10 Behind-The-Scenes Stories That Will Change How You View Marvel Studios

2. They're A More Frugal Company Than You Might Think

While they may have started out above a Mercedes dealership, you would think that Marvel's box office success would change just how careful they are with money, right? There are a lot of stories about how Perlmutter cuts costs, and when Marvel moved to the Disney lot in Burbank, it's been reported that the CEO declined to upgrade the company's worn furniture. It's even been claimed that he's taken umbrage with reporters being given more than one can of drink at junkets, and while this might sound silly on the surface, it could also be argued that these are the decisions of a smart man good at making money. Those multi-picture deals are also a way of cutting costs, and Marvel has been known to pay actors very little for their first appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At one point, Robert Downey, Jr. actually had to step up and campaign for his co-stars to get pay increases. On the TV side things aren't much different; actors are signed up for seven years and possible movie appearances.