Deadpool creator takes swipe at Marvel over latest box office numbers

Independent

10-03-2025

Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld has taken a fresh swipe at Marvel after the updated box office gross for Captain America: Brave New World.
The latest MCU blockbuster, starring Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford, received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics but has still performed well at the box office.
At the time of the writing, the film has earned more than $370m at the global box office, against a $180m budget.
To break even against its budget and be considered a success, the film will have to gross $425m. Current projections estimate that the film will earn $450m at the overall box office.
After the numbers were shared on X/Twitter, Liefeld, who is at odds with Marvel, wrote: 'After 24 days, $55 million from BREAK EVEN. The mighty have fallen.'
Liefeld, who created Deadpool for Marvel comics in 1990, has recently severed ties with the company following the release of the 2024 hit, Deadpool and Wolverine.
The artist and writer is the brains behind the foul-mouthed anti-hero, and has a working relationship with the comic book publishers lasting more than 30 years.
But he felt sidelined at the New York premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine, the first Deadpool film to be released since Disney acquired Fox, and has opened up about his perceived experience.
According to Liefeld, he felt ignored by Disney bosses, including Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, at the July 2024 event and was upset to discover he and his family had not been invited to the premiere afterparty.
Speaking on his podcast Robservations, Liefeld claimed: 'It was meant to embarrass, diminish, defeat me.
'At some point, you go, 'I've received the message, and the message is clear.''
He also wanted a special credit different to the standard one given to comic book creators at the end of the film – noting that his request stemmed from Marvel's decision to give Roy Thomas a Wolverine co-creator status alongside Len Wein and John Romita, Sr.
He wrote in the email: 'Marvel's treatment of creators has never been their strength. 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. No blockbusters to distribute. … I am not the easy button at Staples. I am the human imagination behind it all.'
Liefeld claimed that his response did not get received in the way he was after, tweeting: 'My reps were screamed at today 'We are NOT Fox!' Tell me about it. Also hung up on.'
Brave New World has made cinema history for the comic book franchise for the worst possible reason.
According to Forbes, Captain America: Brave New World has sunk to new lows, earning the lowest CinemaScore in MCU history, earning a B minus – which may not sound so bad, but pales in comparison to other Marvel films.
CinemaScore measures a film's appeal by polling early reactions to major releases.
It is the only Marvel film to have ever earned a B- rating, with The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 3, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels all scoring higher with a B+.
Even the much-maligned Eternals (2021) scraped a B+ rating.