The Marvel Cinematic Universe has used characters like America Chavez to make infinite sums of money over the years. However, this does not appear to extend to creators of people like Chavez and Joe Casey and others are not happy about it.
A new piece published by The Hollywood Reporter features the creator of the character who appears in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, as well as others who have done work for the company, all of whom signed special character agreements, and ultimately saw their compensation reduced to comparative peanuts. Essentially, Marvel is supposed to pay a writer $25,000 if a character they created makes a theatrical film appearance, $2,000 if the character appears in an episode of television longer than 30 minutes, $1,000 for an episode 30 minutes or shorter, $5,000 if one action figure of the character is released, $10,000 for two, or $25,000 for three or more released in a year, and a maximum pot of $30,000 when characters appear in video games. The language of these agreement documents, however, favors Marvel to the extent that the studio can cut payments down to $5,000 total, and they have, often.
“Maybe $5,000 means something to some kid in his early 20s that doesn’t have a career. For a lot of us who have been in the business for decades, it comes off as an insult.”
Marvel did not ultimately comment for the story, but The Hollywood Reporter also cites sources who say they lower costs by classifying some film roles as cameos. If a character is present for only 15 percent of screen time, this is a cameo in the eyes of the Disney-owned company, and so the creators of people like Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier would only see cameo rates. In Captain America: Civil War, he appeared for 22 minutes of its roughly two-and-a-half-hour time, and Yelena Belova co-creator Devin Grayson likened the offers to contests where the odds of winning are astronomically high and a lightning strike is easier.
“It’s like the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. You could win $1 million, but you won’t.”
The issue of comic writers and artists not being given fair compensation is as old as the industry itself; the creators of Superman were destitute at one point, one of the men who helped make Blade once endured homelessness. If this bothers you, support can be given by going to the website for The Hero Initiative. They are one of the only charities around for comic creators in need. People they have assisted include Howard the Duck creator Steve Gerber, and Chris Ivy, who has worked for Marvel and D.C. over time.