Florence Pugh Is Getting Paid A Ridiculous Amount To Star In Marvel’s Thunderbolts
Florence Pugh's pay day for her next two Marvel films will be in the tens of millions of dollars.
For Florence Pugh fans out there, you’ll be happy to know that she’s getting paid handsomely for her work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pugh will be paid at least 8 figures–as in, the tens of millions range–for her next two MCU outings as Yelena Belova. The pay amount includes Florence Pugh’s appearance in the upcoming anti-hero team movie, Thunderbolts.
Florence Pugh first made her MCU debut starring opposite Scarlett Johansson in 2021’s Black Widow. Her performance as Natasha Romanoff’s sister received tremendous support and praise from fans and critics who were still reeling from the ending of MCU phase 3 and the devastating effects of the global pandemic. Yelena Belova was a bright light in an otherwise difficult, dark time.
Her performance in Black Window was so widely praised that she became one of the more exciting aspects of the Hawkeye Disney+ show. Fans wanted to see how Yelena Belova would react to facing off against Natasha’s longtime friend and ally, Clint Barton. Florence Pugh once again made the most out of her screen time and had a wonderful onscreen repartee with Hailee Steinfeld.
At Disney’s D23 Expo, MCU president Kevin Feige announced the cast for the upcoming Thunderbolts movie. Concept art shown to the crowd in attendance revealed Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Sebastian Stan, and others as part of the Thunderbolts team. While details regarding the anti-hero team project are still kept under wraps, fans undoubtedly got excited to see Yelena Belova again in action for another Marvel adventure.
Although Florence Pugh’s pay for Thunderbolts is undoubtedly impressive, a dark cloud hangs over it. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, the comic book creators of many fan-favorite MCU characters aren’t receiving much for their contributions and ideas. The co-creator of Yelena Belova, Devin Grayson, decided to go public in July with how much Marvel paid her. According to Grayson, she only received $5000 of the promised $12,500 for Yelena Belova’s use in the Black Window movie.
Following The Hollywood Reporter’s published story that featured Grayson’s claims about her pay, Marvel agreed to pay her the remaining $7,500. The situation comic book writers and artists find themselves in is nothing short of horrible, considering they are the ones who could up with the core aspects of the characters everyone loves. However, it can be argued that the folks at Marvel are not obliged to pay these artists a higher amount and that they control how much exposure these characters receive.
As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, writers and comics are too keen on creating characters for Marvel or DC. While onscreen talents like Florence Pugh can benefit significantly from the success of movies like Thunderbolts, the actual creators of the source material are left scrambling for recognition and decent pay. It’s not to say their work isn’t respected or even acknowledged by the folks at these major movie studios; they are just brilliant artists looking in.
Regardless, all fans will admire is the work done by Florence Pugh and others who appear movies like Thunderbolts. They may even know some behind-the-scenes people like Kevin Feige and directors like James Gunn and Ryan Coogler. For those of us who spent hours creating the characters we all come to love, we remain in the shadows.
