The biggest news of San Diego Comic-Con 2024 was revealed during the Marvel Studios panel on Saturday. In a massive surprise, it was confirmed that none other than Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not as Iron Man though. This time, he’s playing a villain. Not just any villain either! Downey Jr. will be suiting up as Doctor Doom in what is now titled Avengers: Doomsday. It turns out, perhaps unsurprisingly, that Disney is shelling out a lot of money to get him back.
Before SDCC rolled around, news broke that Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo would be returning to direct the next two Avengers movies. This was also confirmed by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige during the Marvel panel. According to Variety, that is all coming at a significant cost. Marvel and Disney are said to be paying the Russo Brothers $80 million for their work on the two movies. That’s roughly $40 million each. But that’s not even the craziest part.
Downey is the one who is truly walking away with a king’s ransom. The report notes that the actor, who recently won an Oscar for his work in Oppenheimer, will be making “significantly more” than $80 million for his participation. Aside from his up-front fee, RDJ will be getting a percentage of the profits, just as he did for his past work in the MCU. It’s said the actor has earned between $500 and $600 million to date for his work as Tony Stark. Downey’s new contract also includes private jet travel, security and a “trailer encampment” on set.
Meanwhile, the Russo Brothers have contract incentives should the movies make $750 million or more. What we’re looking at is probably $200 million in compensation just for the directors and one actor before any other money is spent on these two movies. Not to mention the gigantic casts that are expected, or the extensive visual effects. Infinity War and Endgame cost somewhere between $700 and $800 million combined before marketing. It seems all but assured Doomsday and Secret Wars will far exceed that total.
The cost of bringing back RDJ and the Russo Brothers
It may prove to be money well spent. Infinity War made $2 billion at the box office, while Endgame made $2.8 billion, becoming the biggest movie of all time for a short while. Combined, that’s nearly $5 billion in ticket sales alone, not to mention merchandise, Blu-ray sales, streaming revenue, etc.
Stephen McFeely, who co-wrote the last two Avengers movies, is returning to pen the screenplay for these new outings. Originally, Avengers 5 was going to be titled The Kang Dynasty, which was revealed at SDCC in 2022. That changed when Jonathan Majors was fired as Kang following an assault conviction.Excitement was palpable at SDCC when RDJ was revealed. Robed figures dressed in Doctor Doom masks took the stage and then parted to reveal Robert Downey Jr. taking off a mask to confirm he will be the one to bring the iconic villain to life. The Russo Brothers had this to say about it.
“Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves.”
Avengers: Doomsday is set to hit theaters on May 1, 2026. Avengers: Secret Wars will follow on May 7, 2027.
What do you think? Are you excited about RDJ as Doctor Doom? Are you looking forward to the Russo Brothers being back in the MCU? Join in on the conversation over on Facebook or Twitter!
