Marvel Studios Bets Big On Cheap Nostalgia, Reportedly Spend Almost $200 Million Just To Bring Back Russo Brothers, Robert Downey Jr. For ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ And ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’
According to a new report, Marvel Studios’ decision to bring back the Russo Brothers and Robert Downey Jr. for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars is turning out to be just as expensive as it is absolutely desperate.
As announced during the studio’s July 27th panel at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con, in fully abandoning the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s original plans for the time-traveling villain following actor Jonathan Majors’ conviction for assault, the next two Avengers films will now see Earth’s Mightiest Heroes fighting to save the multiverse not from Kang the Conqueror, but a Robert Downey Jr.-portrayed Doctor Doom.
Further, Marvel Studios also revealed that joining Robert Downey Jr. in his MCU return would be Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame directors Anthony and Joe Russo, as well as co-writer Stephen McFeely, the three of whom had been hired to try and recreate their previous success on both the newly-renamed Avengers: Doomsday and the previously confirmed Avengers: Secret Wars.
“If we’re going to bring Victor Von Doom to the screen — he is one of the more complex characters in all of comics … this is potentially one of the more entertaining characters in all of fiction,” Russo told panel attendees, per a recap provided by Variety. “If we’re going to do this, then we are going to need the greatest actor in the world.”
And though Marvel Studios ostensibly presumed that the quartet’s (and particularly Downey Jr.’s) return reignite excitement in the once-beloved franchise, it instead fell flat with most everyone outside of the most dedicated MCU consumers.
Bringing back the actor who arguably defined the MCU after previously sending him off with one of the most honorable deaths of the entire franchise? Tapping three of the four behind-the-camera-creatives responsible for the MCU’s biggest box office wins at a time when its interest and profits are on a sharp and constant decline? Throwing away one of the most iconic villains in all of fiction for a cheap, key-jingling cameo meant to so blatantly appeal to audiences’ nostalgia? Most audiences took these moves not as a sign that the franchise was on track to reclaiming its former glory, but rather that as confirmation that it was all-but-officially on its last legs.
And far from just PR disaster, this lukewarm reception to their new Avengers plans could also end up costing Marvel Studios a pretty penny, as the higher-ups have reportedly spent bet big on their nostalgic Hail Mary play.
Per insider sources who allegedly spoke to Variety‘s Taitana Siegel, Marvel Studios has spent $80 million to bring the Russos back for both films and “significantly more” for Downey Jr.
Further, said sources also informed Siegel that “The Russos’ deal doesn’t include back-end compensation, but it does contain performance escalators that kick in at the $750 million and $1 billion thresholds.”
Conservatively estimating that the Iron Man/Doctor Doom actor is receiving at least what the Russos are making, this means the price tag for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Endgame already sits at a whopping $160 million minimum – and again, that’s not even factoring in Downey Jr.’s “significantly” higher pay grade.
Given that the film’s budget is already this high without factoring in such other expenses as other cast members’ salaries, production budgets, and marketing campaigns, it’s clear Marvel Studios is looking to their next two Avengers outings to bring the franchise back from the brink of death.
Suffice to say, if they want this bet to pay off, they better hope they have something better up their sleeve than cheap callbacks.
At current, the first of Marvel’s next two ensemble films, Avengers: Doomsday, is set for a May 2026 release date.
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