Rob Liefeld, the co-creator of Deadpool, has announced that he’s completely cut ties with Marvel. He’s upset because neither he nor his family were invited to Disney’s afterparty following the premiere of “Deadpool & Wolverine” last July.
Liefeld also has other complaints about Marvel. He’s unhappy with how his creator credits were shown in the film and feels disrespected by Marvel’s top executive, Kevin Feige.
Although Liefeld attended the movie’s screening at Lincoln Center in New York City and even took photos on the red carpet with the film’s creative team, he claims those photos were deleted and never shared anywhere.
Advertisement It was meant to embarrass, diminish, defeat [me]. Disney is the deciding factor here. To have them say, ‘You and your family are not welcome here. We tolerated you for the screening.’ At that point, I knew in my heart I couldn’t go forward. At some point, you go, ‘I’ve received the message, and the message is clear.
he said of his experience at the New York City premiere on the latest episode of his “Robservations” podcast
Rob Liefeld also pointed out that he never felt disrespected by 20th Century Fox when they made the first two “Deadpool” movies.
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This was before Disney bought the studio and took over the film rights to the Deadpool character.
I forgive you, whoever made that decision to say, ‘Hey, you can come to the movie. [But] we’re not going to talk to you. ‘We’re going to treat you much worse than 20th Century Fox could ever imagine.’ Maybe you should work on doing better for the next guy.
Liefeld said
Disney and Marvel Studios chose not to say anything about the situation. However, someone who knows what happened disagreed with Liefeld’s story. They said he was invited to visit the movie set in London, and the studio helped him organize several “Deadpool & Wolverine” screenings after the premiere.
Liefeld says that his last project with Marvel will be the comic book “Deadpool Team Up,” which comes out on February 12.
Marvel owns Deadpool, but according to someone who knows about the situation, Rob Liefeld still has “authorship and creative rights and makes money” from the character. Liefeld never accepted a buyout for Deadpool or his work, so even though he won’t have creative control anymore, he still has a financial share and will earn money from future Deadpool projects. The character was co-created by Fabian Nicieza.
Also Read: Ryan Reynolds Says Deadpool Should Never Join the Avengers or the X-Men in the MCU
This isn’t the first (or even the second) time Liefeld has said he’s leaving Marvel. In February 2024 and again in October 2024, he announced that he planned to say goodbye to Deadpool on his own terms.
I am retiring from Deadpool. It’s official. Yup, after 33 years of not only introducing Deadpool but chronicling many of his most popular adventures it’s time for the Deadpool Daddy to say farewell. One of the fun parts about getting older is you can retire from things, so here I am.
he wrote on Instagram a year ago
It’s a perfect pivot from saying goodbye to Marvel. It’s the perfect way of saying goodbye. Marvel was great. I had a great time. Couldn’t have had a better experience. But if I have what I believe is five years left doing the work that I’m doing the work at a level I’m satisfied with, then I need to pour it into my Extreme catalog.
a few months later he told
“Deadpool & Wolverine,” starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as their superhero characters, was the third Deadpool movie—and the biggest one yet. When it came out in July 2024, it made $211 million in North America on opening weekend and earned a massive $1.33 billion worldwide. This made it the highest-grossing R-rated movie in box office history.
After the end credits, the movie gave a special shoutout to Rob Liefeld in a fun scene where Deadpool and Wolverine fight a bunch of different Deadpool versions in front of a store called Liefeld’s Just Feet. This was a playful joke about how people say Liefeld isn’t great at drawing feet in his comic book art.
Being poked at by the premiere funny man/mega-star of his age is an absolute honor! Make no doubt that this is a thrill and an honor.
Liefeld posted on X that he approved the joke, writing a year ago
Source: Variety