Venom: The Last Dance‘s last trailer was the first time we got to see the film’s main villain. It’s the biggest one in Venom comics history, Knull. As exciting as that reveal was, inexplicably, that promo was also the first time the people who actually created Knull found out that he’s in the movie. And now that Knull’s creators know the symbiote creator is making his live-action debut in Venom‘s third outing, they’re hoping to see something else soon: money.
Following the release of Venom: The Last Dance‘s latest and final trailer, two of the creators behind Knull took to social media. They revealed something genuinely shocking. Sony never informed them of their character’s inclusion in the film. The first of the posts (which we first saw at IGN) came from Ryan Stegman. He penciled the issue of Marvel Comics where Knull made his debut. On Twitter, he wrote that since Knull is the movie’s big bad, he expects a big payment.
A lazy river moat at home does sound nice.
Meanwhile the writer of the comic, Donny Cates, was far more direct with his thoughts. He posted a photo of the word “MONEY” alongside “lol.”
Not a whole lot of mystery around how either of them feel. These creators gave life to Knull on the Marvel Comics page. Now that he’s appearing in a live-action film, they want to be paid accordingly.
Without question or reservation, they should be.
Hollywood has not exactly treated comic book creators fairly. (Which is truly an understatement.) By going public with this blatant absurdity, Stegman and Cates are drawing attention to the latest example of money-printing companies taking advantage of people they owe everything to. There would literally not be a Knull to put into Venom: The Last Dance if not for comic book writers, artists, and other creators.
The fact Sony didn’t even tell them Knull is in the movie is not a great sign for future payment. But public outcry can change that. Hopefully, it will. Hopefully, this will stop happening to comic book creators entirely. We want to root against Knull when we see him in Venom: The Last Dance. But not for this reason.