A number of comic book writers have made complaints in the past regarding Marvel and their refusal to pay them for reusing their work in the MCU and other such projects. Now it appears another comic book writer, Joe Casey, is similarly making these complaints. As for Joe Casey’s situation, he’s the creator of comic book character America Chavez, who fans will soon see in the upcoming film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The upcoming Doctor Strange sequel is expected to be a massive gamechanger for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Part of this is due to America Chavez, who is expected to come from another universe than the one fans are familiar with. As such, they’ll be playing a large role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward, and Joe Casey has not been paid at all for it. This information comes via THR, where he spoke more deeply on the matter.
He began by explaining the following:
“The fact is Marvel owns America Chavez. That’s not in dispute on any level, but there are still systemic flaws in the way that creators are neither respected nor rewarded.”
While he created the character in 2011, Casey refused to accept a small sum offered by Marvel some time ago. Since then, creator Joe Casey has not been compensated for the large number of projects that America Chavez has been used in.
“Marvel has paid me nothing for America Chavez, not only for appearing in the Doctor Strange sequel, but in numerous animated TV episodes, for the numerous action figures they’ve made of her, for video games she’s appeared in. They seem to be fine with that.”
He noted that he doesn’t want money or respect from Marvel, however. Instead, he’s mentioning all of this because he hopes future comic book creators are offered better compensation.
“For me, it’s not about money. It’s not even about the respect. I would never expect to be respected by a corporation. If I’m in a position where I can afford not to take their insult of an offer, and be able to talk about it, maybe the next guy — where that kind of money could change their life — would get a fair shot of receiving that money.”
Ultimately, he’s not upset, and he understands the situation. He simply wants to change it for others by starting a dialogue.
“I’m a happy guy. I’m not disgruntled. I’m not bitter. Because I know this is how this goes. I also know, this is how you change things, by talking about it.”
As more comic book creations are being repurposed for the growing Marvel Cinematic Universe, it certainly makes sense that these creators should be compensated appropriately. With so much money involved with the production of these films, and how much Marvel and Disney make back on them, it definitely seems like a good first step to begin talking about it.
Meanwhile, the highly-anticipated sequel to Doctor Strange, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, will be released in theaters on May 4, 2022.