{"id":45397,"date":"2021-11-30T15:04:39","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T15:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/?p=45397"},"modified":"2021-12-03T14:29:11","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T14:29:11","slug":"the-marvel-movies-are-a-multi-billion-dollar-franchise-so-why-arent-the-writers-behind-the-comics-getting-paid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/the-marvel-movies-are-a-multi-billion-dollar-franchise-so-why-arent-the-writers-behind-the-comics-getting-paid\/","title":{"rendered":"The Marvel movies are a multi-billion dollar franchise. So why aren&#8217;t the writers behind the comics getting paid?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Ed Brubaker is the creator of one of the most beloved characters in the Marvel franchise.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That character is the Winter Soldier. Brubaker grew up on Marvel comics, and fell in love with Captain America, but \u2013 most importantly \u2013 fell in love with that character of Cap\u2019s sidekick, Bucky Barnes, the teenage soldier. Bucky was killed off-page, and stayed that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until Brubaker revived him when writing for Marvel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 2005 Captain America comic storyline, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Bucky was rewritten to have never died. Instead, he had fallen off a plane, lost his left arm, been captured by the Russians and brainwashed into becoming a Cold War assassin called the Winter Soldier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best of Voice of London&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/what-is-omicron-and-will-it-affect-christmas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>What is Omicron and how will it affect Christmas?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/fly-over-the-river-thames-this-christmas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>&#8216;Fly&#8217; over the River Thames this Christmas?<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/e-scooter-experiment-soon-to-be-legalised-in-britain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">E scooter experiment: soon to be legalised in Britain?<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Brubaker worked on the Captain America comics from 2005 until 2012, showing Barnes redeem himself, become Captain America after Steve Rogers dies (and carrying on the mantle when he returns), and eventually returning to his Winter Soldier codename when things go south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out, it was heavily inspired by Brubaker\u2019s comic run. The film covers the events the majority of the same as the comic, apart from a few changes, such as Barnes and Rogers being childhood friends instead of meeting later in life. Brubaker even got a cameo appearance in the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, this is where things turned sour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brubaker revealed in his semi-regular&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/us13.campaign-archive.com\/?u=12703963b24c2d94a368d4082&amp;id=ab914d96ea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">newsletter<\/a>&nbsp;released in March 2020, when Disney+ show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was released. He stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cAnd of course, today the&nbsp;FALCON AND WINTER SOLDIER&nbsp;show debuts on Disney+, which I sadly have very mixed feelings about. I\u2019m really happy for Sebastian Stan, who I think is both a great guy and the perfect Bucky\/Winter Soldier\u2026and everyone at Marvel Studios that I\u2019ve ever met have been nothing but kind to me\u2026 but at the same time, for the most part all [artist] Steve Epting and I have gotten for creating the Winter Soldier and his storyline is a \u201cthanks\u201d here or there, and over the years that\u2019s become harder and harder to live with. I\u2019ve even seen higher-ups on the publishing side try to take credit for my work a few times, which was pretty galling (to be clear, I\u2019m NOT talking about Tom Breevort, who was a great editor and really helpful).\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>According to multiple sources,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2021\/aug\/09\/marvel-and-dc-face-backlash-over-pay-they-sent-a-thank-you-note-and-5000-the-movie-made-1bn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Guardian<\/a>&nbsp;reported that comic book writers get \u201can invitation to the premiere and a cheque for $5,000 (\u00a33,600).\u201d Brubaker seemed to confirm this in the podcast&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/74lfhJKOmJeBljVLGhThms?si=xo4ORm3RRhm6wXH2Nrf6Mw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fat Man Beyond<\/a>, stating that he \u2018turned down a tiny little thank-you check\u2019 because he felt it was an \u2018insult.\u2019 He also added that he was watching the third Captain America film, entitled Civil War, and noticed that the side-plot was Barnes training other Winter Soldiers. He said that \u2018it was a plotline [he] wrote for a year in [his] comics\u2026and wouldn\u2019t exist without [the comics].\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fans have been campaigning online for Brubaker to get paid correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jessica Jdrew on Twitter posted: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/earthtorogers\/status\/1383844148638228492?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it is not just Brubaker who has not been credited correctly. Hawkeye writer Matt Fraction reportedly only got the role of being a consulting producer because he knew late night comedian Seth Meyers, who is friends with the director of the Hawkeye TV show, Rhys Thomas. Thomas stated in an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/uproxx.com\/tv\/rhys-thomas-hawkeye-interview-matt-fraction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interview<\/a>with Uproxx:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>[I got in contact with Fraction through] email. Because I started talking to Marvel about it and sort of\u2026got in there\u2026 through persistence. But I didn\u2019t know about the Seth connection. But I brought up&nbsp;<em>Hawkeye<\/em>&nbsp;with Seth\u2026 And he was like, \u201cOh, I know Matt!\u201d And the next thing I know I\u2019m emailing with Matt.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>However, artist David Aja only gets a special thanks at the end of the end credits, which most people would probably skip over. Twitter user ExplodingPages posted this photo: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/PatientPyramid\/status\/1464368109918334981?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This has not gone unnoticed by fans or Aja himself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/davaja\/status\/1452570596169113602?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/ComicBookHerald\/status\/1464368987815518209?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/aniqrahman\/status\/1463570552606633987?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/thevoyager_\/status\/1458574017447739393?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Aja seemed to acknowledge the fan support on Twitter: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/davaja\/status\/1464333544000561157?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, these are just two of many stories of comic book artists not getting the proper credit or pay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time of writing, Marvel has not released a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Words: Katie Bird<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Subbing: Francesco Ghanaymi<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ed Brubaker is the creator of one of the most beloved characters in the Marvel franchise. That character is the Winter Soldier. Brubaker grew up on Marvel comics, and fell in love with Captain America,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":45407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,42],"tags":[2880,4004,4005,6943],"class_list":["post-45397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-culture","category-entertainment","tag-hawkeye","tag-marvel","tag-marvel-cinematic-movie","tag-winter-soldier"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45397"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45633,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45397\/revisions\/45633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}