‘Deadpool’ Co-Creator Demands Marvel ‘Get Feige Off The Mound’ After Latest Lukewarm Opening

It’s only fitting that the writer who co-created the Merc with the Mouth would also refuse to shut up when it came to mocking everything Marvel.

Few figures in the comic book world are as divisive or as outspoken as former Marvel writer Rob Liefeld, who most famously invented the character Deadpool with fellow comics veteran Fabian Nicieza. Though the beloved super-anti-hero’s now-signature ability to break the fourth wall and endlessly banter with his friends, enemies and audience is an invention of later writers, ever since Deadpool became a household name, Liefeld has taken after his creation’s iconoclastic style and picked numerous fights with both Marvel and Disney brass while Ryan Reynolds transforms the Deadpool brand into a veritable movie empire.

Above all else, Liefeld’s public beef is with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and his treatment of the comic book artists and writers whose work serves as the foundation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, when Captain America: Brave New World saw the third-biggest second weekend box office drop-off in MCU history amidst middling reviews, Liefeld took to Twitter to warn Disney that Feige has lost his fastball:

Liefeld’s latest public dig on the MCU don comes just weeks after the shit-stirring comic writer went on his podcast Robservations and spent over an hour detailing every single injustice he suffered leading up to and during the premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine in July 2024. During the rant, Liefeld revealed that he had written a strongly worded email to MCU representatives in which he demanded access to Feige himself to discuss how the sprawling film empire treats the creators of its characters, telling them, “Without the worlds, the characters and the concepts that we create — and in this specific case, the world of Deadpool — there are no films to shoot.”

Liefeld also asked for added perks in regards to Deadpool & Wolverine, including a creator credit in the opening title sequence and access to A-list events on its premiere weekend. Marvel and Disney quietly denied Liefeld’s additional requests, and when he showed up to the premiere at Lincoln Center, he noticed that Marvel brass, including Feige himself, flatly ignored the comic writer on the red carpet. To add perceived insult to perceived injury, Liefeld found that he and his family weren’t on the guest list for the premiere’s afterparty as they had been for prior Deadpool releases.

“It was meant to embarrass, diminish, defeat me,” Liefeld claimed during the rant. “Kevin Feige does not treat comic book creators well. That is my personal experience.”

Now, with yet another Marvel film failing to meet both critical and commercial expectations, Liefeld is jumping at the chance to embarrass and diminish his old foe and suggest that it’s time for Disney to bring in a fresh arm. It’s only a matter of time before Liefeld starts tweeting directly at Bob Iger with new demands like, “Put me in, coach!”