Marvel Demands Massive Pay Cut From Certain Employees
Marvel VFX artists make 20% less than the industry standard.
More news is now coming out about the treatment of Marvel’s VFX artists, and things are looking grim once again. There has been plenty of issues surrounding the poor treatment of these artists, and now there is more bad news. According to a new report from CBR, the VFX artists working for Marvel make 20% less than other studios.
This is just another in the long list of issues that have been popping up relating to the overall treatment of Marvel’s VFX artists. The shocking thing is that Marvel depends heavily on visual effects, as most of the movies and shows that are released under the MCU are required to use such effects. Superheroes cannot just be captured using a simple suit, as their powers are often needing to look magnanimous.
It could be that Disney is the bigger culprit of this horrible pay, as it is not just the Marvel VFX artists that have had issues with certain movies. Logan Preshaw, a VFX artist that worked on Avatar: The Way of Water, spoke in detail about the pay cut he received. Per a tweet from Preshaw, “I worked on Avatar 2… I’m proud of that… I am not proud of how little Weta Workshop pays its artists.”
Apparently, Preshaw also stated that he asked Wētā Workshop for a raise some eights month after delivering his hard work. He had apparently been making minimum wage and $10/h less than what he was given at another animation studio, only to see the pay for VFX artists go up to $24/h three months after he was gone. Disney released Avatar 2 and has Marvel under its umbrella, so this could point to the shared frustrations from Marvel VFX artists as well.
There have been plenty of horror stories from Marvel VFX artists over the course of the last six months, all of which do not paint Marvel in the greatest light. Dhruv Govil, a VFX artist who worked on Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man: Homecoming, stated “Working on Marvel shows is what pushed me to leave the VFX industry.”
Apparently, Govil stated that he saw many other Marvel VFX artists break down after being overworked, yet not getting properly compensated for their time. Strangely, though Marvel Studios is one of the biggest media companies in the world currently, these stories have become commonplace. There are even rumors that the studio plans to create its own in-house VFX division, though we are not sure if that will alleviate the pay concerns for anyone.
The VFX branch of IATSE (the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) has also spoken out about the treatment of Marvel VFX artists, stating that one person is hired to handle the workload for a job that would take three people. That is certainly not going to make things better for the media company. It also didn’t help when both Tessa Thompson and Taika Waititi openly mocked the VFX visuals in Thor: Love and Thunder in the summer of 2022.
Marvel VFX artists should be getting fair treatment and pay, as their job has become crucial in driving forward the movies that are beloved around the world. Marvel was reportedly going to take a step back from pumping out so many releases, as the storylines and visuals of the Phase 4 slate were highly criticized. It could be the backlash coming from these stories that are now putting pressure on the MCU, but it certainly is the right time to make some better changes.
