Robert Downey Jr. shocked Marvel fans when he announced at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend that he was not returning to the MCU as Iron Man, as he had previously teased, but in the new role of Phase Six supervillain Victor von Doom, or "Doctor Doom."
The 59-year-old actor, who first auditioned for the role in 2005's Fantastic Four, will make his debut as Doctor Doom is the upcoming 2026 film Avengers: Doomsday, followed by 2027's Avengers: Secret Wars. And Marvel Studios is paying a pretty penny to bring their leading man back into the fold.
Variety reports that Marvel is shelling out $80 million for Anthony and Joe Russo, who are teaming back up to direct the two tentpole movies. The Russo brothers previously directed Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), two of the studio's most successful movies. However, while Downey's exact salary has not been disclosed, Marvel is reportedly offering "significantly more" than the Russos $80 million payout for him to take on the villain.
But that's not all. Other perks of Downey's deal allegedly include travel with a private jet, a dedicated security team, and what is being described as a "trailer encampment."
The studio is clearly trying to get back to the golden days of the MCU after some recent misfires with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels, which both came out in 2023 to middling box office numbers. Not to mention, the assault conviction of Jonathan Majors forced Marvel to scrap any future plans for the villain Kang and rewrite upcoming scripts that featured the character.
Per one source who is "knowledgeable" on the matter, Downey is easily the highest-paid actor in the MCU to date, having earned roughly between $500 million and $600 million for the 10 movies he's appeared in so far. In addition to four Avengers movies and three Iron Man standalone films, the newly-minted Oscar-winner has also made cameos in The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Civil War, and Spider-Man: Homecoming.
