The Only Way Robert Downey Jr. Agreed To Return To The MCU

The shock waves were felt from San Diego to Wakanda when it was revealed at Comic-Con 2024 last Saturday (July 27) that Robert Downey Jr. would return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — only not as Iron Man, but as Doctor Doom. At the conclusion of Marvel Studios' Hall H presentation in front of thousands of fans, studio head Kevin Feige, along with returning "Avengers: Endgame" directors Anthony and Joe Russo, confirmed that the next two "Avengers" movies — "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Avengers: Secret Wars" — would pit Earth's Mightiest Heroes against one of Marvel's greatest villains.

In fact, the involvement of the Russos — who also helmed Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Captain America: Civil War," and "Avengers: Infinity War" — was reportedly the key to Downey's return. A source close to the negotiations told Variety, "They were the only ones he would work with," while an unnamed Marvel exec called Downey's reunion with the brothers — who directed him in three of their four Marvel outings — "a perfect combination of timing and everyone being on the same page."

While having the Russos back as directors was the main component in getting Downey to come back to the MCU, the Oscar-winning actor is receiving some other perks as well — including a paycheck that could buy up a nice chunk of Doom's home country of Latveria.

In addition to working with his preferred Marvel directors, Robert Downey Jr. is going to earn an astounding amount of money to put on Victor von Doom's armor and green hood. According to The InSneider, Downey will be paid $50 million per film to show up as Doom, with those figures guaranteed to increase — perhaps to as much as $100 million — based on how "Doomsday" and "Secret Wars" perform at the box office (it's not clear if Downey will also get an extra paycheck for a rumored appearance he'll make at the end of "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" to introduce the character).

Of course, huge paydays to suit up for Marvel are nothing new for the "Oppenheimer" actor. Downey earned base salaries of $20 million apiece for "Infinity War" and "Endgame," but his lucrative back-end deals — again, based on the films' box office performance — reportedly netted him $75 million each on both of those films once the dust settled (he also reportedly earned around the same for "Iron Man 3.")

In addition, Downey's contract for his "Avengers" return also includes his own private jet to travel back and forth from the production, a personal security team, and what's described as a "trailer encampment." That's not bad at all for a role that, while of major importance to the MCU, will likely have far less screen time than Downey contributed as Tony Stark.

Anthony and Joe Russo weren't Marvel's first choices to helm "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Avengers: Secret Wars." Destin Daniel Cretton was once attached to direct the former, back when it was called "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty," but exited shortly before Jonathan Majors' legal problems led Marvel to drop him as Kang the Conqueror. Recent reports suggested that Marvel had approached "Deadpool and Wolverine" director Shawn Levy about taking on both "Doomsday" and "Secret Wars," with Levy eventually declining.

So Marvel instead went after the Russos, who had said in the past that "Secret Wars" could be the one Marvel story that would bring them back after spending seven years of their lives in the MCU. But getting the Russos back wasn't an act of charity either: the brothers will reportedly be paid $40 million for each film, with additional fees coming their way should the movies hit box office benchmarks of $750 million and $1 billion. The siblings will also co-produce the films with Marvel through their AGBO production company, a rare privilege as Marvel usually keeps all its movies squarely under the Marvel Studios banner.

The bottom line? Robert Downey Jr., the Russo brothers, and Marvel Studios are all getting what they want for "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Avengers: Secret Wars." Now we'll just have to wait until May 2026 to see if audiences want it too.