Acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates, who's had writing stints on Captain America and Black Panther, offered his thoughts on how comics creators are financially acknowledged by major film studios after their works are adapted into blockbuster franchises.
Coates told The Guardian that his own run on Captain America owes a debt to the work of writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve Epting, who retooled Cap's sidekick Bucky Barnes into the brainwashed assassin The Winter Soldier in 2004. "Long before I was writing Captain America, I read [Brubaker and Epting's] 'Death of Captain America' storyline, and 'Return of the Winter Soldier,' and it was some of the most thrilling storytelling I’d ever read," he explained. "I'd rather read it than watch the movies – I love the movies, too – but it doesn't seem just for them to extract what Steve and Ed put into this and create a multi-billion dollar franchise."
2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which adapted the storyline from the comics, grossed $714.42 million globally. However, Marvel Studios reportedly has a standard contract clause that provides comics creators $5,000 after their work is adapted into films -- and doesn't always inform them that the money is available.
Coates added that studios should do better by comics creators. "Just because it's in a contract doesn’t make it right," he said. "If I have some kind of leverage over you, I can get you to sign a contract to fuck you over. It’s just legalist."
Source: The Guardian