Disney and former Marvel exec Victoria Alonso reach settlement over her firing

Former Marvel Studios executive Victoria Alonso has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with Walt Disney Co. following her firing, The Times has confirmed.

Deadline first reported on Thursday that a deal had been reached between the parties in the past few days.

Alonso’s lawyer, Hollywood mainstay Patty Glaser, and Disney did not return requests for comment.

Alonso was fired by Disney in March after building up an extensive résumé at the superhero franchise, co-producing early Marvel projects including “Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2” and “Thor” and, more recently, executive producing projects such as “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” The latter film was poorly received and, as with several other recent Marvel projects, criticized for its visual effects — part of Alonso’s purview at the company.

In the wake of Alonso’s departure, rumors swirled that she’d been fired for promoting the Oscar-nominated film “Argentina, 1985,” which she’d produced for rival filmmaker Amazon Studios and subsequently promoted.

However, Glaser pushed back on that narrative on March 24.

“The idea that Victoria was fired over a handful of press interviews relating to a personal passion project about human rights and democracy that was nominated for an Oscar and which she got Disney’s blessing to work on is absolutely ridiculous,” Glaser told The Times.

Glaser added: “Victoria, a gay Latina who had the courage to criticize Disney, was silenced.” Alonso, a vocal advocate for social justice issues, had previously been critical of former Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek’s handling of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.

“It’s unfortunate that Victoria is sharing a narrative that leaves out several key factors concerning her departure, including an indisputable breach of contract and a direct violation of company policy,” a Disney spokesperson responded.

Born in Buenos Aires, Alonso was featured in 2022 in LA Vanguardia, a Times spotlight on key Latino innovators and power-brokers.

Even in the wake of her criticism of Disney, Alonso remained in the public eye, promoting the company’s projects and appearing at events. The company said in June that it would be publishing her memoir, and it recently featured her in a Disney+ documentary about female superheroes. She’d been with Marvel since 2006.