That salary is what Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth each earned for playing Captain America and Thor, respectively, in this year's 'Avengers: Infinity War.' 
 
 Stick around the Marvel Cinematic Universe long enough and you'll start to make real money. 
 
 Scarlett Johansson, who has appeared in six movies as Black Widow, is finally landing a $15 million payday for an upcoming stand-alone film centered on the Marvel superheroine, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. 
 
 That salary is what Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth each earned for playing Captain America and Thor, respectively, in this year's Avengers: Infinity War. Evans and Hemsworth also nabbed that same $15 million payday for Captain America: Civil War and Thor: Ragnarok, respectively, as well as the upcoming fourth Avengers film. 
 
 Marvel typically doesn't open up its wallet for first outings — Robert Downey Jr. included, as he took home only $500,000 for the first Iron Man. Johansson pulled down a low-seven figure salary for the first Avengers movie in 2012 (compared to Downey's $50 million) after making her debut in 2010's Iron Man 2. Still, Chadwick Boseman nabbed a seven-figure paycheck to star in Black Panther ($2 million, according to sources, which well tops Downey's first showing). Boseman's salary is expected to go up significantly for a Black Panther sequel. And Brie Larson, whose Oscar win for 2015's Room figures into her deals, will be paid some $5 million for next year's Captain Marvel movie (Larson landed a generous payday but in exchange signed a seven-picture deal that locks her into multiple franchises). 
 
 Although the numbers would be astronomical, even debilitating, for most studios, they make sense when factoring in the appeal of Marvel movies, now 10 years into their cinematic universe. While talent deals add up to more than $100 million of Infinity War's budget, it helps business affairs executives sleep easier knowing each Avengers movie easily crosses the $1 billion worldwide mark, with Infinity War grossing an astounding $2 billion. And Marvel typically allows its actors to share in the upside of a film, including bonuses of up to several million dollars based on the film's performance. 
 
 Multiple knowledgeable sources confirmed Johansson's Black Widow pay figure to THR. A Marvel spokesperson, in response to this story, said in a statement: "Marvel Studios disputes the accuracy of these numbers, and as a matter of policy, we never publicly disclose salaries or deal terms." 
 
 Ultimately, it appears that Evans, who announced that Avengers 4 will be his last film as Captain America, is leaving while the going is good. 

 Get it, Scar. Photo: Marvel Studios 
 
 In a just world, it’d be no surprise that Scarlett Johansson is getting paid $15 million (per The Hollywood Reporter) for her upcoming Black Widow flick, roughly the same amount that co-stars like Chrises Evans and Hemsworth earn for their individual outings. After all, she’s played the character in numerous megahit Marvel Cinematic Universe films and the solo picture will almost certainly be a license to print money. Of course, we don’t live in a just world — we live in one where women actors are paid significantly less than their male counterparts, so this news is being met with justifiable glee. What’s more, if you take a step back, this payday may be a sign that we’re moving (a little bit) closer to industry-wide parity. All it took was extensive public shaming. 
 
 In the past few years, the gender pay gap in film and television has become an object of increasing scorn. The high-profile examples have piled up: year after year, the highest-paid women actors make millions upon millions less than the highest-paid men; Mark Wahlberg made $1.5 million for All the Money in the World reshoots while Michelle Williams made less than a thousand bucks; Tracee Ellis Ross made less than Anthony Anderson on Black-ish; even Meryl Streep said she’s consistently paid less than her male co-stars. And, of course, those examples are just the tip of an underreported iceberg — one can presume such gaps are endemic. 
 
 In response to these revelations and a wider cultural climate of pushback against socioeconomic gender inequality, there’s been a growing call to end these disparities. Media outlets have made uneven pay a primary and very public target. Advocacy organizations like like Time’s Up have regularly put the spotlight on this once-hidden secret of filmed entertainment. Individuals like Ellen Pompeo have made it a mission to raise awareness and push for equality. It’s a top-line issue in a way it never had been. 
 
 Marvel and Disney higher-ups like Kevin Feige, Bob Iger, and Alan Horn have surely watched with growing nervousness as the clarion call has risen in volume. At this point, it would have been a scandal if it had been revealed that ScarJo was raking in significantly less than her fellow Marvel icons (though she’s still behind Robert Downey Jr., but he’s a bit of a special case at Marvel due to his perceived indispensability and uniquely powerful draw for audiences). The House of Mouse would’ve had so much explaining to do that it may not have been worth the penny-pinching. Could it be that sunshine was a primo disinfectant? The struggle is hardly over, but if the anger continues to rise, the chasm may continue to close.
– Scarlett Johansson, already the world's highest-paid actress, according to Forbes, is going to be paid a cool $15 million for starring in the first standalone Black Widow movie, sources tell the Hollywood Reporter. It's good news for gender parity as well as Johansson's bank account: $15 million is what her Avengers co-stars Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth reportedly received for playing Captain America and Thor in the latest Avengers film as well as their own standalone movies. A Marvel spokesperson says the company "disputes the accuracy of these numbers," but it never publicly discloses salaries. Abraham Reisman at Vulture believes the pay gap is closing due to "extensive public shaming" of studios for paying women far less than their male counterparts.