Issue #237 | May 14, 2024
Good afternoon, everyone! Today, we have not one, but two stories about Marvel. In one case, Marvel hit an anonymous Instagram creator with a DMCA subpoena to unveil their identity, after they leaked unreleased footage of the upcoming “Captain America” movie. Kind of wild. In another story from this week, the studio had to ferociously backtrack after creators spoke out about a policy that forbade them from saying negative things about the upcoming MCU game “Marvel Rivals” if they signed up for early access.
Once a simple “pocket-size studio” by comic book writer Stan Lee, Marvel is now Disney’s prize behemoth of ticket sales, merchandise, action figures, games, and fans willing to overlook bad CGI. And unfortunately, while it rakes in billions, the overworked creators and artists who make the success of the MCU possible tend to be left behind.
But arguably, creators now have unprecedented social power and leverage in the entertainment industry. While Grandpa Disney might act like the MCU is some kind of timeless classic commodity, it’s clear that it can’t survive without Twitch streamers and Insta baddies giving it relevance. Disney can afford a lot of things (like raises), but it can’t afford to completely alienate creators.
– Grace Stanley, Deputy Editor
