MCU: 10 Fascinating Facts Behind Iron Man (2008)

4. Robert Downey Jr Was Basically Paid Peanuts

Because of his profile before he was hired for Iron Man, Kevin Feige and Jon Favreau had to fight to get Robert Downey Jr hired for Tony Stark. Favreau actually felt that his personal experience made him the perfect candidate because some of his life mirrored Tony Stark's,

He was a bargain, but he was also difficult to ensure because of his past addictions, which meant that Marvel were able to hire him for just $2.5 million with add-ons based on performance. That's absolutely nothing compared to what he was later paid (including $50m for The Avengers).

He wasn't even the highest-paid on the film (or the first cast): that was Terrence Howard, who was paid $3.5m on the back of his rising profile.