Brazilian site Jamesons released an excerpt of an interview with Miles Morales Co-creator Sara Pichelli during CCXP 2025 (originally called Comic Con Experience), in which the illustrator confessed that she receives no royalties from Miles’ appearances in the latest Spider-Man video games from Insomniac Games. This has once again sparked the conversation of royalties, ownership, and work-for-hire contracts in the comic book industry.
Read the translated excerpt from the interview between Jamesons’ Gabe do Gabeverso and Pichelli below:
Gabe do Gabeverso: And the video games too. And about all those other products that came along with Miles, inspired by him… do you get any share of that money?
Sara Pichelli: If only! Don’t even mention it… I would be a billionaire.
Gabeverso: You really would be; the game sold millions.
Pichelli: Yeah, but I don’t get anything. And that’s the saddest part of my life.
Gabeverso: Man, unbelievable.
Pichelli: I know, I can’t believe it myself.
Gabeverso: We should start an online campaign.
Pichelli: Please, do it!
Gabeverso: A real political campaign. Yeah, because there’s so much merchandising, so much stuff.
Pichelli: Yeah, it’s insane. I know, I know.
The success of Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man game was such that Sony acquired the studio a year after the release of the game. ”Sony has purchased Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank studio Insomniac Games for an undisclosed amount. Much of Insomniac’s catalog over the years has appeared on Sony PlayStation consoles, including last year’s Marvel’s Spider-Man, which Sony revealed today has sold over 13.2 million copies,” reported Game Industry.Biz in 2019.
Marvel’s creators participation deals have gotten much less generous over the years. And for characters that are derivative of existing characters – a situation which would apply to Miles Morales – there are even fewer royalties. But no wonder no one creates new characters for the Big Two any more. In a subsequent post, Jameson pointed out the chicken-or-egg dilemma that modern creators face. You need to work for the Big Two to get your name out there, so then you can do your independent book.
Pichelli co-created Miles Morales with Brian Michel Bendis back in 2011 as part of the Ultimates universe, and the character took off immediately despite facing opposition from more traditionalist fans and retailers. In 2019 he gained even more widespread appeal as the star of the groundbreaking Into The Spider-Verse, the first film in a planned trilogy that won the Oscar for Best Animated Film. While some claim that a derivative character like Miles shouldn’t get the same kind of creators participation as a wholly new creation, these issues have been a sore point for the industry since the days of legal battles between Jack Kirby and Marvel.
With Bendis’s return to Marvel, he’s now rumored to be working on a new project with Pichelli. Will it be another spin-off…or something brand new?
