Marvel VFX head Victoria Alonso fired for being too toxic

Victoria Alonso's exit from her job at Marvel Studios has sent shockwawes throughout the entire community. Prior to her departure, Alonso served as the President of Physical Production, Post-Production of Animation and VFX at Marvel Studios for two years, from 2021 to 2023.

Alonso had been with Marvel Studios since the very beginning of the MCU, with the release of 2008's Iron Man, and has served as an executive producer on almost every Marvel project ever since.

Up until now, it was believed that Victoria Alonso had exited of her own accord, however, some new details have recently emerged, that state that she was in fact fired, the reason being responsible for the toxic work environment faced by VFX houses.

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Victoria Alonso was singularly responsible for the toxic work environment faced by VFX artists

According to Chris Lee, a reporter for Vulture, Victoria Alonso did not leave Marvel out of her own choice, rather she was fired from her position. He also stated that she was solely responsible for the toxic work environment Marvel's VFX departments faced, after he had interviewed some VFX artists.

Lee stated that she would give work to VFX teams she was fond of or was impressed by, but would blacklist the groups she was irritated with.

The toxic VFX work environment and the pressure put on the teams by Alonso was reflected in the low-quality visual effects of recent Marvel films such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Thor: Love and Thunder, both of which Alonso was involved with.

Victoria Alonso previously garnered heat from some Marvel fans when in a press interview with Nuke the Fridge, she stated that the X-Men name was outdated because it did not sound inclusive, due to having "men" in the name, while promoting Captain Marvel.

Some people, however, defended Victoria Alonso. A senior VFX artist at Marvel in an interview with Variety claimed that she was not responsible for the VFX problems and that the accusation seemed a bit off, stating:

"The idea of a very senior exec terrifying rank and file artists, per some reports, feels a bit off."

Another former Disney executive praised Alonso and her work in another interview with Variety, stating that she embodied professionalism and knew what she did very well.

In 2022, multiple VFX teams revealed in various interviews with outlets such as Screenrant about how Marvel was a horrible client to work for and how they demanded quality work in a short period of time and kept changing deadlines.

One VFX artist even revealed to Variety how one of the shows he worked on was a struggle because of Marvel's lack of clear guidelines, adding:

"The show I was on really struggled because it was an established character whose powers they were reconceiving for the MCU... Marvel doesn’t figure s**t out beforehand."

Variety recently released a new excerpt revealing some new details regarding Victoria Alonso's firing, writing that multiple parties were involved in the matter, including Disney's legal team and Chairman, Alan Bergman.

The move was reported to have "blindsided" Alonso and also stated that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was caught in an impossible situation regarding the firing and did not intervene. The excerpt reads:

"While the cause of Alonso’s termination is unclear, the sources said, the decision was made by a consortium including human resources, Disney’s legal department and multiple executives including Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman (to whom all of Marvel Studios reports). Alonso’s longtime boss and Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige felt mired in an impossible situation and, ultimately, did not intervene, one source added. Alonso was blindsided, another insider added."

Victoria Alonso herself is yet to comment on her firing from Marvel Studios. She, aside from her work at Marvel, has also produced the Argentinian film Argentina, 1985 which bagged an Academy Award nomination for 'Best International Feature Film' this year.

It remains to be seen how Victoria Alonso's firing will affect future Marvel projects. She is slated to still receive executive producer credits for several upcoming projects such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Secret Invasion, and Echo.

Aside from having been the head of Marvel's Physical Production, Post-Production for Animation and VFX, Alonso is also openly lesbian and is outspoken when it comes to diversity and representation. She even said during Disney's dispute with Florida over the "Don't Say Gay" bill that she would fight for representation as long as she was with Marvel Studios.

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Victoria Alonso's firing has surely left a mark on Marvel Studios, given how she was associated with the company for a long time and played a key role in its efforts to represent people of all races and genders. Only time will reveal how her being let go will impact the company.