What Does Bob Iger's New Disney Job Mean for the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Bob Iger is no longer chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. Tuesday afternoon, [...]

Bob Iger is no longer chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. Tuesday afternoon, Disney announced Iger was being replaced by Bob Chapek, a former executive with the theme parks arm of the operation. While Iger is no longer in control of the day-to-day operations of the company, he will still be involved in one aspect — he will continue to help the company as executive chairman, overseeing the creative output from the company, something that should be of interest to fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

That leads us to ask — what kind of an impact does Iger's new role have on the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Immediately and for the near future, it would appear things will be business as usual for Kevin Feige and his team at Marvel Studios. Iger once championed the purchase of Marvel, a move that saw the House of Mouse spend $4.2 billion for Marvel and its assets, including the Feige-led movie studio.

Because of the relationship Iger has with Feige and the whole Marvel outfit, it's likely zero change will come between now and the time Iger's contract expires on December 31, 2021. And even after that, it'd be very surprising Chapek and his new team would dare touch the massive franchise.

Over the past ten years, the MCU has grossed over $22.6 billion for the Mouse. Using very rough Hollywood accounting, that means all things considered, the franchise has probably netted the company at least $15 billion from box office receipts alone, not including the vast merchandising and apparel marketing surrounding it.

That said, business leaders always have their own ways of doing things and maybe we'll see a different output schedule of Chapek's rule eventually. For now, Iger's still overseeing all things creative so you need not fret for the time-being.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, WandaVision in December 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022.

Cover Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney

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