he opens up about the release of last summer’s Deadpool & Wolverine.
Banking well over $1bn at the global box office last year, Deadpool & Wolverine was one of a trio of films that finally turned Disney’s bumpy fortunes at the box office (Moana 2 and Inside Out 2 being the others). Champagne all round, then! Well, apart from for Rob Liefeld, the comic artist who created the character of Deadpool. He’s been discussing his dissatisfaction with how he was treated around the release of the film.
Chatting to both The Hollywood Reporter and his own Robservations podcast, Liefeld said that come the premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine in New York last year, he and his family were not invited to the afterparty. He also alleged that Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige didn’t acknowledge him when they were in proximity on the red carpet together.
Liefeld also said that he’d posed for official Deadpool & Wolverine photos, but these were apparently deleted. He also asked for a special credit on the movie, arguing “Marvel’s treatment of creators has never being their strength”. He did not receive an extra credit and did not receive a response, he says.
Read more: Deadpool & Wolverine review | Exhausting, stale fan service
He did get some recognition in the film itself – there’s an in-joke involving a shop sign which reads ‘Liefield’s Just Feet – but by the sounds of it, the Deadpool creator has had his fill. While he apparently had a good experience when the Deadpool films were under the stewardship of 20th Century Fox, he’s clearly been a lot less taken by the Disney era.
Not that this is likely to stop future Deadpool big screen adventures. The rights belong to Disney, not Rob Liefeld. He only came up with the character and lots of storylines.
Disney and Marvel haven’t commented, as you might expect. Liefeld, for context, has admitted that he was nervous about releasing the podcast in which explores all of this. But also, has decided it’s right that he speaks out.
There’s a lot more on this story over at The Hollywood Reporter.
Image credit: GageSkidmore. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
