Robert Downey Jr. made around $435 million playing Marvel's Iron Man here's how he makes and spends his money

Downey Jr. didn't start his Marvel career with a big payday when he was cast as Tony Stark in 2008's "Iron Man," despite being an Oscar-nominated actor.

That's because, by then, he was publicly dealing with substance abuse. However, Marvel took a chance and paid the actor $2.5 million for the lead role.

It would mark the launch of one of the biggest franchises Hollywood has ever seen, and, for RDJ, a career resurgence.

Fast-forward four years and things are very different for RDJ.

He's not just a star again, but the face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a franchise headed by his "Iron Man" movies that have become box-office sensations.

In 2012, the MCU was going for it all with the release of "The Avengers," which would bring the biggest Marvel stars to the big screen at the same time.

But Marvel didn't get Downey Jr. cheap. The actor was paid $50 million, plus a backend percentage of the movie's profits.

Being the face of The Avengers has its perks.

With the movie taking in over $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office, RDJ took in money he'd never seen before in his career.

In fact, he topped Forbes' annual highest-paid actors list in 2013 with $75 million.

2013's "Iron Man 3" led to another big payday and, thanks to the success of the movie, backend coin as well.

It all resulted in Downey Jr. being the highest-paid actor again on Forbes' list, with $75 million.

In 2015, he took in $80 million, according to Forbes. The figure made him tops on its highest-paid actor list for the third-straight year.

Most of the income came from the base pay and backend for "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

In 2016, Downey Jr. was finally knocked off his perch as the highest-paid actor on the Forbes list. Johnson was the one to take him down.

But the RDJ money train continued to chug along as he brought in $33 million that year thanks to "Captain America: Civil War."

With $48 million, you could have thought that in 2017, perhaps the MCU party was over and RDJ was leveling off.

You'd be wrong.

Thanks to his appearance in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and being one of the main stars of "Avengers: Infinity War," Downey Jr. had a heck of a year in 2018.

Forbes listed him at $81 million, marking RDJ's highest annual pay to date.

Playing a father figure to the new Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in "Spider-Man: Homecoming earned Downey Jr. a $15 million payday.

And then with "Infinity War" being a global success with a $2 billion take, RDJ found himself with a huge paycheck plus bonuses.

Many of "The Avengers" cast got big paychecks to be in one of the biggest box-office hits of all time, but RDJ topped them all.

Thanks to a deal with Marvel since making the first "Iron Man," Downey Jr.'s paycheck and backend increased through the years. But for "Endgame," it was astronomical.

According to Forbes, the actor had a base pay of $20 million for the movie. Because of its huge box-office success, he then took in an additional $55 million on the backend.

Downey Jr.'s journey through the MCU is one of the greatest actor success stories in Hollywood history.

Breaking down what the actor reportedly earned on each Marvel movie he starred in, Comic Book Resources calculates that RDJ made around $435 million in total.

But that number could be inflated with what exactly he took in on backend deals. Also, actors get residuals, which is annual pay for when their movies or TV shows get released on home entertainment or play on TV networks.

That means, to this day, Downey Jr. is likely still cashing big Marvel checks.

In 2013, Downey Jr. signed a two-year contract reportedly paying him $12 million to be the face of the global campaign for phone maker HTC.

Then in 2019, he signed a one-year deal to endorse Chinese phone maker OnePlus. That campaign was focused in Asia only. It's unknown what he was paid for that, but seeing Marvel's popularity around the globe, OnePlus likely wrote him a big check.

Downey Jr. likes to sport some flashy timepieces.

The star has a Rolex GMT Master II Ghost watch, which cost $25,000, a pink gold Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX3 Tourbillon watch, which cost $125,000, and a Greubel Forsey GMT Tourbillon watch, which costs $605,000.

Downey Jr. has a garage full of sweet cars, including a 1965 Chevrolet Corvette and a customized 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302.

Of course, the man who played Tony Stark would put his feet up in some amazing homes.

In New York's posh Hamptons, he owns a Windmill House — yes, literally a house with a windmill — that costs around $11.9 million.

In California's beachy Malibu, he owns a $3.8 million home.

The 3-bed, 3-bath, and 3,384-square-foot mid-century modern home sits on a cliff and has a pool, a hot tub, a fire pit, an entertaining area, and even a putting green for mini golf.

Robert Downey Jr. apparently has a shoe craving that can go up against any celeb in Hollywood.

"He has a bigger shoe collection than I do!" his "Avengers" costar Scarlett Johansson once said.

At his 50th birthday party in 2015, RDJ showed up wearing a pair of Givenchy Tyson wedged sneakers which are priced at Barney's New York stores for $1,945.

Made in Italy, the checkerboard woven leather shoes are designed with a classic high-top's round toe, padded tongue and collar, and thick outsole with Velcro ankle strap.