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Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson will make Marvel’s highest-paid hero debut
Brie Larson has been adamant about using her celebrity as a tool for activism during her Captain Marvel press tour. And there’s no more powerful pulpit than atop a new entry into the MCU, right?
Larson isn’t simply concerned about feminism put in action through the first female-led superhero movie in this superhero universe, but in more specific and actionable ways related to diverse industry demographics, workplace treatment, and pay equality. She’s making headway in all these areas, with the latter bolstered by her own record-setting fee.
In a new story by The Hollywood Reporter, Larson was confirmed to have burst through the superhero glass ceiling — at least upon her debut. The outlet previously reported that Larson would be taking home a $5 million payday for her hero’s solo film, in accordance with a deal that would see Larson hop on board for seven films. Larson and Marvel Studios disputed the numbers at the time, but apparently they stuck, since THR continues to report them. Perhaps Marvel or Larson simply didn't want to show their hand during negotiations.
If these figures are indeed true — and since it’s Larson’s cover story it seems likely that if the numbers were still in dispute, Marvel or the actress herself would have had ample time to quash them — that would give her the highest-earning debut of any hero in the MCU. That beats out Robert Downey Jr.’s half-million salary for the first Iron Man and Chadwick Boseman’s $2 million deal for Black Panther. Those salaries, of course, only got bigger after the successes of their first movies (Downey made a cool $10 million for his few brief appearances in Spider-Man: Homecoming, for the sake of reference).
But as far as rookie numbers go — Captain Marvel’s on top.
There’s no word yet on whether Larson’s pay structure will rise astronomically like that of Downey, but in the early stages at least, Larson is finding more than parity in at least one department.
Captain Marvel flies into theaters on March 8.
