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‘Moon Knight’ artist doesn’t expect a payout for designing key character

'Moon Knight' artist Declan Shalvey doesn't expect to receive further remuneration for his contributions to the character's comic book form.

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Image via Marvel / Disney

The Super Bowl TV spot for Moon Knight builds on the excellent first trailer and has fans hyped. The Disney Plus show will delve into Marvel’s extensive history of horror comics, with Oscar Isaac’s character a million miles far from the confident and square-jawed traditional superhero.

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The show will draw inspiration from several key Moon Knight comics. Recent images in Empire Magazine confirmed we’d see the suited and stylish Mr. Knight, who prominently appeared in 2014’s Volume 7 of the comic book. Artist Declan Shalvey seems to be blown away by his character design being translated accurately:

Though, sadly, he doesn’t expect much more than a “thank you” in the credits:

Marvel compensating the writers and artists who contributed to its billion-dollar IPs is a thorny issue. Their defense is that all work done on Marvel Comics is the property of the company, and they have no financial obligation to pay anything beyond the agreed amount.

But that’s difficult to square when creators see storylines and characters in Marvel Studios movies earning billions of dollars, with only nods in the ‘Special Thanks’ section of the credits in recognition of their work. Sure, Marvel doesn’t technically have to pay them, though you could also argue that giving creatives payouts for use of the designs would incentivize them to stick around and it’d be an investment in the company’s future.

Moon Knight lands on Disney Plus on March 30.