Thanos' Creator Praises DC's Flash For Doing One Thing Marvel Movies Haven't
"The Flash" may have bombed at the box office and left the DC Extended Universe in an even more confusing condition than the speedster blockbuster found it. However, if you ask one person, there's a very particular metric by which Andy Muschietti's beleaguered DCEU film has managed to surpass its Marvel Cinematic Universe competition ... and said person is Jim Starlin, the creator of MCU Big Bad Thanos (Josh Brolin).
In an Instagram post, Starlin heaped praise on "The Flash," noting that he was particularly delighted to see the movie so prominently thank the comic book creators behind the characters — and reminding his fans that not every live-action comic book universe is in the habit of doing the same. "Was really surprised by how much I liked the new Flash movie! One terrific flick," Starlin wrote. "I was especially pleased to see the creators of the Flash acknowledged early in the end credits instead of way after the caterers and so many others. Wish the Marvel movies would do the same."
Starlin has been critical of the MCU before
When it comes to superhero movies, the precise placement of comic book creators' names in the credits is not the only cause of discontent among the writers and artists behind the characters. In 2021, the sad truth about how much money the MCU pays comic creators made the headlines, as it turned out that many creators crafted their famous Marvel and DC characters under a work-for-hire contract, thus preventing them from benefitting from the billion-dollar movies to the extent that they feel they're entitled to — a go-to lump sum compensation from an MCU film was $5,000, according to The Guardian.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the contract situation is a complex one that has much room to improve and features different deals for different creators — and as of 2021, DC's track record was somewhat better than Marvel's. Starlin was quite public about the subject already in 2017, after which he was able to renegotiate an improved (but undisclosed) Thanos deal with Disney. Still, based on his newest comments about "The Flash," he continues to feel that the MCU could do better.