The Salares for “Avengers: Age of Ultron” Were Released And The Results Are Surprising

We at Hello Giggles love us some female superheroes, and Scarlett Johansson’s take on Black Widow is no exception. So when we learned that the salaries for Avengers: Age of Ultron were released today we prepared ourselves for the worst. After all, it’s no secret that Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man is the highest paid actor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while poor Black Widow has yet to get her own movie, despite being a pivotal member of the Avengers.

So imagine our surprise when we read that though although RDJ does take home the highest paycheck of $40 million for Age of Ultron, ScarJo took earned the second largest paycheck of $20 million. Of course, this is still half of what Robert Downey Jr. earned, which may seem kind of unfair considering the fact that ScarJo appears so frequently in the Marvel universe movies, with roles not just in the Avengers film but in the Iron Man and Captain America films, as well. And yet, the third highest-paid actor for Age of Ultron was Chris Evans as Captain America,  clocking in at $6.9 million. Yes, that means he’s making $13 million less than Scarlett, which isn’t as big a gap as the one that exists between RDJ and ScarJo dollar-signs-wise, but is actually a greater gap percentage wise, so make of that what you will.

And, just in case you’re curious re: what the rest of the Avengers netted for Ultron, here’s how the rest of those salaries broke down: Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye ranks just below Captain America with $6.1 million, then there’s Chris Hemsworth as Thor at $5.4 million, and last (but NEVER least), Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk at $2.8 million.

We’re hoping ScarJo’s rising paycheck is a sign that the Marvel producers are realizing the importance of the one female lead’s role in a franchise that only seems to gain in popularity.

We must admit, we are pumped about the rising wage transparency in the film industry. Stats like these promote healthy discussions and allow us to use concrete facts to assess the fairness (or unfairness) of an actor’s paycheck. Now we have the means to ask producers and studios questions we might not even know to ask!

And, real talk, all these stars are getting raises come Infinity Wars-times, and we hope that Scarlett’s earnings will reflect how crazy-valuable she is to her franchise.

Related:

The World’s Highest Paid Actor List reveals the crazy-sexist wage gap that exists in Hollywood

[Image via Marvel]