Corona | Coming Attractions

The chairman of Marvel Studios is departing the company when The Walt Disney Company finishes formalizing its acquisition of the comic book publisher. David Maisel, the guy that helped attract investors to give up $525 million dollars of financing money so Marvel Studios could go out and make movies of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, as well as the upcoming ones Thor, The Avengers and Captain America, is headed out the door.

Maisel once worked for Disney as director of corporate development and strategic planning; ironically, the merger between Marvel and his former employer may be the cause for his departure. Actually, the reason why Maisel is leaving Marvel but hasn't been offered a job with Disney or the new Marvel makes the move all the more speculatitive. It's not like Maisel hasn't done a good job for the company's investors; all indications are that Marvel Studios is about to have a billion dollar movie franchise when Iron Man 2 opens next summer. The early prognosis for Thor is also looking good. So why is Maisel headed off to pursue other opportunities? There are stories of Maisel being a hard guy to like (and that's a nicer way of phrasing the gossip) and that he wanted to not issue a pay increase for director Jon Favreau to come back and helm the Iron Man sequel but even so, when it comes to business, success is success and Maisel has had it with Iron Man. Or could it be perhaps he's been offered a first-look producing deal with Disney, one that the official shoe hasn't dropped about just yet?

Maisel will still get an executive producer credit on Thor, Captain America and Iron Man 2.