Robert Downey Jr. has been one of Hollywood's most successful actors over the past decade and he has been in some of the biggest movies to come out of Hollywood during that time. It seems almost hard to believe that his career almost ended in the late 90s before he resurrected it with the help of directors like Shane Black and Jon Favreau.
By the time Downey left the MCU franchise, he was paid more than almost anyone else in the world and was the face of Marvel on the big screen. However, it isn't just Marvel movies that Downey helped make successful. All box office totals mentioned here are pulled from The Numbers.
Tropic Thunder ($191 Million)
In 2008, Robert Downey Jr. was starting his return to the mainstream, as that is the year Iron Man hit theaters. However, it was also the year that Ben Stiller cast him in the action-comedy Tropic Thunder.
The movie has a group of actors set out to make a war movie, only to end up in real danger, none of them prepared to really defend themselves. The movie was a financial success, making $110 million domestically and $191 million worldwide.
Due Date ($211 Million)
Two years after he proved to be a leading man once again in Iron Man and one year after the proved it was not a fluke with Sherlock Holmes, Downey tried to make a comedy to mixed success when he teamed up with Zack Galifianakis in Due Date.
It is a take on the Planes, Trains, and Automobiles style of comedy, with Downey trying to get across the country for his child's birth and having to road-trip with an aspiring actor. It was Certified Rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 40% rating, but still made $100 million in the United States and $211 million worldwide.
Dolittle ($250 Million)
After he finished up his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Downey's first major movie role was in the 2020 fantasy movie Dolittle. This is a remake of the classic Doctor Dolittle from 1967, which was already remade once before with Eddie Murphy in 1998.
All the movies are based on the Doctor Dolittle books, with this movie based on the second book in the series, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle. Dolittle made $250 million worldwide but took a financial loss based on its budget.
Iron Man ($585 Million)
The lowest box office totals for an MCU movie starring Robert Downey Jr. is the first Iron Man movie. While this is the one that opened doors and allowed Marvel to begin to dominate the box office, it was still a new idea in 2008 for a world used to movies by Fox and Sony that were hit and miss, to put it best.
While Downey was still finding himself in his second-chance career and Iron Man was an unknown, the movie was still seen as a massive financial success that year.
Iron Man 2 ($621 Million)
The second Iron Man movie is rarely mentioned on the list of people's favorite movies from the MCU, but it was still a success and made more than the first, as fans wanted to see more of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark.
Iron Man 2 ended up as the third highest-grossing movie of 2010, behind Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland, making $312 million domestically and $621 million worldwide.
Spider-Man: Homecoming ($880 Million)
In 2017, Marvel got the rights to make its own Spider-Man movie, giving the franchise its second reboot and casting Tom Holland as Spider-Man. The actor got his start the year before in Captain America: Civil War but proved he could carry his own movie with Spider-Man: Homecoming.
However, the MCU hedged its bets by putting its most popular Avenger in the movie, with Robert Downey Jr. co-starring here as Iron Man. The movie ended up making $334 million domestically and $880 million worldwide.
Sherlock Holmes 1 & 2 ($1.033 Billion)
Robert Downey Jr. made two major box office franchises at the same time. While he was portraying Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was also taking on the role of the world's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, in two movies.
Both movies ranked back-to-back for Downey in terms of their box office take. The first Sherlock Holmes movie made $498 million worldwide, and the second clocked in at $535 million, putting them at over $1 billion combined.
Captain America: Civil War ($1.151 Billion)
In Captain America: Civil War, the MCU adapted a classic Marvel storyline and pitted its two most popular characters against each other.
Iron Man took the U.S. government's side and tried to force heroes to register, train, and work for the government, while Captain America fought for freedom. It was a massive success and brought in $1.151 billion worldwide, with $408 million of that coming from the United States.
Iron Man 3 ($1.215 billion)
Iron Man 3 remains a polarizing MCU film for many fans. Some hate it because of the twist concerning The Mandarin. Some love it and say that twist one of the reasons why.
Whether people loved it or hated it, there is one thing that everyone has to admit. It is the most successful Iron Man movies of all-time, based on box office take. Iron Man 3 is the only solo Iron Man movie to make over a billion dollars, finishing at $1.215 billion at the worldwide box office.
Avengers 1 - 4 ($7.752 Billion)
The top three Robert Downey Jr. movies of all-time when it comes to the box office are the four Avengers movies. They ranked first through fourth for box office take, with every single one of them topping the billion-dollar mark. The first movie in 2012 made $1.515 million worldwide, and while the second dropped off somewhat, it still finished at $1.396 billion.
Then, Avengers: Infinity War broke the $2 billion mark in 2018, and Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing movie of all-time, surpassing the previous leader (Avatar) by making $2.797 billion. Combined, the four Avengers movies made $7.752 billion, which is $1.615 billion more than every other movie on this list combined.