NS: Chuck Wendig Gets Axed From Marvel

[cygnia]

I initially became aware of this from the Absolute Write forums.

In Which I Am Fired From Marvel

"And then we announced SHADOW OF VADER juuuuust last weekend, and people were excited, and I thought everything was good. I was not made aware of any issues, and my online self has always been my online self, so.
Except, yeah, no. Today I got the call. I’m fired. Because of the negativity and vulgarity that my tweets bring. Seriously, that’s what Mark, the editor said. It was too much politics, too much vulgarity, too much negativity on my part.
Basically, because I was not civil.
Which, of course, is their decision to make. I’m not their boss. (And, turns out, they’re not the boss of me, either. Har har.) (I joke because otherwise, I cry.)
My understanding over this call was that this was a Marvel decision, not an LFL decision, but I can’t really confirm that. The editor said he had made the call. He seemed genuinely upset at my tweets and profanity, so maybe that’s accurate. And again, that’s his right to do so. If they honestly feel that my presence will damage the book, I don’t want that. I want the book to shine, and artists like Juanan Ramirez and Greg Smallwood to do their amazing thing. Artists like that are gods in my mind, so I’m happy to not distract from their literal magic.
But it does set a troubling precedent. One we’ve seen already – James Gunn, Jessica White, and so on – of folks fired because they riled up the wasp’s nest of asterisk-gate. And it seems odd to be mad that I’m mad about politics when – well, look around. Climate change, kids in cages, sexual harassers at the topmost tiers of power, and so on. A call for civility as the PA GOP candidate threatens Tom Wolf with a golf cleat stomping. I dunno, man."

Comments

[goattoucher]

A fun addendum to this: Apparently Wendig has been this way for some time. He was certainly like this when Marvel hired him, and, I have read, his online demeanor has not changed noticeably: he is neither better nor worse than when he was hired.

This puts me in mind of the James Gunn kerfuffle: Disney knew about his old tweets when they hired him, but when some alt-right pinheads point it out, they cut him loose. When the entire cast backs him up and the stars imply they will not work on the next movie without him, they double down.

It would seem that the criticism that Disney backpedals away from comixgaters and the like has some merit.

As for my job, I like to think that I am a person of principle. that said, I am a public employee. I work for the government to take care of children. If parents were concerned that I was indoctrinating their children into a system of political belief more specific than "think critically", they would be justified in their concern.

-I- think I am right, but they might disagree, and the school must serve the entire community.

[laughing_tree]

I meant if they fired you for expressing political views in your social media account.