Brazilian site Jamesons published excerpts from an interview with Miles Morales co-creator Sara Pichelli during CCXP 2025 (originally called Comic-Con Experience), in which the illustrator confessed that he did not receive royalties from Miles’ appearance in Insomniac Games’ latest Spider-Man video game. This has reignited debate in the comics industry about royalties, ownership, and employment contracts.
Sara Picelli
Read translated excerpts of Jameson’s Gabe de Gabeverso and Picelli’s interview below.
Gabe de Gabeverso: Video games, too. And for all the other products that were inspired by and launched with Miles…do you get a cut of that money?
Sara Picelli: If possible! Don’t mention it…I’ll be a millionaire.
Gabe Verso: That’s true. The game sold millions.
Picelli: Yeah, but I don’t know anything. And that’s the saddest part of my life.
Gabe Verso: No, I can’t believe it.
Picelli: I know, I can’t believe it myself either.
Gabe Verso: We should start an online campaign.
Picelli: Please, please do it!
Gabe Verso: It’s a real political movement. Well, it’s because there are a lot of sales and products.
Picelli: Yeah, that’s insane. I know, I know.
The success of Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man game led to Sony acquiring the studio a year after the game’s release. “Sony has acquired Insomniac Games, the studio behind Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank, for an undisclosed sum. Much of Insomniac’s catalog over the years has appeared on Sony’s PlayStation consoles, including last year’s Marvel’s Spider-Man, which Sony revealed today has sold more than 13.2 million copies,” Game Industry.Biz reported in 2019.
Marvel’s creator participation agreements have become far less generous in recent years. And when it comes to characters derived from existing characters, a situation that applies to Miles Morales, you get even less royalties. But no wonder no one creates new characters for the big two anymore. In a subsequent post, Jameson pointed to the chicken-and-egg dilemma faced by modern creators. You have to work for the big two to get your name out there. Then you can publish an independent book.
Pischelli co-created Miles Morales with Brian Michelle Bendis as part of the Ultimate Universe in 2011, and the character quickly became popular despite facing opposition from traditionalist fans and retailers. In 2019, he gained even wider attention as the star of the groundbreaking Into the Spider-Verse, the first film in a planned trilogy, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film. Some argue that derivative characters like Miles shouldn’t require the same kind of creator involvement as brand-new titles, but the issue has been a sore point for the industry since the days of the legal battle between Jack Kirby and Marvel.
Bendis has returned to Marvel and is now rumored to be working on a new project with Pischelli. Will it be another spin-off…or something entirely new?
Something like this:
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