Credit: Inside the MagicMarvel Studios is taking a big swing by casting Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom in the upcoming, newly announced Avengers: Doomsday, but all it really proves is that the company doesn’t get the actual problem it is facing.
“New Mask, Same Task”
San Diego Comic-Con 2024 saw a momentous announcement in Hall H, which, to be fair, happens pretty much every year.
In addition to a teaser for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, a trailer for the upcoming Thunderbolts* movie that confirmed Florence Pugh as the film’s star, and Giancarlo Esposito doing his thing in Captain America: Brave New World, Marvel Studios officially scrapped Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and revealed that it had been replaced by Avengers: Doomsday.
As though that were not big enough, it was then revealed that the film would finally debut Doctor Doom in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that the character would be portrayed by none other than Robert Downey Jr., the once and maybe future Iron Man. In his typical style, RDJ quipped that his new villainous role would involve a “New mask, same task. What can I say? I like playing complicated characters.”
Related: That Was Fast: Robert Downey Jr. Already Out as Doctor Doom
The Russo Brothers also officially returned to the Marvel fold to direct Avengers: Doomsday and the previously announced Avengers: Secret Wars. From one perspective, both announcements were shrewd moves by Marvel chief Kevin Feige. Anthony and Joe Russo and Robert Downey Jr. were collectively responsible for billions of dollars of box office glory for the franchise, and bringing the trio back could be pitched as a return to form for the struggling MCU.
Unfortunately, new reports about Robert Downey Jr. and his new role as Doctor Doom, as well as the directors, show that the studio is ignoring the actual problem that is taking down the franchise. In fact, it is making it worse.
‘Avengers: Doomsday’: The Battle for Bigger Budgets
According to a new Variety report, the Russo Brothers are being paid a colossal $80 million to direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, with “performance escalators that kick in at the $750 million and $1 billion thresholds,” which is to say bonuses for good box office performance. The duo will also be co-producing the film via their AGBO company, a comparative rarity for Marvel Studios.
But even more significantly, it is reported that Robert Downey Jr. is being paid “significantly more” than that $80 million paycheck, in addition to a compensation package that includes perks like “private jet travel, dedicated security, and a whole ‘trailer encampment.'”
On one hand, this seems logical. Robert Downey Jr. is estimated to have earned, either via salary or bonuses, close to $600 million for his stint in the MCU, which includes three Iron Man movies, four Avengers movies, supporting roles in the Captain America and Spider-Man series, a cameo in The Incredible Hulk (2008), and extensive use of archival footage since his departure in Avengers: Endgame (2019).
If Kevin Feige is going to woo RDJ back to the MCU, it obviously is going to take a pretty enormous compensation package. While the MCU involves a vast army of actors, directors, writers, executives, and crew, it is undeniable that for over a decade, Downey Jr. was the linchpin of the entire franchise. If any single person can be credited with the success of the MCU (other than Feige), it is unquestionably RDJ.
However, the problem that Marvel Studios is facing is actually quite simple: the movies don’t make as much money as they used to, and they cost more.
While fans and critics can complain about the quality of the storytelling or the grain of the CGI, at the end of the day, the franchise can only continue if it justifies its cost. But since 2019, the box office grosses have steadily gone down, and the cost of making them has climbed to staggering heights.
This can be broken down in stark, simple terms. Iron Man had a production budget of $140 million and made $585 million. The Avengers (2012) cost $225 million and brought in $1.519 billion. But fast forward to the current day, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) cost $326.6 million and grossed $476 million. Infamously, The Marvels (2023) is currently underwater, having cost $274 million and grossing merely $206 million.
Clearly, the ratio of cost to profitability has flipped on the MCU. The powers that be at Disney can try to change a Multiverse Saga to a Mutant Era or recast RDJ as Victor Von Doom, but none of that makes a difference if the movies can’t turn a buck.
And, in order to do that, Marvel Studios has to figure out how to make movies cheaper, even Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. The last five years of the MCU have shown that it can no longer burn up all the money in the world and expect to make it back, so the studio will have to find a way to fix the problem that isn’t just adding more fuel to the fire.
Even Tony Stark (or Doctor Doom) can’t fix the Marvel problem if all they know how to do is spend more and more money.
Do you think bringing in Doctor Doom will fix the MCU?