Knull Creators Shocked That Character Will Be Used in ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ – Confirm They Will Be Asking for Compensation

Recently, the final trailer for ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ has dropped. The movie is important for several reasons, it’s going to be the final installment in the trilogy and also the debut of one of the most terrifying and powerful villains in Marvel Comics – Knull, the King in Black.

While a relatively “new” character as far as established faces in the comics go, Knull quickly went on to become the biggest danger a symbiote could face, so it made him a natural fit for the movie.

Fans had mixed reactions to this announcement, given Sony’s poor track record of handling comic book characters and adapting them to the big screen. Fans are worried that Knull did not have a proper build-up in the universe and that he will be extremely nerfed to allow Eddie and Venom to fight him in the movie in the first place.

Fans were not the only ones shocked to find out that Knull will be in the threequel, as it turns out the character’s creators were also surprised to see him in the trailer, and now that they did find out, they are asking for money since apparently they were not compensated at all. Knull was created by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman.

The character made his debut in ‘Venom’ Vol. 4 #3 (2018), with a subtle reference to an unnamed entity from ‘Thor: God of Thunder’ #6. Knull was later mentioned in several issues of ‘Web of Venom,’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ and the ‘War of the Realms’ storyline. Following these appearances, Knull became the primary villain in Donny Cates’ ‘Silver Surfer: Black’ #1.

Knull reemerged as the main villain in ‘King in Black,’ which focuses on his invasion of Earth alongside his symbiote army, which also sounds like something that Sony is trying to adapt in the upcoming movie.

Stegman explained on social media that he created Knull and had no idea the character would be used but he expects to be paid:

Cates simply posted an inverted Venom logo that reads like “Money.”

If you’re wondering how it’s possible that the two people most important for the creation of Knull have been snubbed in this deal, it’s because the industry has always been highly unfair toward artists and writers.

Most comic book creators work under “work-for-hire” agreements, meaning the company (Marvel, DC, etc.) owns any characters or stories created during their employment. As a result, the intellectual property rights belong to the company, not the individual creators. This allows companies to use these characters in various forms of media, including movies, without owing the creators a share of profits.

Starlin famously had to go against Disney to get paid for using Thanos in the ‘Avengers’ franchise, as a character he created.

Even if a writer or artist creates a new character or concept, the rights usually stay with the company. So when these characters appear in films, the company reaps the financial benefits rather than the original creators. While some creators might negotiate for residuals or bonuses for future uses of their characters, this is not standard and is often minimal. It ultimately depends on individual contracts that the creators had with publishing companies and studios.

Stegman and Cates will likely do better just to monetize on the fact that Knull will be in the movie and reap what they can from the sudden character’s popularity. But one important thing went over everyone’s heads – the fact that Sony did not consult the original creators of the character AT ALL in the making of the movie so this should tell you enough on have they plan on adapting it.

What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments below!

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