Robert Downey Jr. turns 59 this year and during his long acting career, he has been through the fire and back to be the flagship of the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe playing the role of Tony Stark, a part that fitted the actor perfectly.
Robert Downey Jr. was the flagship of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
The role of Iron Man had RDJR completely booked for more than a decade and after starring in 9 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and finally “ending” his participation in Avengers: Endgame, he participated in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a role that gave him an Oscar for best-supporting actor after playing Lewis Strauss.
Strauss was a good luck charm for Robert Downey Jr. as he also took the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, and a SAG Award, a list of accolades that did not happen with his particiaption in the MCU.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Robert Downey Jr. has a net worth of $300 million. Much of his fortune comes from working with MCU, and at one point, it made him one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood history.
RDJ’s salary grew progressively with the success of the Marvel franchise, He signed a contract for $500,000 for the first movie, which was released in 2008. After the huge success of the 2010 sequel, Robert negotiated a significant portion of the earnings every time he appeared on screen as Tony Stark or Iron Man in any Marvel movie.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, for his appearance in ‘The Avengers’ (2012), he earned $50 million. He earned $75 million for ‘Iron Man‘ (2013). In ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ (2017), Robert earned $15 million for his small appearance. At some point, Forbes had Robert Downey Jr. as the highest-paid actor in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
After having said he was done with the MCU, RDJR will return as “Doctor Doom” in an upcoming Marvel movie.
Here is a breakdown of his earnings for his role as Iron Man:
- ‘Iron Man 1 (2008): $500,000
- ‘Iron Man 2 (2010): $10 million.
- ‘Iron Man 3 (2013): $75 million.
- ‘The Avengers’ (2012): $10 million base + $40 million bonus = $50 million.
- ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015): $40 million
- ‘Captain America: Civil War’ (2016): $40 million
- ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ (2017): $15 million
- ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018): $75 million
- ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019): $75 million