Ever since the Marvel Cinematic Universe began with the release of 2008’s Iron Man, the franchise has been an absolute sensation with fans. For proof of that, all you have to is look at the fact that the MCU is the highest-grossing film franchise in history.
As fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will no doubt already know, the franchise sometimes changes dramatically from film to film. For example, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a spellbinding spy thriller, and Guardians of the Galaxy is a hilarious space adventure and those movies came out one after another.
Even though the MCU tells a lot of different kinds of stories, when fans think of the franchise they aren’t likely to think of romance first. Despite that, Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany’s Vision have become one of the most beloved MCU pairings. Since Olsen and Bettany are so closely associated these days, it begs an obvious question, which of them is worth more money?
Olsen’s Success
When Elizabeth Olsen was a child, she watched her two older sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, grapple with the demands of fame. Given the fact that the Olsen Twins seem to actively avoid the spotlight now that they are adults, it certainly appears like they didn’t enjoy a lot of aspects of stardom. Even though her sisters have likely struggled with their public personas, Elizabeth Olsen went on to take Hollywood by storm and now she is much more famous than her siblings.
After 2011’s Martha Marcy May Marlene was released and the powers that be in Hollywood saw Elizabeth Olsen’s stellar performance in the film, it didn’t take long for the roles to come rolling in. After appearing in a slew of movies during the early 2010s, including the American remake of Oldboy, Olsen got the break of a lifetime when she was cast as the MCU’s Wanda Maximoff.
After debuting as Wanda Maximoff during Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s post-credits scene, Elizabeth Olsen went on to star in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Since then, Olsen has starred in several MCU movies including Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Even though Olsen played a key role in all of those films, it wasn’t until the Disney+ series WandaVision that she truly took the MCU by storm. Now that Elizabeth Olsen is thoroughly entrenched at the center of the MCU, it only seems fitting that she has amassed an impressive $11 million fortune.
Bettany’s Lengthy Career
Like a lot of his peers, when Paul Bettany first became a professional actor it took him a few years to find his breakout role. Fortunately for fans of the British actor, he stood out on the international stage for the first time when Gangster No. 1 was released in the year 2000. A critically acclaimed film in which Bettany played the younger version of the main character, Bettany was so compelling as a mobster that his career took off overnight.
After the success of Gangster No. 1, Paul Bettany’s next role in the hit film A Knight’s Tale put him on the map with mainstream movie fans. From there, Bettany would take on a supporting role in the Oscar-winning movie A Beautiful Mind. As it turns out, starring in A Beautiful Mind would turn out to be a turning point in Bettany’s life as he met his wife while working on the film and his performance would help cement his place in Hollywood. From there, Bettany would go on to play a pivotal role in the success of several films including Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and The Da Vinci Code.
When Paul Bettany agreed to voice Jarvis, Tony Stark’s AI system, in 2008’s Iron Man, he never could have known how much that small role would change his life. After providing his voice to Iron Man 2, The Avengers, and Iron Man 3, everything would change for Bettany when Vision was created with Jarvis’ programming integrated. Since then, Bettany has physically brought Vision to life in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and the miniseries WandaVision. Since Paul Bettany is one of the few MCU actors who has been there from the beginning, it makes sense that he is worth $50 million according to celebritynetworth.com.
How Things Might Flip
As of the time of this writing, Paul Bettany is worth $39 million more than his most noteworthy MCU co-star, Elizabeth Olsen. In most businesses, it would seem insurmountable for Olsen to overcome that deficit to become worth more than Bettany. In Hollywood, however, massive paycheques are the norm for big stars.
Considering that Paul Bettany is 49-years-old and Elizabeth Olsen is 32-years-old according to Wikipedia, it makes sense that he has accomplished more in Hollywood. However, if you look to the future, there is a strong argument that Olsen’s career has a lot more potential than Bettany’s. After all, Olsen’s WandaVision performance has been so impressive that it will be criminal if the powers that be in Hollywood don’t do everything they can to make her a movie star.