Thanos Creator Reveals How Much DC Entertainment Pays For Characters Versus Marvel Studios

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been relying heavily on characters created by writer and artist Jim Starlin.

The prolific creator contributed Thanos, Drax, and Gamora to the Marvel canon—all of whom are heavily featured in the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy films, featuring huge actors in the roles.

Yet the amount of money he’s received for these characters’ on-screen appearances pales in comparison to one minor DC creation who appeared in Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, according to a recent Facebook post from Starlin (via THR).

The KGBeast, a minor Batman villain (and one of the few who the Caped Crusader attempted to murder), was basically a nameless thug in Batman V. Superman. He met a grisly fate in the film after kidnapping Martha Kent, attempting to burn Batman with a flamethrower but getting doused in his own blaze.

The character was not even referred to as the KGBeast in the film; he’s credited as Anatoli Knyazev, portrayed by Callan Mulvey.

It should be noted that in the wake of the KGBeast’s first film appearance the character has seen a minor resurgence, appearing in the pages of Scott Snyder, John Romita Jr., Danny Miki and Dean White’s All-Star Batman. He’s also appeared on Arrow, portrayed by David Nykl, and other various DC-related media.

However these appearances and portrayals don’t have the same significance as Drax, Gamora, and Thanos, who all have had ongoing comic book series within the last year and are portrayed by Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, and Josh Brolin respectively.

Creator Starlin spoke with THR’s Heat Vision last year, saying “I’d like to have had a bigger piece of Thanos than I do.”

He said he renegotiated his deal with Marvel so that he was “getting a little something out of” his characters’ appearances in their billion-dollar franchises. Apparently, he was being very literal.

Starlin has also created other semi-prominent Marvel characters that could appear in the future including Thanos’ sexy brother Starfox, Pip the Troll, and Shang Chi—the Master of Kung Fu. But if Starlin’s Facebook post is any indication, he’d probably make more money from a one-off appearance by Deacon Blackfire on an episode of Gotham.