The whopping amount of cash that Robert Downey Jr's return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to earn him has just been reported - and let's just say, people are not happy about it at all.
Now, when we first heard that the actor, who is best known for his role as Iron Man in the iconic Marvel franchise, was set to make a return to the MCU, we were all left brimming with excitement.
Despite being known as one of the "good guys" in the superhero world, his new role sees him take on an entirely separate character who has more villainous tones than the character we're used to seeing him play.
Downey announced his return alongside the Russo brothers by unmasking himself as Doctor Doom onstage at Comic-Con, much to the delight of the fans in attendance.
However, the online reception was slightly crueler, with many pointing out that his return deal allegedly included a private jet, a private security team, and a “trailer encampment,” as per a new report published by Variety.
Sources also stated that the 59-year-old is set to make more than $100 million for this new venture, a fact that other fans aren't pleased about.
"On one hand, good on RDJ for securing the bag of the century. On the other hand, this makes Bob Iger and co proclaiming poverty last year during the strikes more laughable/indefensible. If you can shell out $80M+ for one person, why couldn't you meet SAG's reasonable demands?" wrote one user on X, while another added: "Something stupid like half of all regular TV and Film workers are unemployed right now, and those of us who are working have had our rates cut and our hours increased to even more unsafe levels, but RDJ gets $80mil plus whatever else he wants lmao, this industry is so f*****."
Tyler Scruggs, a costume production assistant who worked on projects such as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, also chimed in on the conversation and recently went viral on the platform after he opened up about the rates he was paid for working in Marvel jobs.
However, he received a lot of backlash, with many pointing out that he's not famous enough to be asking for more.
Speaking to Yahoo! Entertainment, he said that he’s been keeping track of the backlash he’s received for the post stating that he knows he’s “not Robert Downey Jr.”
“I know he gets butts in seats,” Scruggs told the outlet. "Even a low-paying job brought some level of prestige. It looks good on a resume, but I can't eat or pay for my health care. I've never been at such a rock bottom in my life."
As a self-proclaimed "Marvel fanboy," Scruggs said that the role was “an honor and a dream” at first, but a few parts of the job make some days extremely difficult to get through.
"Walking around the offices was like [being part of] a DVD special feature — I’m walking by all these iconic costumes every day with the greatest people in the world to ever do it," he said. "But it’s hard to get berated over getting a Sweetgreen order wrong... when you’re making $800 per week when [someone else] is making $10,000."
The costume design assistant also opened up about the fact that some people forget how much work goes into making a vision come to life.
“There's a deeply held belief by so many that there’s just one visionary or genius behind things, and they're unwilling to recognize or respect all the fingerprints that are actually on what we consume every day,” Scruggs continued before going on to note that "[the experience] ended up being a nightmare because the people making decisions at the top don’t consider how they affect the people at the bottom."
