Probably the biggest news to come out of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con was the shocking revelation that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the – not as Iron Man, the character he made iconic, but as Doctor Doom, arguably one of the greatest villains in the Marvel franchise. There’s a lot to say about this. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Why Robert Downey Jr.? Is this a fundamental misunderstanding of the charac𝓰ter on Marvel’s part? Is it too ꦏlate to integrate Doctorꦺ Doom into the franchise in any meaningful way? Is this just 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a desperate swing at nostalgia in an ill-fated attem🌺pt to keep the franchise alive? We have too many questions, and not enough answers.
There’s another piece of related news that’s going largely unacknowledged by the fans cheering and groaning at this announcement: that not only are the Russo brothers being paid $80 million to direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret W🍸ars, but RDJ is being paid “significantly more” than that to play Doom. Downey also reportedly has perks including private jet travel, a dedicated security detail, and a “trailer encampment”.
Doom Should Be The MCU's Next Loki, Not Its New Thanos
Doom should🌳n't be an event, he should be an everpresent threat.
Perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Downey Jr. is by far the highest-paid actor in the MCU, having earned somewhere between $500 million and $600 million across 11 years, multiple times more than his co-stars. Considering that Downey Jr. had only just recently freed himself from the Marvel machine an🐬d won an Oscar for his performance in Oppenheimer, proving to mainstream audiences once and for all that by jove, the man can act, I can’t really blame him for getting his bag. I would𝄹 want $80 million dollars to return to the failing, floundering franchise that’s dominated the last two decades of my filmography, too.
Ten of the 21 films Downey Jr. has been credited on since 2008, including cameos and a documentaജry about his relationꦡship with his father, were Marvel movies.
But this is an egregious amount of money even if he’s one of Hollywood’s biggest stars and facing a critical resurgence after finally being acknowledged by the Oscar machine for his talent. Marvel movies might have astonishingly massive budgets (Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Avengers: Infinity War all cost $325 million to make, before promotional costs), but $80 million is a big price tag to put on a single actor, and Downey Jr. is making more than that. You could make a𓂃n entire Marvel movie just with the amount the Russos and RDJ are being paid.
It’s obvious that Marvel is banking on these huge investments to pay off in an equally huge profit – considering that Marvel made nearly $3 billion with the last Avengers movie, it’s not entirely out of the question. But Marvel hasn’t made that much on a movie in a long time. In fact, apart from the Spider-Man movies, the franchise hasn’t had a movie break $1 billion since Endgame. Two 2023 films didn’t even break even. Deadpool & Wolverine is the first Marvel movie in years to appear to be on track to meet that benchmark, 🐽and even that isn’t a sure thing.
It’s by no means guaranteed that these films make a ton of money, especially now, when many are saying the franchise is in a distinct decline. Not only are the films not filling enough seats, but quality is dropping noticeably in other areas, especially VFX, which is growing worse due to poor 🐭working conditions and a lack of res𒉰ources. Imagine if the hundred million dollars going to these three already wealthy people was instead used to make working on a Marvel m🍰ovie sustainable for the crew.
Marvel’s VFX crew unionised in September 2023, citing a lack of protections and workers&r⛄s🎃quo; rights.
It’s hard to say how effective this expensive surprise will be. Will RDJ’s appearance make enough money to justify his cost? Marvel seems to think this high risk, high reward approach will pay off, but I&rs🎃quo;m not so sure. The announcement undeniably got tongues wagging, but fans have been disillusioned with the franchise for a long time, and they’re already calling the casting desperate and creatively bankrupt. If Marvel pulls this off,💜 they might be back in the box office game, but if not, this could be the last nail in the coffin.
It Sucks That No One Cꦆan Play The De🍌adpool Or Wolverine Games Now
With digital copies unavailable due to licensing, you'll need to shell out high preꦕowned prices for their janky magic
