Scarlett Johansson’s Avengers Salary Is A Small Wage Gap Victory

Score one for Black Widow. While wage disparity for male and female actors (and, you know, everyone else on the planet) continues to be a huge issue, Variety has uncovered one slightly promising bit of news. Scarlett Johansson was paid "roughly the same" salary as Avengers co-stars Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth. It's not Robert Downey, Jr. money, but it's something. While Downey, Hollywood's highest-paid actor, earned the most money for starring in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it's unclear where the film's other stars, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner, fall on the pay scale ladder. Renner's 2013 film, American Hustle, has been under scrutiny after it emerged that Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams were paid less than their male co-stars. Lawrence called out the pay disparity in a column for Lenny Letter last month. Hemsworth meanwhile, will also be paid the same as his co-star Charlize Theron in next year's The Huntsman after she lobbied for equal pay. Can we make this a trend?