How Much Did Robert Downey Jr Make For 'Avengers 2' & 'Captain America: Civil War'?
A couple years ago, Robert Downey Jr. hinted that he might be done with superhero movies once he hit age 50. That birthday arrived this past spring, and thankfully Downey is currently filming a key role in Captain America: Civil War, leaving one more film in his latest contract with Marvel for an appearance in one part of The Avengers: Infinity War.
But Marvel Studios didn't lock down the actor who turned Iron Man and Tony Stark into a big screen icon, launching their cinematic universe, without paying a hefty price tag. In fact, Downey just landed a spot on the annual list of the wealthiest celebrities as the eighth highest paid actor, and it all came from his paychecks for Captain America: Civil War and The Avengers: Age of Ultron. How much did Robert Downey Jr make? Find out after the jump.
Forbes put together the yearly list of wealthy celebrities, and Robert Downey Jr. came in eighth place for landing a whopping $80 million payday for The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War. Here's what the finance magazine had to say about the actor:
"Iron Man Robert Downey Jr.'s earnings continue to skyrocket thanks to his roles in Avengers: Age of Ultron and the forthcoming Captain America: Civil War, for which he is commanding a reported $40 million. This year, Downey made more than any other actor and recorded his highest ever annual payday. A large portion of his $80 million paycheck comes from the backend of Avengers: Age of Ultron, which grossed $1.4 billion at the box office. Though Marvel has been accused of penny pinching when it comes to paying its stars, Downey has leveraged his Iron Man role into a bulletproof position in which the Disney-owned studio must give him a favorable deal on any movie the character appears in."
$80 million isn't quite a Tony Stark-sized paycheck, but that's undoubtedly a nice chunk of change. And considering Marvel raked in $1.4 billion at the box office for The Avengers: Age of Ultron, it sounds like it was money well spent. We can safely assume that Captain America: Civil War will also rake in some serious cash for Marvel, and when all is said and done, Downey may end up taking home even more for Civil War if he has a backend deal for some of the profits on that film too.
But Downey won't be Marvel's leading man forever. We don't know what the future holds for Tony Stark in the Marvel cinematic universe, but his turn in The Avengers: Infinity War could be his last time playing Iron Man. So hopefully Marvel will have a solid enough roster of other Avengers to keep the superhero team going strong. And then we'll see how much time passes before a new Iron Man steps up to the plate in the form of a reboot. It's inevitable.