There's no denying that Marvel fans truly embraced Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova as Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow MCU replacement. In comparison to her sister Natasha, Yelena seems to be more laid-back and is extremely sillier. With that, fans are absolutely anticipating her next possible inclusion in the newly-announced Thunderbolts project. Amid the character's thriving career on-screen, the creators behind Yelena, unfortunately, didn't experience the same fate.
According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios may have underpaid the creators of Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova not once, but twice.
The report claims that Comic writer Devin Grayson and artist J.G. Jones, who created Yelena Belova in 1999, had an agreement with Marvel Studios that they would each receive $25,000 for Yelena's inclusion in Black Widow. Sadly, they were only paid $5,000 in November.
Yelena then later returned in Disney+'s Hawkeye, where Grayson should have received $2,000 per installment, or $1,000 if she were to split it with Jones. After reaching out to Marvel to resolve the agreed payment, the studio offered $300 instead.
Marvel Studios and Grayson's "Special Agreement" promises that the studio would pay the creators $25,000 for a film appearance, $2,000 per episode of TV shows over 30 minutes, and $1,000 for under half an hour.
However, language was hidden in the agreement that's totally "misleading", with a $25,000 offer apparent in the document.
Hollywood Reporter also reached out to Jones and asked if he received the same payment as Grayson. “Having spoken to a number of creators, Marvel’s financial offerings seem a bit of a bait and switch," Jones said. "They throw out a large number, then little by little they whittle down the actual payout.”
Marvel Studios is the biggest franchise in our generation today and is evidently stable in terms of finances as they were able to pay their actors enormous paychecks. However, when it comes to Comics creators, Marvel seems to have a habit of underpaying them. Earlier this year, America Chavez creator Joe Casey also expressed his regret prior to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' theatrical release due to the company's history of underpaying its creators.
These comic book authors are the foremost reason why we enjoy the Marvel characters we now see in live-action and it's highly disheartening to hear how these reports about Marvel Studios underpaying them.
The consented payment compared to the blockbusters their character has been making in live-action clearly implies an unfairness within the studio's payment system that somehow diminishes the creators. Hopefully, Marvel Studios steps up their game when it comes to giving a proper acknowledgment to their creators who are behind the success of their franchise.
Black Widow and Hawkeye are available to stream on Disney+.
Also read: New MCU Rumor Suggests Absolute Absence of Inhumans in Phase 4
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