Deadpool Co-Creator Rob Liefeld Quits Marvel After Saying "Kevin Feige Does Not Treat Comic Creators Well"

After a string of a few years of doing work for Marvel Comics despite him saying he wouldn’t work for them again on several occasions in the past, Rob Liefeld has announced he’s quitting Marvel again following the conclusion of his current Deadpool miniseries.

In the 1990s, Rob Liefeld created X-Force for Marvel Comics, and sales went insane for his creations of Deadpool and Cable. It led to some of the biggest times for comics in the history of the medium, but Liefeld and his fellow creators felt they were not getting respect at the time, so they founded Image Comics.

From this point forward, Liefeld would have a tumultuous relationship with the big two comic book companies, Marvel and DC Comics. He would return for “Heroes Reborn” for a stint on Captain America but eventually would leave again. With DC Comics, he famously started back with the New 52 but left rapidly due to creative differences.

The starts and stops at these companies continued over the years as the creator seemed to oscillate from wanting the paycheck to remembering how evil these corporations could be and how terrible they are toward creators.

In 2019, Liefeld threw shots at Marvel Comics, tagging Disney CEO Bob Iger in a tweet where he criticized the company for its bad business practices. In the now deleted tweet, Liefeld said, “Had a good long talk with my attorney. Time to hold some feet to the fire for some shady practices over at @marvel. Good times to come @RobertIger.”

He followed up in another tweet, saying, “And, for clarification, when I say Marvel, I’m not taking the west coast cinematic branch. “New York” as referenced here in 2015 Hollywood Reporter.”

This time, he is calling out the cinematic branch, as the Deadpool creator believes he was mistreated on the set of Deadpool & Wolverine. In his most recent podcast, he revealed his family was not invited to the premiere afterparty. He claims Kevin Feige mistreated him and that publicity photos of him with the cast and crew were deleted.

Liefeld claims that Marvel Studios began to mistreat him back in 2023 when he demanded a headlining creator status on the movie, similar to how Stan Lee and others have gotten in other films.

This is enough where Liefeld now says he will never work for the company again, a statement he has made in the past, though he walked them back. This time, he said, "Kevin Feige does not treat comic book creators well. That is my personal experience. This last issue of Deadpool Team-Up is my final work with all the gang and my last work with Marvel. I had a good time. In stores Feb. 12th!"

The book was advertised as his final work on Deadpool to begin with, so not much changes about the book proper. After the story made the rounds of the media, Liefeld posted to X, “Thank you to everyone who has reached out today. I appreciate you all so much. I will always believe that comic creators are special and deserve special treatment. It cost nothing to share a kind word, sadly, even that was beneath Marvel & Disney. My family and I deserved common decency. We are the dreamers that light the way. Maybe the situation improves for others from here forward.”

Co-creator Fabian Nicieza replied to a Facebook post about the event, saying, "Fabian was treated just fine, and Fabian was invited to the after party, so infer from that whatever you wish."

In another post, he said, “Fabian was disappointed that all the celebrities and movie people were cordoned off behind a roped-off section of the place. Fabian was also disappointed that the only chance he had to meet director Shawn Levy was in the men's room when he was at the urinal, and Fabian was waiting in line. Fabian chose not to introduce himself as Shawn went to wash his hands, and Fabian just went to the urinal instead. Mostly, Fabian was really glad to see Shawn wash his hands because Fabian tends to be appalled by how many people don't."

Why Fabian talked about Fabian in the third person is unclear.

It is odd that Nicieza was invited to the after-party where Rob Liefeld was not. It may be a case of personal animus or a simple oversight by Marvel Studios. Regardless, the Deadpool creator has had enough.

What do you think of Rob Liefeld quitting Marvel Comics after the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere? Leave a comment and let us know.