In front of an audience packed with people victoria alonsoproducer of over twenty films Marvel Cinematic Universesaid: “i don’t like superheroes“. After this confession, she laughed, perhaps seeking sympathy with those who listened to her, people who were probably surprised to hear this.
How is it that one of the key minds of the most important commercial franchise in modern cinema does not attract these figures? Instead of the type of characters or the reputation some of them might have in pop culture, Victoria Alonso was and was only interested in one thing during these years: storytelling.
This search began long ago when I lived in Argentina. This desire was until last Friday one of his main drivers at the helm of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On that day, March 17, 2023, she was the last to serve as President of Physical Post-Production, Visual Effects and Animation for Marvel Studios. Although his departure was not announced until Monday, March 20.
At the time of this writing, there has been no formal explanation as to why Victoria Alonso has left her post, ending an extensive 17-year career at Marvel Studios. During this time, he approved dozens of productions, and the company has earned more than $20 billion. It’s a good balance for those who just wanted to make films.
His story: from Argentina to Hollywood
When Victoria Alonso was 19 years old, she lived in silvercity, which is located only 60 kilometers from Buenos AiresHe stood in front of his mother and said:I’m going to the United States to make films…“. The phrase didn’t end there. Perhaps looking into her mother’s eyes, the young woman added:…and tell stories“.
Making films and telling stories like the one she started writing for herself. There were some clothes in the travel case, some shoes and this dream: to take a place in the industry, to find a way to achieve this goal, to make stories visible. He came to the US and began studying psychology and theater in Seattle. When she finished doing this, she was sure that she wanted to be an actress. But the context presented him with his first narrative knot.
As he looked for options on the tables, he began to hear all sorts of comments. “You are very tall”, “You are very short”, “You are very fat”, “You are very thin”, “Are you Hispanic?”. Mountain but, which made her ask herself a question: who decides these things? Victoria Alonso, at that time an actress, heard negatives for six months. After hearing the answer to his question, he dedicated himself to changing the direction of his professional career, starting with the decision: “I will be a producer!“.
Over time, she realized that she did not want to be an actress, but wanted to have the decisive power to tell stories. It was the starting point of a career that took her 15 years of traveling to different parts of the world, doing production jobs she liked and others she didn’t. These were the years when he worked, for example, in digital domaindigital effects studio James Cameron. She was also a visual effects producer for Big fishfrom Tim Burton.
However, this dynamic, coming and going from one place to another, caused a kind of wear and tear that led to her wanting to settle down. Angels“I don’t want to travel anymore, I don’t want to fly anymore,” they said to themselves. Soon, a colleague told her about a film they were going to shoot where Victoria Alonso decided to stay. His decision began to resonate with those around him: In 2006, she began her career at Marvel Studios as Executive Vice President of Visual Effects and Post Production..
His first big job was Hombre de Hierroreleased in 2008. This film became the cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. During the TED conference, Victoria Alonso recalled that moment and explained the decision to join the producer and the project: “(I did) not because I liked superheroes, but because I stayed at home (LA)“. Perhaps by that time she had not yet fully realized that in her own way she was also building another house in which she would spend 17 years of her life.
Victoria Alonso and construction
from the Marvel Cinematic Universe
When the recording process is completed Hombre de Hierro, Kevin Fige, who by that time was already in the executive part of the company, asked Victoria Alonso to fully join the idea, the possibility of building a universe. To which Alonso replied: “No. I don’t like being a student, I don’t want to be a leader. I’m not interested in being a part of it. I want to be part of a group that makes films worth talking about.” This refusal was accompanied by a nuance.
Victoria Alonso asked Kevin Feige about the possibility of structuring these stories in such a way that they are still part of the production work. Only then could they work together. What were your reasoning? The thought that with Hombre de Hierro, they started doing what she defines as “different”. What? He explained it this way:
“Throwing superheroes off the altar. The rest of the superhero world was hiding, and we did it differently in our first film. I realized that perhaps we could start to change something.”
Victoria Alonso during the TED conference.
Exposing the character to a group of journalists is just one of the changes that Victoria Alonso, along with Kevin Feige and the rest of the Marvel Studios team, have begun to make. A few more followed, such as Thor’s appearance and Captain America’s relationship with his shield. However, these are not the aspects she values the most.
Two of the most successful projects in his career
In 2008 with Hombre de Hierrobegan a journey that will now end in 2026 with Avengers: Secret Wars. Following her resignation, Victoria Alonso will no longer appear in the credits of certain Marvel Cinematic Universe productions. However, it will remain in the more than thirty projects in which he has been involved.
Among them, there are two that he considers special: Black Panther (2018) and Captain Marvel (2019). Of these productions, he said a few years ago:
“These are the two pillars that I leave to my daughter; these are columns in which at a certain moment we communicate something at the cultural level. These are two films that we were constantly told about: “These are not feature films that the world wants to see”; “They won’t have any financial success”; “The world is not ready to see a black hero, a black cast directed by a black director. They won’t see it’; “The world doesn’t want a woman to lead, it doesn’t want a woman to direct, write or produce it.” For us, if this was the last thing we did, it was a good start. We decided that we would do it.”
Victoria Alonso during the TED conference.
But both were commercial successes and grossed $2.5 billion at the box office. Except, Black Panther was nominated for seven Oscar. The value of these works in terms of showcasing historically marginalized communities cannot be measured in numbers. But there are plenty of testimonials from people who celebrated that they finally saw themselves in important and respected roles in movies.
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This is the “cultural level” that Victoria Alonso refers to. His departure from Marvel Studios comes at a time when the franchise is going through turbulence, remaining commercially the most powerful in the industry. Beyond the present, superhero cinema has changed over the years thanks to the work of people like Alonso. In a few decades, when this point is studied, his name will be one of those that will be mentioned.
Source: Hiper Textual
