Avengers: Doomsday Director Officially Hypes Up MCU’s Most Profitable Actor (It’s Not RDJ)

Ahead of the release of Avengers: Doomsday, director Joe Russo has given compliments and praise to Marvel’s most profitable star, who is surprisingly not Robert Downey Jr.

The director recently told CBR how impressed he was with Tom Holland’s performance in Marvel movies and credited him as “the last great movie star”. The director couldn’t stop gushing about Holland’s prowess as an actor and opined that his performances are genuinely authentic.

And I think that movie is a testament to his star power. We’ve said this before, he’s the last great movie star. There’s a vintage quality to Tom Holland that feels like it comes from a time that doesn’t exist now. There’s lots of great movie stars out there, but [his] energy is different. He’s got that quality that very, very few people have had.

It is certainly without a doubt that Holland’s performance in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Spider-Man: Brand New Day has made him an iconic actor who could genuinely move people. Naturally, the actor became Marvel’s most profitable star after Brand New Day.

Tom Holland Became Marvel’s Most Profitable Star After Brand New Day

Tom Holland in a still from Spider-Man: Brand New Day | Credits: Marvel Studios

Spider-Man: Brand New Day was an iconic Marvel film that had one of the biggest openings in cinematic history. In fact, it broke Avengers: Endgame‘s record by opening with $927 million worldwide during its release!

By the third week, Spider-Man: Brand New Day had crossed the $2 billion mark globally (via Box Office Mojo). Starring in a plethora of Marvel movies, the actor has roughly earned $15.6 billion for Marvel Studios with his movies.

Naturally, this makes him the most profitable star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, aside from Robert Downey Jr. One of the quieter contributions to Holland’s collection was the worldwide collection of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and it is because of the film’s total collection of $2.5 billion that Holland was able to become the most profitable MCU star at the age of 30.

However, director Joe Russo’s words about Holland could mean several things about how his character is perceived in Avengers: Doomsday.

What This Means For Spider-Man in Avengers: Doomsday

Tom Holland in a still from Avengers: Endgame | Credits: Marvel Studios

With Joe Russo praising Holland’s performance in Marvel movies as well as the actor’s career, it does seem that Holland could just be given special importance in Avengers: Doomsday.

We do know that Holland will continue reprising his role as Spider-Man in the MCU. Naturally, with Holland coming face-to-face with Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom in the upcoming MCU movie, it might just be one of the most iconic scenes in the entire history of the MCU.

Joe Russo’s comments could also hint that Holland’s Peter Parker will make it to the end of Avengers: Doomsday and live to tell the tale when the credits roll. Of course, it all remains speculation, as nothing can be confirmed until the movie releases.

Do you agree with Joe Russo’s comments about Tom Holland? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Avengers: Doomsday will be released in theaters on December 18, 2026.