How does Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson’s pay stack up against other Marvel superheroes?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe will gets its first stand-alone female superhero movie on March 8 when Captain Marvel hits the big screen. Its main star Brie Larson will walk away from the movie with more than Robert Downey Jnr, Chris Evans and Chadwick Boseman earned for their first MCU movies.
In a Hollywood Reporter profile on Larson, the trade magazine revealed Larson will earn US$5 million to star. Disney is historically stingy in paying its actors, especially their first time out of the gate in a Marvel movie, so props to Larson’s agent.
Just how tight can the studio be with its cash?
Here is what five other actors were paid during their time in the MCU:
Chris Hemsworth – US$150,000 for ‘Thor’ (2011)
It makes sense that this Chris got so little. The actor did not have many credits to his name when he came on to play Odin’s son in the first movie. But he has got leverage now. Hemsworth has been earning US$15 million pay days since Thor: Ragnarok.
Robert Downey Jnr – US$500,000 for ‘Iron Man’ (2008)
Yeah, Marvel got RDJ cheap in 2008 (following box-office milestones for the first Iron Man, Downey’s eventual pay was US$2.5 million). An Oscar-nominated actor and one of the best of his era, Downey Jnr was still repairing his career following substance abuse at the time he was cast in the movie that would launch the MCU. He has been rewarded since then, earning US$50 million for the first Avengers movie, US$80 million for Avengers: Age of Ultron, and US$10 million for the handful of scenes in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Chris Evans – US$1 million for ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ (2011)
Evans got more than his fellow Chris on his first outing because he had better name recognition when he agreed to play Steve Rogers. He had already played superhero Johnny Storm in the early 2000s version of the Fantastic Four franchise. And since Captain America: Civil War, like Hemsworth, he has been scoring US$15 million cheques.
Chadwick Boseman – US$2 million for ‘Black Panther’ (2017)
By Disney standards, starting out at US$2 million isn’t bad. And being part of one of the biggest Marvel hits of all time meant Boseman got a nice bonus. He will definitely be looking at bigger pay days playing T’Challa in the future.
Scarlett Johansson – US$15 million for Untitled Black Widow Movie (tba)
It sure was a long time coming. After seven movies (counting Endgame) in the MCU, Johansson’s character finally gets a stand-alone movie, which is in the early stages. Because of that Disney is going to give her a worthy contract. She earned a low seven-figure cheque starring in the first Avengers movie.
Moral of the story: the longer you stay in the MCU, the more you will eventually make.
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- Larson will walk away from the movie with more than Robert Downey Jnr, Chris Evans and Chadwick Boseman earned for their first MCU movies