“Every dream has a cost,” reads the tagline on the new poster for Ironheart, which Marvel Studios debuted alongside the trailer for the Disney+ series. But that cost doesn’t include compensation owed to artist and Ironheart co-creator Mike Deodato, who introduced the character with writer Brian Michael Bendis in the Invincible Iron Man comic run in 2016. In response to the Ironheart trailer uploaded by Marvel, Deodato expressed dissatisfaction in regards to creator royalties and suggested he hasn’t been fairly compensated for the Ryan Coogler-executive produced series.
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“As a comic book artist, there are few feelings more satisfying than seeing a character you helped create come to life on the big screen,” Deodato wrote on Instagram, adding he’s “thrilled” with the inclusion of “a moment I originally brought to life on the comics page,” referencing a sequence in which Riri Williams — wearing her Ironheart Armor Model 1 — stops a speeding truck in the pages of Invincible Iron Man #11.
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“Riri Williams, a character I co-created with the amazing Brian Michael Bendis, is finally taking flight, and the result is stunning. It’s a powerful reminder of the magic that happens when imagination meets real-world production,” Deodato continued. “But as much as I celebrate this moment, there’s a bitter edge to it. You see, while Marvel has built an empire worth billions on the backs of its creators, the compensation model hasn’t kept pace with the success. I’m in a good place, one of the best-paid creators in the industry, and I truly appreciate that. But it’s not about me.”
“It’s about the principle. When a character you poured your heart into helps fuel the engine of a multi-billion-dollar machine, a small share of that success feels only fair,” he added of the character who made her live-action debut in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which grossed $859 million at the global box office. “Creators don’t ask for billions or even millions. Just a nod, a bit of recognition, and a share that reflects the contribution they’ve made. It’s not just good ethics — it’s good business.”
The former Marvel’s New Avengers and Dark Avengers artist went on to note that such pay discrepancies cause creators to “naturally drift toward projects where they retain control, where their work can lead to lasting financial security. That’s why more and more of us are focusing on creator-owned projects, where we can truly share in the success of our creations.”
In 2020, Deodato and writer J. Michael Straczynski (Amazing Spider-Man) launched The Resistance, a creator-owned title for the independent comic book publisher AWA Studios (named for “Artists, Writers & Artisans”).
“I’m not bitter, just realistic. I’m proud to see Riri come to life, and I’ll always appreciate the fans who make that possible,” Deodato concluded. “But I hope one day, the companies that thrive on our imaginations will truly recognize the value we bring to the table. Marvel, you can do better. And I genuinely hope you will, for the sake of the characters we love and the creators who bring them to life.”
Deodato is the latest artist to publicly speak out about Marvel’s compensation rates. In 2021, Captain America comic writer Ed Brubaker, who resurrected Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier, said he “made more on SAG residuals” from his cameo in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie than he “made on creating the character” who co-led The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series on Disney+. In 2022, America Chavez co-creator Joe Casey said he was offered, and rejected, a “pittance” for the character’s MCU debut in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
That same year, Devin Grayson — the co-creator of the Yelena Belova Black Widow, who appeared in the Black Widow movie and the Hawkeye series before leading this year’s Thunderbolts* — told The Hollywood Reporter that she signed a “Special Character Agreement” contract in 2007 entitling her to $25,000 for a theatrical film appearance. Grayson ultimately received $5,000, and learned that the document contained language giving Marvel “broad discretion to dramatically lower payments,” with THR reporting that the initial $25,000 was to be split between writer and artist (J.G. Jones), and that the initial sum was whittled down to share with other creators under Special Character Agreements.
Ironheart — which stars Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart and Anthony Ramos as the New Avengers villain Parker Robbins/the Hood, with Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam and Anji White — debuts on Disney+ with a three-episode series premiere on June 24.
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