Robert Downey Jr. signs $100 million Marvel contract for upcoming Avengers films

Robert Downey Jr. will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom in the planned Avengers titles "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Avengers: Secret Wars." Reports estimate that his new deal will pay him roughly $80‑100 million for the two projects, making him the highest‑paid actor in the current MCU phase.

The contract follows a career that began with a modest $500,000 salary for 2008’s "Iron Man" and grew to earnings of $50‑75 million per film after he secured a backend profit‑share arrangement with Marvel Studios. The upcoming films are among the studio’s most expensive, each projected to cost around $600 million.

Marvel’s chief Kevin Feige confirmed the scale of the venture, noting the extensive crossover of characters from the Avengers, X‑Men and Fantastic Four that will appear in the multiverse storyline.