Who would have believed that? After ten years reigning supreme in the world of superhero movies, ridiculing its main competitor, the DCEU, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is today in the heart of an unprecedented crisis. In fact, the media variety And The Hollywood Reporter reported that Victoria Alonso, head of the special effects arm at Marvel Studios for 17 years, was fired by co-chairman Alan Bergman at Disney’s urging. According to the comments of the two American sites, Victoria Alonso was taken by surprise and did not expect this sudden decision. We obviously don’t know the exact reason for this forced departure, but several elements are pointed out, starting with the critical and commercial failure of Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania. The first MCU Phase 5 movie was indeed critically killed for the poor quality of its special effects, following what happened with Phase 4 which was also heavily criticized for its SFX and VFX quality, less so since the end of the Endgame series. era.
If Marvel is systematically represented in the media by Kevin Feige, the studio’s creative mastermind, our limited business nerd isn’t the only one running this major enterprise. At his side we find Victoria Alonso, a name that is not familiar to you, but internally it is a woman who has been feared for years, as many testimonials tell. In charge of the special effects division for 17 years, she notably participated in the first Iron Man, Captain America First Avenger and also Thor First of the Name. Movies whose special effects were praised for their quality and contributed to the reputation of the MCU. But with the advent of the Disney+ platform, the pace of work has accelerated, even forcing the MCU to produce more and faster to provide content for Disney’s SVOD service. Many artists have also denounced their working conditions in recent months, saying rates were getting hellish, which is what caused this drop in visual effects quality.
Victoria Alonso’s management also received strong criticism when, in January 2022, an artist testified to the site Vulture about Victoria Alonso’s unscrupulous methods on the condition of anonymity. According to the employee in question, Victoria Alonso would have drawn up a blacklist to record the names of all people who could not meet the deadlines imposed by the studio. Charges immediately dismissed by Marvel officials. However, Victoria Alonso also played an important role within Marvel and Disney in general, as she is one of the officials who championed representativeness and inclusion in the works of the MCU. Indeed, she is known to have rebelled against a homophobic law promulgated by Florida’s Republican governor by affirming that she would fight for minority representation while in office at Marvel Studios. Positions that earned her as one of the most influential Hispanic women in 2019 and 2020 by People magazine in its Spanish version.
