Following the not-great reception to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, among the other recent MCU projects over the past year or so, they have decided to make some changes, most notably with the resignation of Victoria Alonso. More than that, Alonso is allegedly to blame for Marvel Studios' notorious toxic work environment with their VFX crew.Since she resigned on March 20, it has now been revealed that Alonso was reportedly the only one responsible for why Marvel Studios' work environment was not healthy. Not only did VFX shots get approved through her, but Marvel Studios employees were intimidated by how demanding she was.According to Chris Lee of Vulture, Alonso was the primary source of Marvel Studios' bad VFX work environment. "SO many VFX sources have told me Victoria Alonso was singularly responsible for Marvel's toxic work environment: a kingmaker who rewarded unquestioning fealty with an avalanche of work, but who also maintained the blacklist that kept FX pros wild-eyed with fear," Lee tweeted. Lee continued by saying, "She held a crazy amount of power, bigfooting all major creative decisions on Marvel movies and shows," and a tech told him, "Kevin Feige and Victoria Alonso personally approve every single shot, all the visual effects work, which is usually the job of a director or a showrunner." It didn't stop there. "The main one that everyone's quite scared of is Victoria Alonso," another tech told Lee. "If she likes you, you're going to get work, and you're going to move up in the industry. If you have pissed her off in any way, you're going to get frozen out."
Alonso had been with the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the beginning, with the release of Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man in 2008. At that time, she was a co-producer and visual effects producer. She then moved up to co-producer in the films following until the release of The Avengers in 2012, where she was promoted to executive producer. From there on out, she has served as executive producer with every single film and series that Marvel Studios has released and even shows that have not been released yet, like Echo and Agatha: Coven of Chaos.
While Alonso may have been the primary contributor to the unhealthy work environment at Marvel Studios, one can't help but wonder if she was the sole cause or just a symptom of a bigger issue with Marvel Studios. The MCU has over-saturated its fans with movies and series over the past few years, and fans have been lukewarm to them at best, not just because of the VFX. So, it all came down to one person calling all the shots? How do we know Alonso isn't just a scapegoat as Marvel Studios trying to pick up the pieces after a not-great reception to their last several projects?
Whether she is or isn't, everyone should keep their eyes peeled on if this improves Marvel's VFX in the future or if there are no more leaks about the toxic work environment. Perhaps fans will see improved Marvel Studios projects because of this move. Marvel Studios has had its issues over the past few years. Even if VFX isn't the only one, it's still a glaring issue, and it seems like they're trying to fix it. Let's see if it's the start of an overhaul.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is now playing in theaters.
Source: Chris Lee/Twitter