After winning an Oscar, you can do anything (well, almost anything). So, at some point, we can assume that Robert Downey Jr. was on the hunt for another project when Marvel scooped him up before he could even consider another Doctor Dolittle installment. And they were prepared to offer him a lot of money to return to the MCU, of course, as a different doctor.
Variety reports that Marvel shelved out $80 million for Anthony and Joe Russo to return to the MCU for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. This comes after they cost Amazon nearly $200 million for Citadel reshoots. They needed to make that money back somehow!
That’s not all: the source also claims that Downey Jr. was offered “significantly more” for his appearance as Doctor Doom in the two upcoming flicks. For comparison, he reportedly racked up a measly $75 million each for Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. For his Oscar-winning role in Oppenheimer, one of the biggest films of 2023, he was given an estimated $4 million.
The move is quite perplexing, but makes more sense if you consider the fact that RDJ seems to like having fun and making money. According to Variety, he was only willing to return if the Russos returned, which they obviously did as a “break in case of emergency” move.
For all of his Iron Man appearances in the MCU, Downey Jr. reportedly made close to $500 million and $600 million. With that money, he could very well make three more Dolittle sequels, assuming the animals are up for it.
Filming for the next Avengers movie is slated to start next fall.
(Via Variety)
