Who is the wealthiest among Earth's Mightiest Heroes?
The amount Disney pays the actors portraying our favorite Marvel characters may surprise
you.
Let's take a look at just how much the actors who play the Avengers are actually worth offscreen.
At a time when the superhero genre was thought to be on its last legs, cinematically, Iron
Man opened huge and launched what would become known as Phase One, the initial slate of movies
that set the baseline for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Robert Downey Jr. has appeared in multiple MCU movies since as the eccentric billionaire
Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.
He's not quite a billionaire himself, but in Forbes magazine's list of highest paid
actors for 2018, Downey came in third, with an income of $81 million.
That includes an estimated $15 million upfront for his supporting role in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
He earned several times that amount for Avengers: Infinity War.
It's rumored that Downey was paid $200 million total for that film and its sequel, Avengers:
Endgame.
That's a long way from the reported $50 million he received for appearing in The Avengers,
and even further from the $2.5 million he was paid for the original Iron Man.
According to Chris Hemsworth, he totally blew his first audition for Thor, only to see his
younger brother Liam get callback after callback for the role.
When it eventually became clear that Liam wouldn't be cast, Chris tried again, recording
a second audition tape while on location filming Cabin in the Woods with his future Avengers
director Joss Whedon.
This time Chris nailed it, and claimed his rightful title as God of Thunder.
Forbes' list of highest-paid actors placed Hemsworth fourth in 2018, with an income of
$64.5 million.
That number includes his earnings from the blockbusters Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers:
Infinity War.
The original Thor, from Phase One, reportedly paid the actor just $150,000.
In 2018, Chris Evans finished filming his tenth MCU outing as Captain America - Avengers:
Endgame.
This entry in the Avengers series is slated to be Evans’ final appearance in the MCU,
according to multiple reports that were kinda sorta confirmed by a tweet from Evans himself.
Evans tweeted,
"Officially wrapped on Avengers 4.
Playing this role over the last 8 years has been an honor.
To everyone in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in the audience, thank you
for the memories.
Eternally grateful."
Evans leaves the role considerably wealthier than he was when he started.
He was paid $1 million for Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011, but in 2018, Forbes
listed him as the 10th highest paid actor in the world.
He reportedly earned $34 million over the preceding year, largely from portraying Steve
Rogers in Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Thanks for your service, Cap!
Scarlett Johansson has appeared in multiple Marvel films, but will finally get the largest
payday of her career with her leading role in the upcoming Black Widow standalone movie.
Johansson is reportedly set to make $15 million for her appearance, reportedly matching what
Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans received for Avengers: Infinity War.
The film is said to be set before the events of the Avengers films, and will follow a chapter
of the character's journey from Russian spy to superhero.
Johansson received a "low seven-figure" salary for her work in the first Avengers movie,
after making her MCU debut in Iron Man 2 in 2012.
Black Widow doesn't have a release date yet, but is slated to begin filming in 2019 - a
start date that would seem poised to make it the second female superhero-centered film
to be released by Marvel following Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson, which is set
to be released March 8, 2019.
Brie Larson was cast as Captain Marvel fresh off her Best Actress Oscar for 2015's Room.
Needless to say, a star of her caliber brings not only a well-known name, but an expectation
of on-screen depth to the MCU.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, speaking to Vanity Fair, said of the casting,
"Captain Marvel has powers that far surpass many of her heroic counterparts, and in order
to bring this superhero to life and make her relatable and disarming we needed an actress
with both range and humanity."
Bringing her pedigree to the role of Captain Marvel gave Larson some leverage at the negotiating
table.
She reportedly earned $5 million for the movie - a large paycheck for an opening lead vehicle
in the MCU.
It's also been reported that Larson's high-dollar deal includes a seven-picture commitment that
locks her into multiple franchises for the foreseeable future.
The MCU has steadily added star power as it's grown in scope - narratively as well as in
terms of box office - and Benedict Cumberbatch offers a distinguished example.
During the exhaustive casting process for Doctor Strange, Marvel looked at many actors
with similar levels of celebrity, ultimately passing on Ethan Hawke, Joaquin Phoenix, and
Jared Leto.
Before he landed the gig, Cumberbatch was nominated for an Oscar for his role in The
Imitation Game and was quite well known for his work on BBC's Sherlock.
Cumberbatch was reportedly paid $3.2 million for appearing in Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok,
Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
He's said to be making just under $10 million for the upcoming Doctor Strange 2, which is
scheduled to begin filming in 2019.
In 2012, Bruce Banner finally became science bros with Tony Stark in The Avengers.
But Mark Ruffalo was in a very different position entering the film, portraying a character
that had his own Phase One standalone - 2008's The Incredible Hulk - without having actually
played the role himself.
As a result, Ruffalo earned a rumored $2 million for The Avengers, and $2.8 million for Avengers:
Age of Ultron.
