As the most commercially successful franchise in history, the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are always guaranteed to do big business at the box office, and as a result, the stars of the superhero series often find themselves among the highest-paid names in the industry.
Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing film ever made, so nobody was shocked when Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson all ranked among 2019’s biggest earners. However, the majority of their respective windfalls came from profit participation and performance-related bonuses, with RDJ netting a base salary of $20 million and a further $55 million on the back end.
Ryan Reynolds, meanwhile, pocketed $27.5 million for starring in Michael Bay’s 6 Underground and a further $20 million for Red Notice, and as the sequel to two blockbusters that raked in over $780 million each, he’s poised to make a figure in a similar ballpark when the MCU’s Deadpool 3 eventually arrives, and possibly even more if he retains a producing credit.
Insider Daniel Richtman reported a couple of weeks back that the actor would net $20 million for the Merc with a Mouth’s third outing, and he’s now saying that Reynolds is getting $30 million for Deadpool 4. Of course, given how slowly the next installment is crawling through development towards production, a potential fourth solo adventure is a long way away yet, and these are arbitrary figures that Reynolds tends to make anyway for the majority of his output, regardless of whether he’s suited up in spandex or not.
The single highest upfront salary Marvel Studios have ever paid to any of their stars remains the $40 million Downey Jr. scored for Captain America: Civil War, before he scooped a further $24 million in bonuses, but according to Richtman’s intel, it would appear that Ryan Reynolds and Deadpool won’t be coming cheap, either.
