While Avengers: Endgame may have signalled some emotional goodbyes to fan favorites when it opened over the weekend, there is still a standalone Black Widow movie in the works over at Marvel once Phase 4 kicks off. Although the new line-up hasn’t yet been officially confirmed by the studio, it looks like Scarlett Johansson may be picking up a bigger paycheck for her first solo outing then earlier reports have projected.
The Black Widow actress might be earning a whopping $20 million range for starring and producing in her own Marvel flick. This is quite the jump from last year’s forecast of $15 million she was said to be receiving. Scarlett Johansson has come quite the way from her over $1 million she made for 2012’s Avengers.
The paycheck would eclipse Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans’ earnings of $15 million for their solo films Thor: Ragnarok and Captain America: Civil War. The two actors also reportedly made the same sum for Infinity War and Endgame.
Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow reported pay would also be significantly higher than Robert Downey Jr’s 2008 Iron Man first outing of $500,000, Chadwick Boseman’s $2 million and Brie Larson’s $5 million Captain Marvel earning. The difference here is Scarlett Johansson is already an established MCU character who has starred in seven other flicks from the studio, whereas these other lump sums were given for first appearance roles.
No other salary will likely top that of RDJ’s, who makes money on the backend of Avengers movies.The Hollywood Reporter projects the actor walked away with at least $75 million after the success of Infinity War and Downey also apparently received $5 million a day for three days as Iron Man on 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The Black Widow movie that has started assembling a cast that could include Stranger Things’ David Harbour, Fighting With My Family’s Florence Pugh and The Favourite’s Rachel Weisz, will be directed by Cate Shortland and written by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson.
According to David Harbour, the movie may start shooting this June, making it awfully likely that Black Widow will be one of the earlier Phase Four releases. Many speculate we’ll be seeing it on the big screen in 2020, though all Marvel announcements are on hold until Spider-Man: Far From Home hits theaters in July.
The actress’ shot at her own Marvel flick has certainly been a long-time coming, as it’s been almost a decade since she first made her appearance as Natasha Romanoff in 2010’s Iron Man. Avengers: Endgame broke just about every box office record in the book with its recent $1.2 billion global opening weekend. Fans may have a similar anticipation coming into Black Widow, so Johansson’s projected $20 million looks like a fair paycheck.
