In one of the most memorable lines of Marvel’s The Avengers, Captain America (Chris Evans) demands to know just what Downey Jr.’s Iron Man is when left without his armor, receiving the cocky reply, ‘a genius, billionaire playboy philanthropist.’ It seems that for the actor, this assertion is not so far from the truth, with reports that he is set to rake in $50 million of the film’s profits.
While The Avengers had no shortage of stars, some of them arguably more desirable than Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner each received the relatively typical sum of $2-3 million; with Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlet Johansson making up to twice as much.
Downey’s success in the previous, massively popular Marvel outings of Iron Man no doubt had some bearing on this inconsistency, but the main reason comes with clever negotiations from the actor’s representatives. The exact details are anyone’s guess, but it is known that, rather than a salary, Downey instead receives a certain percentage of Marvel’s profits – and among news that The Avengers is, itself, a billion dollar movie, these figures aren’t surprising.
This means that, ultimately, while I’m sure many will be quick to bring up the economic crisis in the face of such high-paid stars, Marvel isn’t the one paying Downey 50 million – we are. You will have to decide for yourself if you’d rather live with that or (spoilers) face not seeing Iron Man nuke alien motherships in the first place. I certainly know my choice.
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