Since the events of Avengers: Endgame, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has revealed storylines arguably more shocking than the blip. For instance, the MCU has repeatedly explored the idea of multiverse in recent months, first hinting about in Loki before tackling the possibility some more in Spider-Man: No Way Home and of course, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
At the same time, the MCU has also introduced several other new superheroes and other Marvel characters since launching its Phase Four. Throughout all these, however, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor have remained the MCU’s key players. And with both A-listers releasing their latest standalone films in 2022, one can’t help but wonder which star is set to earn more.
Benedict Cumberbatch Is Releasing His ‘Doctor Strange’ Sequel Following ‘Spider-Man'
The last time fans saw Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange, he tried to help out Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and unleashed an entire multiverse as a result. In his latest standalone film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the star deals with the multiverse again and this time, the situation appears to be more dire than ever. That said, it had been a thoroughly enjoyable experience for Cumberbatch, nonetheless.
“He’s not just learning a lot as the Strange we know now, but he’s picking up and learning from all these other alterations that he has experienced over this film,” the actor explained. “So it was good for him, good for me, fun exercises as an actor, a difficult challenge, but a really relishable one.”
In the lead up to its release, there’s also been a lot of buzz surrounding the movie (including that persistent rumor that Tom Cruise would suit up as Superior Iron Man). And it seems, this helped propel the Doctor Strange sequel to an estimated $187 million opening weekend in North America. Moreover, to date, it is believed that the film had already hauled in as much as $450 million worldwide.
As the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness continues to show in theaters, it also seems that Cumberbatch will watching the movie’s box office performance more closely. After all, it seems the Oscar nominee agreed to a relatively low upfront salary of $7.5 million in exchange for a box office bonus that can potentially exceed his initial fee.
Following The Success Of ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ There Are High Hopes For Chris Hemsworth’s ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’
Hemsworth latest movie, Thor: Love and Thunder, is set to be released just a few months after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Since the film was announced though, fans just couldn’t stop talking about it. For starters, Taika Waititi has returned to direct Thor’s latest adventure saga (which appears to involve several Guardians of the Galaxy). At the same time, everyone can’t wait to see Oscar winner Natalie Portman transform into the female Thor.
Surprisingly, however, this wasn’t always the plan essentially. “I didn’t know we were going to use the storyline of the Mighty Thor character until we started working out the actual story,” Waititi explained. “I was writing and it was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be kind of cool to bring Jane back into the storyline?’”
As they worked on the film, it also became clear that Portman can also go toe to toe with Hemsworth as far as humor was concerned. “Natalie’s really funny in real life,” Waititi remarked. “She’s kind of goofy and has got a great sense of humour, and I don’t think that was exploited enough in the first films.”
At the same time, it is also worth noting that the upcoming Thor movie is more star-studded than ever before. Aside from the appearance of several MCU stars, it will also mark the debut of Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher and Russell Crowe as Zeus. In addition, stars such as Sam Neil and Melissa McCarthy are also set to make an appearance.
That may well explain part of the film’s $185 million production budget. Aside from the movie’s A-list appearances, the Thor sequel also reportedly allotted a generous $20 million salary for its main star. Unlike in the cast of Cumberbatch, it is unclear if Hemsworth stands to earn from the future movie’s expected backend profits.
That said, it is believed that the actor received a share of backend earnings following Avengers: Endgame’s $2.798 billion worldwide gross. Hence, it stands to reason that Hemsworth would secure a similar deal for his latest Thor movie.
Meanwhile, beyond their latest solo films, it’s safe to say that Cumberbatch and Hemsworth will continue to star in the MCU well beyond Phase Four. In fact, Hemsworth, for one, wants to stay as long as possible. “As long as they’ll have me, I’ll turn up, but I feel like they might be waning that kind of enthusiasm for me,” the Aussie star said.
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