That salary increased for Avengers: Infinity War to a rumored $5-to-6 million.
The CGI Hulk is one of the most expensive characters to bring to the screen, but Ruffalo
earns a relatively modest payday for playing his human counterpart - at least compared
to the other Avengers.
Could a standalone Hulk film raise Ruffalo's asking price to Robert Downey Jr.'s level?
Not likely.
According to Ruffalo himself, a solo Hulk film isn't anywhere close to being a reality.
Following a D23 Panel in 2017, Ruffalo commented on the subject, putting the rumors to rest:
"A standalone Hulk movie will never happen.
Because Universal has the rights to the standalone Hulk movie and, for some reason, they don't
know how to play well with Marvel."
Ruffalo added that he only has "two or three years" before he's too old to even play the
Hulk.
Most of the Avengers signed contracts for at least six movies.
It's been said that Jeremy Renner's contract covers six films, minimum, likely with a solo
movie in there somewhere.
However, there is currently no Hawkeye or Ronin standalone film in any stage of production.
In fact, we haven't seen Renner in an MCU film since Captain America: Civil War's cliffhanger
of an ending.
Hawkeye may have been out of his league in Infinity War's cosmic-level event, but his
no-show did not go unnoticed by fans.
Kevin Feige said of the internet's interest in the glaring absence of the linchpin Avenger,
"[...] I love that people go from 'Oh, Hawkeye is just lucky to be there' to 'Oh where is
he?
He's not there?
What's going to happen?
We need Hawkeye.
We want more Hawkeye.'"
For the first Avengers film, Renner was rumored to have made at least $2 million, with a bump
up to a rumored $6 million for Age of Ultron.
We can assume that after taking Infinity War off, Renner is likely in line for another
pay raise in his hotly anticipated return to the franchise in Avengers: Endgame.
And then there's that rumored Hawkeye TV show potentially in-the-works for Disney's upcoming
streaming service, Disney+, which could see Renner-as-Barton training the next generation
of Avengers archer, and likely getting a nice payday for his troubles.
Not much is known about the details of Paul Bettany's MCU contract, but he told Jimmy
Fallon in 2015 that his voice work alone was quite profitable:
"I would work for about 40 minutes and then they would give me a huge bag of cash.
And then I would walk out like I was a thief."
He's also has joked about his jealousy of Robert Downey Jr.'s compensation.
Speaking to Hollywood Outbreak, the Vision and Jarvis actor quipped,
"I like my character, but I'd love Robert Downey Jr.'s profit participation."
Elizabeth Olsen made her MCU debut in a mid-credits sequence at the end of Captain America: The
Winter Soldier.
She's gone on to portray the Scarlet Witch in three more films and is slated to appear
in Avengers: Endgame.
Olsen has been tight-lipped about her contract with Marvel, but she's made it known that
she doesn't concern herself with the details.
Olsen told the Independent in 2016,
"I let the people that I hire do my contracts.
I would work for nothing and they know that."
Samuel L. Jackson has starred in dozens of films during his prolific career.
In total, his movies have earned just over $5.7 billion worldwide.
According to Box Office Mojo, that makes Jackson the highest-grossing actor of all time.
Jackson first appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Nick Fury in a stinger at the
end of Iron Man in 2008.
When he initially signed on to play the role of the Avengers' assembler, it was for nine
movies.
Jackson is set to play a large, digitally de-aged part in the upcoming Captain Marvel,
his ninth MCU film.
Will he re-up with another contract?
It seems likely, given that Fury is often the connective tissue in the far-flung stories
of the MCU, but so far, no details have emerged.
It's said that he received $4-to-6 million for the first Avengers film, and his long-term
contract likely had built-in modest raises.
With nine paydays under his belt, it remains to be seen how many more are in Jackson's
future with the MCU.
It should be noted that what an actor makes for each film and the details of their contract
with a given studio are often at best unverified rumors and at worst spurious speculation.
They come from lightly sourced rumors in industry trades and are often reported as gospel.
It's definitely in the studio's interest to keep the truth under wraps to protect their
negotiation power as much as possible.
But we've heard the same stories repeatedly about the way Marvel pays its stars - the
studio puts up a little collateral upfront, banking on the fact that the intellectual
property will carry the box office and set the stage for future large paydays.
Examples include Tom Hiddleston, who reportedly made $160,000 for Avengers, and Zoe Saldana,
whose base salary for Guardians of the Galaxy is said to be about $100,000 before her profit
participation bonus.
Chadwick Boseman is said to have been paid about $2 million for his starring role in
the billion-dollar Black Panther, with a well-deserved raise said to be on the way.
Chris Pratt was reported to have earned $1.5 million for playing Star-Lord in the original
Guardians, with a bump up to $5 million for Avengers: Infinity War.
Paul Rudd, another actor with a well-known body of work, may have only received $300,000
for the first Ant-Man, but his total MCU compensation is likely much, much higher.