Robert Downey Jr and Russo Brothers may be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Avengers franchise, but they're making sure that they draw hefty pay cheques. A report by Variety states that Joe and Anthony Russo are even co-producing the next two Avengers movies with Marvel Studios under their production house AGBO Films, in a rare co-production deal for Marvel.

Russo Brothers' pay cheque

Marvel is reportedly paying $80 million to Russo Brothers to direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. “The Russos’ deal doesn’t include back-end compensation, but it does contain performance escalators that kick in at the $750 million and $1 billion thresholds,” the report states. Russo Brothers pulled in a combined collection of $4.85 billion for their last two directorials for Marvel – Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Robert Downey Jr's compensation

Robert Downey Jr is getting paid “significantly more” than $80 million, the amount Russo Brothers have secured. In fact, his caveat to Marvel was to get Russo Brothers to direct the movies. The report quotes a source close to the dealmaking as saying, “They were the only ones he would work with.” Robert, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Christopher Nolan's blockbuster Oppenheimer earlier this year, also has perks like private jet travel, dedicated security and a whole “trailer encampment” in his contract.

The report also claims Robert is the highest-paid actor in the MCU as he fetched something between $500 million and $600 million for his turns as Iron Man aka Tony Stark in the four Avengers movies, three Iron Man films, Captain America: Civil War, and cameos in The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man: Homecoming. However, with his character's death in Avengers: Endgame, Robert is now all set to return to the MCU as the chief antagonist, Dr Doom.

The pre-production for the two Avengers movies will kick off early next year. The films will go on floors in London. While Doomsday will release on May 1, 2026, Secret Wars will hit the cinemas on May 7, 2027.