Ahead of the launch of Deadpool & Wolverine, legendary comic creator and Deadpool’s creator, Rob Liefeld, appears to be feuding with Disney.
Liefeld, who won’t have a cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine (but the highly anticipated upcoming action movie will heavily reference him), shared some frustrated tweets on his X/Twitter page. In the tweets, he alluded to a frustrating and disrespectful encounter his reps had.
“My reps were screamed at today. We are NOT FOX!” Tell me about it. Also hung up on. More soon.” Liefeld tweeted. Two additional tweets referred to a big corporation using intimidation tactics, saying, “I didn’t have Warner Bros. treating me better than Disney on my bingo card. But there it is.”
While Liefeld has still not shared details of the source of his frustrations, fans across social media have been quick to call out the obvious: it’s likely something tied into the Deadpool deal and possibly to changes that came with Disney taking over the franchise.
My reps were screamed at today “We are NOT Fox!” Tell me about it. Also hung up on. More soon.
— robliefeld (@robertliefeld) June 3, 2024
If so, it wouldn’t be the first time such an issue has happened with Disney. The company was previously in the spotlight for refusing to pay royalties to author Alan Dean Foster for several Star Wars novels he wrote.
Disney argued that buying the Lucasfilm contracts did not mandate them to then pay the terms of the previously agreed upon contracts. The case was eventually settled, with Foster and numerous other authors reportedly receiving their royalties in the end, but more occasionally pop up from time to time.
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Liefeld is the co-creator of Deadpool, having made the character alongside Fabian Nicieza in 1990. However, Liefeld is easily the more vocal of the character’s two father figures and regularly talks about the characters on social media, at conventions, in interviews, and on his podcast, Robservations.
It’s not a huge leap to assume Liefeld and Disney are in the early stages of a dispute regarding the Deadpool rights, who has what, and how that agreement is paid. It’s unlikely we’ll ever find out too much detail, but this could be the start of a massive squabble over one of the MCU’s most popular characters.
So far as the WB comment, Liefeld has never been shy about working with other companies, having worked off-and-on with DC and co-founded Image Comics. The only project Liefeld is currently known to be working on with WB is a recently announced Avengelyne film with Margot Robbie.
Liefeld is currently working on his last Deadpool comic after announcing his retirement from the character in February 2024. That story, the five-issue Deadpool Team-Up, launches August 28, 2024.
Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters on July 26. Until then, check out the explicit Deadpool & Wolverine PSA or read about all the records the movie is breaking.