How The Avengers Make Money In The MCU

How The Avengers Make Money In The MCU

Contents

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 has insights on how Avengers make money in the MCU, and it turns out avenging isn’t an equal pursuit.

You Are Reading :[thien_display_title]

How The Avengers Make Money In The MCU

Warning: SPOILERS for The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Episode 1 – “New World Order”

While the superheroes of the MCU spend all their time saving the world, it turns out making money is an issue for many Avengers, as revealed in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1. While characters like Tony Stark are extremely wealthy and have ways to make money that don’t take up their time – namely his company Stark Industries – others, like Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, struggle to make ends meet.

It’s been a question in the back of viewers’ minds for the entirety of the MCU’s existence and, as the universe broadens and delves deeper into each character and their circumstances, it’s a question that needed answering. Turns out, not all heroes are as privileged as Tony Stark, and it’s a reasonable question to ask how heroes are remunerated for their time saving the world. The first hint came in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, when Falcon asks Captain America about renting an apartment in Brooklyn, to which Cap responds that he’s not sure he can afford to rent in Brooklyn. It was a quip about gentrification and how prices have changed in Brooklyn since the 1940s, but it sparked the question in viewers’ minds: How do these heroes make a living?

Turns out, the MCU is just as unequal and capitalistic as the real world, with some Avengers inheriting wealth, others having worked professionally for contracts that pay, and others struggling to get by, despite saving the world on the regular. While many of the Avengers at first seemed to be (presumably, paid) employees of S.H.I.E.L.D., such as Black Widow and Hawkeye, the organization was taken down in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. There may be funds that help to keep heroes afloat, but, according to Falcon, “It doesn’t work that way.” So how do the Avengers make money in the MCU?

How Tony Stark Funded The Avengers

How The Avengers Make Money In The MCU

After S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, self-described “billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist,” Tony Stark/Iron Man provides funding for The Avengers. He confirmed as much in Avengers: Age of Ultron, when Maria Hill – technically a Stark Industries employee – calls Tony “boss”. Tony replies by saying that Steve Rogers is the boss and that, “I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler.” Tony has always had a central role in The Avengers, and his money is part of the reason they’re able to operate.

See also  Selling Sunset Christine Quinn Calls Out Editors For Showing ‘Favoritism’

There must be some kind of remuneration for the enhanced individuals who join the team: In WandaVision, Vision has purchased land for a house to live in with Wanda, so he has somehow sourced enough money to do that in the few years since he was created. In the comics, Tony set up the Maria Stark Foundation – in memory of his mother – which had several funding sources and paid a stipend to active Avengers members. While the foundation does exist in the MCU (mentioned in passing in the prequel comic The Avengers: The Avengers Initiative) it seems no similar arrangement exists in the MCU. And with Tony Stark now canonically dead, questions surrounding personal funds for the superhero members of the Avengers remain.

Falcon & The Winter Soldier Reveals MCU Superheroes Struggle

How The Avengers Make Money In The MCU

Episode 1 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier sees Sam (Anthony Mackie) return to Delacroix, Louisiana, to help with the family business. It’s been run by his sister Sarah over the time he was variably working for the Air Force, blipped out of existence, and being a superhero since. Sarah’s on the verge of selling Paul & Darlene, the boat from which their parents ran their fishing business, because she hasn’t been able to keep the business earning sustainably.

Sam is confident that he will be able to convince the family bank to give them a loan to consolidate their debts, but it turns out even Avengers star power isn’t enough. The loan agent asks the very question viewers have been pondering: “I’ve always wondered. How do you guys make a living?” says the bank employee. “Is there some kind of fund for heroes? Or did Stark pay you when he was around?” Sam confirms that’s not the way it works, and that there’s “a tremendous amount of goodwill and because of that, people are inclined to help.” Just not this bank manager, it turns out, given Sam and Sarah are rejected for the small business administration loan they were seeking.

Sam Wilson Reveals How The Avengers Made Money

How The Avengers Make Money In The MCU

The comment about “goodwill” from Sam provides an interesting insight into how the Avengers got by while still working for the organization. The way he says “people are inclined to help” is intended to persuade the loan agent to approve their application, but hints that there may be other ways the superheroes survived: by relying on the kindness of others. This may extend to more than bank loans, with donations or support from other organizations being a possibility.

See also  10 Most Powerful YuGiOh! Duelists Ranked

What further complicates this is that many of The Avengers were classified as war criminals. Many of the actions the team takes are unsanctioned and not affiliated with any national or supranational authority. Sometimes they act as representatives of organizations such as S.H.I.E.L.D., S.W.O.R.D. or the CIA, but often the team is striking out on its own, acting only on behalf of the Avengers Initiative. Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, Clint Barton, Scott Lang, and Sharon Carter all engaged in such illegal activities as invasion, kidnapping, mind manipulation, manslaughter, espionage, assassination, murder, theft and more. Those who refused to sign the Sokovia Accords and didn’t retire were also considered fugitives. This comment about goodwill from Sam shows that, despite this interpretation of the Avengers’ actions, there were many in the world still happy for their protection and willing to support them in some way.

How Avengers Earned Money Outside Of The Team

Again during his meeting with the loan agent, Sam Wilson provides paperwork showing his and Sarah’s financials. Sarah herself notes earlier in the episode that she’s been losing money, but Sam highlights recent “government contracts” which are proof of his income. One such activity is depicted at the beginning of the first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Sam goes in to rescue the military liaison from the criminal organization LAF, which is operating in Tunisia, somewhere, “the US military cannot be seen operating,” according to the officer briefing Wilson, who confirms a “subtle” approach in order not to violate any treaties.

Heroes completing such military contracts as this, independent of The Avengers, could be acting out of altruism – doing the right thing is a strong theme throughout the MCU – but this seems like a legitimate military contract Falcon is completing, which means remuneration. Contracts such as this must be what he’s referencing to the loan agent, and show an approach also taken by the Guardians of the Galaxy and Star-Lord, who are depicted completing contracts for payment on behalf of entities such as the Sovereign and the Nova Corps. While questions still remain as to how these superpowered crime fighters/war criminals earn a living. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, through its depictions of the Wilsons’ business struggles, shows that the MCU may have just as big a gap between the wealthy and the poor as the real world, even for superheroes who regularly save the world.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/mcu-falcon-winter-soldier-superheroes-money/

Movies -