With several months until we meet Captain Marvel, Brie Larson is pushing back on reports about how much we’ll get to see her superhero on the big screen.
As part of a larger look at the salaries of actors portraying superheroes at Marvel Studios, the Hollywood Reporter wrote that Larson was said to have signed a seven-movie deal that includes appearances in several franchises with Marvel and was paid around $5 million to star in Captain Marvel.
After the MCU News & Tweets account posted about the report, Larson debunked it on Twitter.
Counterpoint: this is not true https://t.co/aDlKZu8Rqo
— Brie Larson (@brielarson) October 11, 2018
MCU News & Tweets deleted its tweet citing the Hollywood Reporter article but posted a screenshot it for posterity.
UPDATE: @THR's report that @brielarson signed a seven-movie deal with @MarvelStudios is FALSE.
— MCU – The Direct (@MCU_Direct) October 11, 2018
Thank you Brie for clearing this up! pic.twitter.com/D5S3XxpntT
In the same report, the Hollywood Reporter alleged that Scarlett Johansson is set to make $15 million to star in a standalone Black Widow movie, which is the same amount that Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth both made for Avengers: Infinity War. It also cited the paychecks of other Marvel stars for their first film to indicate an upward trend, including Chadwick Boseman ($2 million for Black Panther).
Marvel Studios also pushed back on the Hollywood Reporter’s article but did not give any corrections on actors’ salaries or details of the deals they had signed with Marvel.
“Marvel Studios disputes the accuracy of these numbers, and as a matter of policy, we never publicly disclose salaries or deal terms,” a Marvel spokesperson told the Hollywood Reporter.
The idea that Larson would sign a seven-movie deal might seem absurd at the forefront, but it’s not out of the ordinary for an actor joining a lucrative franchise like Marvel Studios. The original Avengers—Johansson, Evans, Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, and Jeremy Renner—all signed six-movie deals with Marvel; Sebastian Stan and Samuel L. Jackson both signed contracts with nine-movie commitments.
In the cases of Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins (who was only contracted to direct one film) and star Gal Gadot (who was contracted for three DC Comics movies with an option for a Wonder Woman sequel), the first film’s staggering success allowed them to negotiate for much larger contracts.
And while those contracts guarantee plenty of the crossovers that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for and a lot of money down the road, they can also cause some frustration from the actors who sign them.
Marvel has also been particularly cagey with the future of the MCU beyond Avengers 4 (aside from Spider-Man: Far From Home, which comes out in July 2019). Confirming just how many movies Larson signed on for might reveal how big her role in the MCU might be after Captain Marvel and Avengers 4. Pending the outcome of Avengers 4, it’s still likely we’ll see more of Carol Danvers in films to come.
READ MORE: