Marvel’s old star-making machine is broken, and it’s paying $100M to bring stars back
aakashgupta · x · 2026-07-26
A long post argues that Marvel’s original superpower was not paying stars, but making them dispensable: it cast unknowns, locked them into long deals, and let the brand do the work.
That model has weakened. The post points to The Marvels grossing $206 million worldwide on a budget above $270 million and argues Marvel can no longer reliably manufacture new stars or guarantee openings through the logo alone. The result is a shift from “making” fame to importing it, with Robert Downey Jr. reportedly being paid over $100 million to return and Ryan Gosling cast at peak market value.
More from Companies & People
- Sundar Pichai says Google is backing open-weight AI models — rohanpaul_ai · 2026-07-26
- OpenAI Suffers Global Outage; Jensen Huang Joins X Advocating for Open AI Models — 创业邦 · 2026-07-26
- Y Combinator Startup School day 1 featured Jensen Huang, Jeff Dean and more — ycombinator · 2026-07-26
- YC Startup School 2026 drew sharp takes from Boom Supersonic and Michael Kratsios — ycombinator · 2026-07-26
- YC ships code from the floor of Chase Center during Startup School — ycombinator · 2026-07-26
- AI company “aura” on X may be an early signal of revenue — beffjezos · 2026-07-26