Marvel fans are flooding to social media to weigh in on Robert Downey Jr.’s alleged pay package for his return as Doctor Doom compared to another actor.
Last month at San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) it was revealed Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to take up the mantel of Victor Von Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, as well as Avengers: Secret Wars, with Joe and Anthony Russo directing.
Sources came forward claiming that the Russo Brothers are being paid around $80 million for their return and Downey Jr.’s wage was reported as ‘significantly more’.
With Downey Jr. already one of the highest-paid MCU actors, Fandomwire has since reported the Oppenheimer star is actually set to receive around a whopping $100 million for his return as Dr Doom.
And a Marvel fan took to Twitter to point out: “Angela Bassett was only paid $350,000 for her Oscar-nominated performance in Wakanda Forever, of which most of us can agree she was snubbed.
“What exactly does RDJ bring to the table that requires over 200x that amount of money?”
And it’s not taken long for people to weigh in.
Angela Bassett reportedly made around $350,000 for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Walt Disney Studios)
One Twitter user wrote: “Rdj shouldnt be getting anywhere near that amount of money and shouldnt be anywhere near that character but ‘what does he bring to the table’ is crazy considering he was the main character for when the mcu really took off and has won an oscar too if u wanna go there.”
“Only 350k wtf?! I thought she would be paid millions by now,” another added.
The original user continued explaining that they ‘have a hard time conceptualizing this much money’.
They also noted they’re not questioning how ‘talented’ Downey Jr. is but thinks there ‘are many actors out there who have missed out on an opportunity to breath new life into this franchise instead of banking on RDJ’s history with the franchise’.
However, another user argued: “The entire MCU became a thing because of his performance in 2008s iron man.”
And a fourth wrote: “She was on screen 23 mins of a 2hr & 41 min movie. She got paid $15.2k per min. RDJ was on screen 53mins in the first iron man and made $500k.
“That’s about $9.43k per minute. She was higher paid (hrly rate) for this role than RDJ was originally paid as iron man. Just sayin.”
And Bassett may’ve actually raked in a bit more than $350,000 for her role in the Black Panther sequel anyway.
Robert Downey Jr. initially starred as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the MCU (Paramount Pictures)
While Cosmopolitan cites reports that Bassett ‘made $350,000 for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,’ Money Inc draws on reports that alleged ‘most of the high-profile actors in the movie made between $1 million – $2 million’.
Either way, even if Basset did earn $1 million, that would still be around 100 times less than Downey Jr’s alleged paycheck. And if she took home $2 million, that’s still 50 times the difference too.
However, as one Marvel fan resolved: “There would be no MCU without him. He is literally the entire reason why Marvel movies make billions of dollars.
“Angela Bassett was great, but Marvel fans around the globe are not going to see comic book movies because she’s in it.”
UNILAD has contacted Marvel, Robert Downey Jr. and Angela Bassett’s representatives for comment.
