The Next Phase of the War for Disney: Perlmutter Joins Peltz

Ike Perlmutter was in charge of Marvel Studios back when it was actually producing good movies. Disney activist Nelson Peltz gets support from ex-Marvel exec in board seat fight

NOTE: This article (and this post) is from the end of last month. It got stuck in the drafts folder. But the speed of corporate America is glacial, so everything is still current. Well, mostly current. The Proxy fight is on, but it will likely be well into the new year before we hear anything substantial, unless Bob Iger surrenders, or something major blows up at Disney. (More major than the impending collapse of The Marvels.)

Ike Perlmutter still owns one of the largest independent block of Disney shares.

Former Marvel executive Ike Perlmutter has entrusted his stake in the company to Peltz, who recently launched a renewed attack on the media giant. Perlmutter was ousted from his position as chairman of Marvel Entertainment amid the company's mass layoffs in March and remains one of the company's biggest independent shareholders.

"As someone with a large economic interest in Disney’s success, I can no longer watch the business underachieve its great potential," Perlmutter said in a statement provided to Yahoo Finance Monday.

Ike Prelmutter was ousted from Marvel Studios in 2015. That was the era that gave us Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy, the original Ant-Man, and saw the start of development for Captain America: Civil War, and Doctor Strange. Those last 2 movies were released in 2016.

In other words, Perlmutter was in charge of Marvel Studis during the creation of the great movies, including the last great movies.

Bob Iger got rid of Perlmutter from his last post at Disney, head of Marvel Entertainment, in the March round of downsizing.

As for Disney, it is a damaged brand.

The company's parks business is slowing. Its linear TV division is declining, and so are subscribers to its flagship streaming service Disney+. Its direct-to-consumer business has yet to hit profitability while the media giant also seems to have lagged competitors at the box office.

The upcoming proxy fight, along with things like South Park taking swings at Disney and Lucasfilm, is more entertaining than any movie to come out of Disney in the past few years.