'The squeaky wheel gets the grease,' the creator of Thanos, Jim Starlin, told the Hollywood Reporter. It's extremely shady, but it sounds like Marvel and DC simply rely on creators not chasing them for royalties to save a buck. Brubaker had to text Sebastian Stan, who played Bucky Barnes in the movie, to get them in. But I also can’t deny feeling a bit sick to my stomach sometimes when my inbox fills up with people wanting comments on the show,' he added.Īdding insult to financial injury, sources told The Guardian that when Brubaker and Epting arrived in tuxedos at the premiere of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the film explicitly based on their comics, they weren't on the list.

'I have a great life as a writer and much of it is because of Cap and the Winter Soldier bringing so many readers to my other work. 'For the most part, all Steve and I have got for creating the Winter Soldier and his storyline is a 'thanks' here or there, and over the years that’s become harder and harder to live with,' Brubaker wrote in a recent newsletter. But are Brubaker and Epting enjoying a windfall for their creativity? Nope. A mini-series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, debuted on Disney+ this spring. Less than 10 years later, the character had his own movie in the MCU multiverse. Here's a notable example of how poorly comics behemoths like Marvel and DC treat their talent: writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve Epting debuted the Winter Soldier in a 2005 comic, reviving Captain America's sidekick Bucky Barnes. And you’re like, 'The movie made a billion dollars.'' 'And then instead of honoring it, they send a thank you note and are like, 'Here’s some money we don’t owe you!' and it’s five grand. 'I’ve been offered a that was really, really terrible, but it was that or nothing,' one Marvel creator, who requested anonymity, told The Guardian.

Three different sources said they'd received checks for that amount, describing the paltry payoff as a 'tacit acknowledgment that compensation was due.' The other remuneration route is a 'special character contract,' which entitles artists and writers to royalties when their creations are used - but they're rare. Multiple sources told The Guardianthat when a comic book creator's work features prominently in a Marvel movie, the company's standard practice is to send them an invitation to the premiere and $5,000 - an insulting amount compared to the billions that individual MCU films make at the box office. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most profitable film franchise in history, but the suits behind your favorite superheroes are greedy when it comes to paying the writers who come up with its stories.

Ed brubaker sebastian stan