April 17, 2013 
There’s nothing quite as gauche as discussing money, unless you’re Robert Downey Jr., and then you can get away with anything.
In an extremely entertaining and expectedly revealing GQ profile, Downey Jr. confirmed he received around $50 million for his work in The Avengers; a combination of his appearance fee and profit participation from the back end.
“Isn’t that crazy? They’re so pissed. I can’t believe it. I’m what’s known as ‘a strategic cost,'” he told GQ’s Chris Heath.
If you’ll recall, The Avengers brought home $1.5 billion, meaning there was plenty of ‘back end’ for Downey Jr. to take a cut from.
He also reveals in the piece his desire to leave behind the world of superheroes in three years time – at the age of 50 – and that he expects to win an Oscar at some point in his career. “That’s just a fact.”
I wonder how many others have called themselves a “strategic cost.”