If you haven't noticed, superhero movies are all the rage in Hollywood these days. But of all the comic book films that are dominating the market, none are more successful than those in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (apologies to Fox's "X-Men" series and Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe). The MCU has become the gold standard when it comes to box office success, and the thinking is that all that money must trickle down to the stars themselves, right?
Everyone knows that Robert Downey Jr. is absolutely raking it in as Tony Stark/Iron Man. But who else on Marvel's roster is scoring big bucks? The salaries for "Avengers: Age of Ultron" have just been released so you can check it out for yourself.
Robert Downey Jr. -- $40 million
Scarlett Johansson -- $20 million
Chris Evans -- $6.9 million
Jeremy Renner -- $6.1 million
Chris Hemsworth -- $5.4 million
Mark Ruffalo -- $2.8 million
Big ups to Johansson, whose Black Widow is one of only two characters on the list not to receive her own solo film (the other being Renner's Hawkeye). Yet despite her lack of headlining credits in the MCU, her immense star power elsewhere is clearly important in Marvel's eyes. She's an accomplished actress and mega celebrity outside of the Marvel movie making machine, giving her a value that some of the other performers may not possess.
Plus, she is a strong, butt-kicking female and superhero movies sure could use more like her. It's also not a huge surprise to see her seoncd on the list since Johansson has popped up in a handful of other MCU films such as 2010's "Iron Man 2" and 2014's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." It's not as if her character is a newcomer in the same way that Ruffalo's is as he assumed the role for Edward Norton.
Regardless of what these numbers represent right now, it will be no surprise to seem all of these salaries rise dramatically for Marvel's upcoming two-part "Avengers: Infinity War" series coming in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
