Credit: Marvel StudiosNews of Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe has sparked massive backlash – and not just because he’s no longer playing Iron Man.
During his 11 years as Tony Stark, Downey Jr. established himself as the MVP of the MCU, not only leading its first installment but serving as the focal point for the Avengers through the entire Infinity Saga.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, including Downey Jr.’s superhero tenure. The actor bowed out of the MCU five years ago in Avengers: Endgame (2019), sacrificing himself to destroy Thanos (Josh Brolin) and save the universe.
In the years since, there have been rumors aplenty that Marvel will eventually bring back Downey Jr. These rumors only grew as the studio struggled to recapture the same cultural importance post-Endgame, with some theorizing that the Multiverse Saga will climate with an alternate version of Tony Stark reuniting with his fellow former Avengers, including Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland).
At last weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con, however, it was confirmed that Downey Jr. will not be donning the Iron Man suit any time soon. He will, however, still be returning to the MCU – but as Doctor Doom.
Nearly two decades after he was first linked to the role for the lackluster Fantastic Four (2005), Downey Jr. is finally getting a chance to slip into a very different mask. This time around, he’ll be the big-bad of two Avengers movies – Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027) – for which he’ll take home a pretty hefty payday.
A payday worth over $80 million, to be precise.
As per Variety, Downey Jr. is getting “significantly more” than $80 million (which happens to be the payday for returning Avengers directors Anthony and Joe Russo). His compensation will also apparently perks such as private jet travel, dedicated security, and a whole “trailer encampment.”
There’s no sugarcoating the fact that this is a lot of money. A heck of a lot of money. For context, the entire budget of Iron Man (2008) was $140 million, which is less than twice the lower end of Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom salary. Considering the conversation around low salaries for writers and SAG actors in recent years, this isn’t exactly the easiest pill to swallow.
On X (formerly known as Twitter), responses to the news have been fierce. While some are unhappy about Downey Jr.’s return for other non-salary-related issues (which we won’t get into here), others have made very valid points about the sheer size of this number.
As user @i_am_no_pilot pointed out, “Downey Jr’s paycheck could cover the minimum SAG salary for 1,000 leading role actors. he is absolutely paid too much.”
downey jr's paycheck could cover the minimum SAG salary for 1,000 leading role actors. he is absolutely paid too much.
— owns an orange hat (@i_am_no_pilot) July 31, 2024
While some have pinned the blame on Disney for offering or agreeing to this number, a huge number of fans are outraged by Downey Jr. accepting this payday. “Robert Downey Jr. showed he has no conviction & is as greedy for that Disney money as the next actor,” said @AyanTheAlien. “The man killed his own legacy in my eyes.”
Meanwhile, @ts_bjwld wrote: “Robert Downey Jr. is just greedy as hell. Someone needs to snatch that Oscar from him.”
Robert Downey Jr. was always going to command a huge salary to return to Marvel. It’s no secret that his name is a huge draw for superhero fans, and it’s no surprise that Marvel would fall back on old habits to revive the franchise in its time of need (although, considering the numbers for Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), whether or not it needs reviving is debatable).
To worsen the taste in your mouth, it’s pretty bad form for Marvel to acquiesce to pay Downey Jr. over $80 million when just a few years ago, it came out guns blazing and called Scarlett Johansson “callous” for taking legal action over her $20 million salary for Black Widow (2021).
Originally due for a theatrical release, Johansson was supposed to receive backend profits from the box office – something that went out the window when Disney chose to release it to Disney+.
The crux of the matter is, like @arvofart said, “Nobody wants to make a big deal about it, but movie stars make too much money. Nobody should be paid $1 million for a single movie, let alone $80 million.”
I will repeat it until I’m blue in the face… I made $12.50 an hour working 70+ hours a week on Black Panther Wakanda Forever… went up to $14 on Blade v1.0…
I will repeat it until I'm blue in the face… I made $12.50 an hour working 70+ hours a week on Black Panther Wakanda Forever… went up to $14 on Blade v1.0… https://t.co/ggKTWik5lM
— Tyler Scruggs (@tylerscruggs) July 30, 2024
Robert Downey Jr. has already earned between $500 million and $600 million for his appearances in 10 movies across the Infinity Saga. In a world where other members of production are earning as little as $12.50 per hour, there’s no way to justify that figure.
Do you think Robert Downey Jr. deserves over $80 million to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe?