“Steel c…”: How Iron Man stopped Marvel from freeing Thor and Black Widow

When it came to expanding the stand-alone superhero blockbuster into a megafranchise in 2008, following the massive success of Iron Man, Marvel officials said from the start that they would not hesitate to fire actors if some began to make demands — especially salaries — too high.

Avengers: Age of Ultron was coming up with a feud that was particularly heated, with Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson on the verge of being fired unless Iron Man himself intervened.

As Espinof and FilmStarts report, the reason for the conflict was that Marvel didn’t pay actors very well at the start of the MCU — with the exception of Robert Downey Jr., who already enjoyed some popularity in Iron Man. By that time, the real stars of the project were above all the characters, not yet the actors who played them. Thus, some were only paid $200,000 for their role in The Avengers (2012), while Robert Downey Jr. earned 250 times more, namely $50 million for the same project, according to Deadline’s source.

A similar situation happened two years earlier during negotiations for Iron Man 2: Terrence Howard had to give up the role of War Machine to Don Cheadle after he asked for too much money for the sequel. Later, the actor even sued Robert Downey Jr., because, according to him, his royalties were reduced to pay the star’s excessive salary.

Iron Man to the rescue

If Robert Downey Jr. didn’t side with the employee at the time, it’s a different story when Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson found themselves in conflict with Marvel and refused to sign a new contract unless their salary increased. On the one hand, Chris Hemsworth’s team claimed that the actor had already been paid $5 million for Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) and had no problem continuing to work with him. Universal or Marvel refused to change their minds. Scarlett Johansson, on the other hand, has clarified that she won’t be returning to the MCU for quite some time.

Finally got a better deal for the cast…thank you Robert Downey Jr. please! The actor actually convinced the studio to consider his offers, taking the role of leader and older brother in the hot seat of his co-stars. In this regard, an insider source commented to Deadline in 2013:

He is the only one with real power in this situation. And it also has a steel c…. He’s already sent a message that he’s not going to work for a company that treats its employees like crap.

In the end, all’s well that ends well, and Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth both returned to the project and have since largely proven themselves essential to the franchise. Scarlett Johansson did not hesitate to defend her rights later, suing the studio for breach of contract during the release of Black Widow (2021). The bitter dispute was settled out of court, but the actor said shortly afterwards that it was important that someone like him avoid this kind of abuse. Just like Robert Downey Jr. did before him.

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