There’s a lot going on in Hollywood right now. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May, and the news officially broke today that the actor’s guild SAG-AFTRA is on strike. The negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) officially broke down with no deal in place and tensions remain high between studios and creatives. It was also announced this week that Disney CEO Robert Iger has extended his contract through 2026. This week, Iger also blamed the launch of Disney+ and the COVID-19 pandemic for the creative and financial issues facing Pixar and Marvel Studios. “[Marvel] had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series, and frankly, it diluted focus and attention,” Iger said. This quote caught the attention of Agents of SHIELD star Clark Gregg who had a short but sweet reaction.
Variety shared Iger’s quote and Gregg replied, “Bro…” Of course, saying Marvel hasn’t made TV “at any significant level” is certainly insulting to those who spent seven years making Agents of SHIELD. You have to respect Gregg for his simple (and hilarious) reply. You can check out his tweet below:
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You can read more from Iger’s statement here: “There have been some disappointments we would have liked some of our more recent releases to perform better,” Iger told TheWrap. “It’s reflective not as a problem from a personnel perspective, but I think in our in our zeal to basically grow our content significantly to serve mostly our streaming offerings, we ended up taxing our people way beyond — in terms of their time and their focus — way beyond where they had been.”
In other words, “to try and make Disney+ worthwhile, we made decisions that hurt other parts of the business. That’s likely true at least in part, but it’s also something that isn’t unique to Disney. With blockbuster box office hauls depressed across the board, it’s hard not to imagine that part of the problem is that the studios are so eager for a return to “normal” that they haven’t figured out a way to monetize the shorter exclusivity windows and higher overall volume of content creation that have been hallmarks of the streaming era.
“Marvel’s a great example of that,” Iger continued. “They had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series, and frankly, it diluted focus and attention. That is, I think, more of the cause than anything.”
What do you think about Iger’s statement? Tell us in the comments!
Agents of SHIELD is currently available to watch on Disney+.