When it came to expanding the standalone superhero blockbuster into a mega-franchise MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) after the huge success of “Iron Man” (2008), those in charge of the studio decided made it clear from the start that they don’t shy away from firing actors if necessary, if they set too high (salary) requirements.
The resulting arguments leading up to the shooting of “Avengers 2: Age Of Ultron” were particularly heated. It even went so far that Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson were about to be fired if Iron Man itself had not intervened. With a clear communication to Marvel regarding the overall cost situation Robert Downey Jr. just avoid the worst.
One earns 250 times the other
One reason for the impending conflict was that Marvel didn’t pay its actors very well at the start of the MCU – with the exception of Robert Downey Jr., who had signed another “Iron Man” contract. The real stars of that time were mainly the Marvel characters and not yet the actors who embodied them. Even some stars got only $ 200,000 for the first movie “Avengers”. (with a worldwide gross of $1.5 billion).
Robert Downey Jr., who – long before the overwhelming success of the MCU – had already negotiated a profit share, received the incredible amount of about 50 million dollars for “Avengers”. That means, he earned 250 times that of some of his co-stars – and even saying that Iron Man was by far the most popular Avenger, that’s a very big difference in pay for more or less the same job. It’s no wonder Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson have asked for at least some adjustment in their fees.
Robert Downey Jr. hasn’t always stood up for his co-stars
Incidentally, it is not self-evident that Robert Downey Jr. eventually sided with his fellow players in this salary dispute. After all, two years earlier there was a similar situation with “Iron Man 2”: Terrence Howard had to relinquish his role as War Machine to Don Cheadle after asking too much money for the sequel. Afterwards, Howard even explicitly complained about the Iron Man actor, because according to him his fee only needed to be saved to cover Robert Downey Jr.’s exorbitant salary. to pay.
But apparently Robert Downey Jr. its tone has changed over the past two years: when Marvel threatened to fire Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson if they didn’t sign a new contract under the studio’s terms, the MCU poster boy sided with his co-stars.
Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t be willing to just give in to Marvel: Hemsworth had already received $5 million for “Snow White And The Huntsman” – and was now threatening Marvel to just go ahead with Universal instead. And Johansson also made it clear that she definitely wouldn’t be returning to the MCU for the mini amount.
Rescue at the last minute
Through the intercession of Robert Downey Jr. Finally, a solution acceptable to everyone was found. A Marvel insider commented on the situation in the industry magazine as follows: “He is the only one who has real power in this situation. And he also has balls of steel. He has sent word that he will not work in a place where his colleagues are treated like shit.“
Quite a few roles have already been recast in the MCU – the most famous of course being Bruce Banner’s character aka Hulk, who was only embodied in Edward Norton’s The Incredible Hulk, then Mark Ruffalo after all sorts of creative differences between the “Glass Onion: Knives Out 2” star and Marvel executives.
But the MCU with different actors for Thor and Black Widow – that would have greatly disrupted the immersion and the newcomers would probably have seemed like foreign bodies among the established Avengers for a long time…
Espinof. com