Chris Hemsworth's Net Worth Proves His Superpower Is Making Massive Movies

Everyone who thinks Chris Hemsworth is the superior Chris, raise your hand! The debate of "who's the best Chris?" may be ongoing, but Thor star Chris has all the rest beat in one regard: his paycheck.

According to a Forbes list of the highest-paid celebrities in the world, Chris has raked in $76.4 million in the past year alone! It's no surprise what the bulk of those earnings come from: his role as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Chris first joined the superhero franchise for 2011's Thor, and at the time, he was a relative unknown; his most recognisable role was as First Officer George Kirk, James T. Kirk's doomed father in the prologue of the 2009 Star Trek movie.

Chris's paycheck has steadily increased over the eight years he's played the god of thunder. Business Insider reports that his first paycheck in the series, for 2011's first Thor movie, was $150,000. As time went on, though, he began earning bigger and bigger paychecks. Chris has appeared in three standalone Thor movies and four Avengers ensemble movies, making him one of Marvel's original "big three" along with Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans; all three men had three standalone films and appeared in all four Avengers movies (plus a couple other crossover appearances on Downey's part).

By the time Thor: Ragnarok rolled around in 2017, Chris was rolling in the dough. According to The Hollywood Reporter, his salary for Ragnarok was a whopping $15 million — for those keeping score, that's 100 times his original paycheck six years earlier! On top of that, he made the same amount for Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and again for Avengers: Endgame. Forbes reports that Chris's salary is just base pay, too: he also gets a percentage of the profits. While that exact percentage is unknown, it's probably a nice little bonus, given that Avengers: Endgame just became the highest-grossing movie of all time! Chris reportedly recently extended his contract with Marvel for an unspecified number of films, of which Thor: Love and Thunder will be the first (and the first Marvel superhero to get a fourth standalone movie), so Chris can definitely rely on more millions from Marvel in the future.

Although his role as Thor is, by far, the biggest contributor to Chris's income, there are other projects that have netted him some major cash, too. He had a supporting role in the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters and led this Summer's Men in Black: International alongside Thor costar Tessa Thompson. Both movies, presumably, allowed him to command a fairly large paycheck, although not as large as Marvel's, of course.

Like many actors, Chris supplements his acting income with other projects, most notably endorsement or brand ambassador deals. Forbes notes that he has "seven-figure endorsement deals" with the menswear brands Hugo Boss and Tag Heuer. Putting all this together, Chris comes in at No. 24 on 2019's list of top-paid celebs, just between basketball star Stephen Curry and rapper Drake. He's the second-highest-paid actor on the list, behind only Dwayne Johnson and ahead of Avengers costars Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson. He and Marvel both took a big gamble on each other when superhero movies weren't yet such a huge thing, and it looks like things have worked out great for both!