Scarlett Johannsson's Black Widow has yet to receive her own stand-alone film, but her latest paycheck shows just how important the character is to the Marvel cinematic universe. A report from comicbookmovie reveals that the actress banked $20 million for her appearance in this summer's Avengers: Age of Ultron.
The figure makes Johannsson the second highest paid member of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, trailing only Robert Downey Jr's. staggering $40 million haul. Chris Evans' was third among the core cast; making around $6.9 million for his work as Captain America. Jeremy Renner's expanded turn as Hawkeye earned him $6.1 million, while Chris Hemsworth banked $5.4 million for his work as the hammer-wielding Norse god Thor. Mark Ruffalo was the lowest-paid among the principle cast; making $2.8 million for reprising his role as Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk.
The actress was the only one of her cast mates to receive a significant wage bump. According to this chart from Cinema Blend, her Age of Ultron paycheck nearly triples the figure she made for the first Avengers film. Downey's took a slight pay-cut according to the data while the other Avengers received moderate raises.
Johannsson's stature in the MCU comes as a surprise given Marvel's reluctance to market her character. Earlier in the year, the company drew flak when it was revealed that Black Widow was nixed from several lines of action figures and merchandise.
This report from comicsbeat reveals that certain Marvel higher-ups felt that female action figures wouldn't resonate with their target market.
'Among the 60 items in the featured Avengers: Age of Ultron line available on marvel.com, Black Widow shows up only four times (on a video-game starter pack, on a men's shirt, on a book cover, and on a shopping bag).' Reads the article.
