Right now, Ed Brubaker is churning out some of the best stories of his career with his creator owned work over at Image Comics with artist Sean Phillips. But to a generation of readers, Brubaker’s crowning achievement was reinventing Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier during his landmark Captain America run with artist Steve Epting. Bucky’s shocking return from the dead was an instant success in the mid-2000s. However, Brubaker and Epting feel that they haven’t been fairly compensated for their eventual contribution to the MCU.
A few weeks ago, Brubaker’s beef with Marvel prompted him to confess his “mixed feelings” over The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s premiere on Disney+. However, he had even more to say during an appearance on Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin’s Fatman Beyond podcast.
“When I see ads for the show, it actually makes me feel sick to my stomach,” said Brubaker (via The Beat). “It’s just weird that they’re so ungenerous to me. It’s especially weird because a lot of them are friends of mine. Or people that I thought were friends of mine.”
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Surprisingly, Brubaker claimed that he makes more from his cameo appearance as a lab tech in Captain America: The Winter Soldier than he makes from actually co-creating the character in the first place. He also compared his situation to that of comedian Dave Chappelle. Last fall, Chappelle expressed his frustration with Netflix for adding Chappelle’s Show to its streaming library. Subsequently, Netflix agreed to remove the show until his feud with Comedy Central was resolved. But it doesn’t look like we can expect a similar resolution between Brubaker and Marvel anytime soon.
“There’s nothing preventing anyone at Marvel from looking over how much the Winter Soldier has been used in all this stuff and calling me and Steve Epting and saying, ‘You know what, we’re going to try to adjust the standard thing so you guys feel good about this,” said Brubaker.
The next episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premieres this Friday, April 16 on Disney+.
What do you make of Brubaker’s latest remarks? Do you think Marvel should pay Brubaker and Epting more for the Winter Soldier? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Captain America Vol. 1: Winter Soldier Ultimate Collection
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