Is Brubaker going to get paid from by Marvel/Disney since he created the Winter Soldier?
matchkitJOHN
Posts: 1,030
Based on the conversation from Ep. 1256 concerning SDCC I was wondering about the news that the next Cap movie will be about the Winter Soldier. The guys mentioned that Brubaker CREATED the Winter Soldier and we know it paid off big story-wise. So well in fact that they are making a movie about it. I hadn't really thought about that yes he CREATED the Winter Soldier so that made me really wonder about payment. My guess is he doesn't own the character and since he didn't hear from Marvel about them using that storyline then he doesn't get a dime. I know he is leaving the book to do more creator-owned work so it makes sense now except for that decision came before this announcement.
I guess we can only guess at what his deal is if any. Does he get any reprint profits since Marvel will push the trades that carried the story? Toys? I hope he reaps some kind of reward for pulling off bringing Bucky back.
But know I am thinking he created the Winter Soldier but not Bucky so is the Winter Soldier even considered a separate character? I am guessing that the Joe Simon estate doesn't see a dime just film credits. Just guessing.
Thoughts?
I guess we can only guess at what his deal is if any. Does he get any reprint profits since Marvel will push the trades that carried the story? Toys? I hope he reaps some kind of reward for pulling off bringing Bucky back.
But know I am thinking he created the Winter Soldier but not Bucky so is the Winter Soldier even considered a separate character? I am guessing that the Joe Simon estate doesn't see a dime just film credits. Just guessing.
Thoughts?
Comments
That said, this is likely work-for-hire, and there is very little chance that Brubaker will see a penny of money from it.
Which, incidentally, is why we'll see more creators adopting the Mark Millar stance on working for companies.
Quotes from Millar:
"There are advantages [to work-for-hire] as well, though. I won’t say that I’ll never do company-owned again, even though I make more money from my creator-owned work."
"It’s financially so much smarter to do creator-owned, but sometimes it’s just fun to write those classic characters. Sometimes you write something not for money but just because you love it. "
And, here is the clincher:
"I like the Marvel and DC guys, so I don’t want to do any name calling. But I don’t like them so much that I’d create a character for them."
The companies have managed to make the creators hesitant to create for them. Excellent.
This will work out well.
We don't know if they will be using his "Bucky is the Winter Soldier" concept, or just the phrase, or is Cap will face someone who was kept on ice for the same amount of time he was, etc...
It will also depend on his contract, what Marvel said they would pay for and the like. I have heard in interviews that Liefeld gets a check for Deadpool and Cable merch, but we really aren't privvy to it.
He could also be left out in the cold, Bucky is a character owned by Marvel and all he did was give him a new name in the eyes of the courts.
In a perfect world, he'd get a check even if the contract doesn't say so, kind of like the checks DC used to cut to people when their concepts were used in movies. But, as we have seen by the Kirby lawsuit and Before Watchmen, the world ain't perfect and it all boils down to the Golden Rule: He who has the gold, makes the rules.
"Whose magic?" Cerebus asks. "I paid for it," says Weisshaupt, "My magic."
"BOOM!"
Yes, I know this is a different situation. This just came up in my head again.
Normally, I don't care about the behind-the-scenes stuff, but that irks me.
Well at least that offsets the money HE had to pay Warner Brothers to disassociate himself from the Batman and Robin depiction of Bane.
This apparently is changing under the new regime.
Prof: What does it feel like to see them on the big screen?
LW: Emotionally, terrific. Financially, not so much. As I said, the difference between the two companies; DC and Marvel, is I see money off of all of my characters at DC in any incarnation. If they do paperback books, if they do movies… I also created Lucius Fox, the character Morgan Freeman plays in the current run of Batman films, and I do absurdly well off of him being in those films, financially. Because Paul Levitz made sure I signed creator equity contracts whenever I create a character. Even on something potentially so unimportant…as I said to Paul when I argued with him about signing a Lucius contract, “It’s a middle-aged guy in a suit.” He said, “Sign a contract. You never know.” He was right.
http://www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/wein.shtml
Also, if he doesn't receive a writing credit for the film (which he hasn't according to IMDB) he probably won't see much money. I just watched a great documentary about screenwriting on Netflix called 'Tales from the Script', where a guy talked about having re-written 80% of the dialogue for a film. Despite the inclusion of his work in the script, he received no writing credit on the final film and he received a fraction of what he would have otherwise.
If Marvel doesn't give Brubaker a credit I'll be seriously upset. I'm so tired of corporate bean counters screwing talent out of the financial returns they so richly deserve.
Even if Brubaker signed a contract that states all original work belongs to Marvel they should still do the right thing and give him credit.
I feel like he also said something similar when CGS had him on for an episode.
Definitely an interesting question considering the current narrative of creator rights and such developing slowly for a long time.