Hawkeye Comics Artist Wants Marvel To Pay For Using Comics Work In MCU

Marvel Comics artist David Aja has some choice words to say about the new Hawkeye poster done in his style. Next month, the MCU will return to Disney+ with its latest live-action series. After spending time with characters like Wanda Maximoff, Sam Wilson, and Loki, it’s Clint Barton who’s getting the spotlight this time around. Hawkeye picks up with Clint following Avengers: Endgame as he tries to settle back into family life. However, when his vigilante past comes back to haunt him, the holidays take a wild turn.

Jeremy Renner returns for his sixth MCU appearance with Hawkeye, and all signs point to him passing on the torch to a new generation. The series will also feature the live-action debut of Kate Bishop, a fan favorite character from the comics who adopts the mantle of Hawkeye following Clint’s death. Naturally, Hawkeye is going to put its own twist on this, but it will also take inspiration from the acclaimed comics run by Matt Faction and Aja. The series’ posters and logos have clearly drawn from Aja’s style within that run, and the artist is speaking out about it.

On Sunday, Marvel unveiled a new Hawkeye poster that was inspired by Aja’s covers. It caught his notice on social media when a fan pleaded for artists to get credit for the work they do. “Even better: Stop crediting, start paying, haha,” Aja quipped, making him the latest comic creative to ding Marvel for not paying those who create and design their characters.

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Marvel has built a not-so-great reputation for improperly compensating comics writers and artists while profiting off their characters. A report earlier this year said the studio only gives them a $5,000 check and an invitation to the premiere for their respective projects. As the MCU continues to expand both in film and on television, more comics professionals have spoken out, such as Winter Soldier creator Ed Brubaker and Howard the Duck artist Joe Quinones. Aja is just stating what others have known for a while now: Marvel has a compensation problem.

One would hope that increased attention to this issue would lead Marvel to change their policies, but so far nothing seems to be taking root. Hawkeye is just a mere month away from release, yet Aja remains without any kind of proper compensation. The series is clearly influenced by his work, so it seems only fair that he should be paid for his contribution. Aja doesn’t seem very pleased, and he’s far from the only comics creator to feel that way. Perhaps with time, Marvel will learn from its mistakes and do better for its creatives.

Hawkeye premieres Wednesday, November 24 on Disney+.

Source: David Aja/Twitter

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Rachel Labonte
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Rachel LaBonte is a news, feature, and movie review writer for Screen Rant with a deep passion for film and television. A graduate of Emerson College, she majored in Media Arts Production while specializing in screenwriting. She’s been a writer ever since high school when she realized she was rather good at it and joined as many entertainment news clubs as she could while in school. Most notably, she wrote for Emerson’s website Emertainment Monthly, and one of her film reviews won an Evvy (Emerson’s student awards) for Best Review. Her deep love of movies led to her working at a movie theater for five years, which she loved despite the angry customers. An avid reader who constantly buys books before reading the ones she already owns, Rachel is a huge fan of superheroes (especially of the Marvel variety) and wizards and will likely never be able to catch up on all the movies/TV shows she longs to watch.

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