The Joker

Have you ever wondered how much Iron Man would be worth if you combined his New York skyscraper home, collection of flash cars and plethora of ultra-high-tech gadgets? Or do the financial implications of the Joker’s havoc-wreaking habits fill you with intrigue?

We looked at the assets of six high-profile comic book heroes and villains to calculate their net worth. We generated these figures in two ways. Assets grounded in reality were compared to their real-world equivalent. In the case of fictional assets, estimates were made based on the value of a similar item in the real world.

Weaponry, gadgets and transport are the obvious contributors to a comic book character’s financial worth, but there’s a selection of underlying factors that may not instantly come to mind. Expensive qualifications and high-maintenance image upkeep, for example. Remember, Harley Quinn was a trainee psychiatrist prior to her life of crime and Captain Marvel is a qualified fighter pilot.

Topping the rich list, of course, is Black Panther. He’s the rightful guardian of a £9 trillion reserve of vibranium after all. Not to mention he resides in a royal palace and boasts an advanced gadgetry collection.

Other characters featured in our list include the notorious Marvel villain, Thanos, and DC tormentor, the Joker. Scroll down for the financial breakdown of each character with supporting imagery created by artist and graphic designer, Marta Colmenero.

Iron Man

Prior to his tragic demise in Avengers: End Game, this billionaire inventor turned superhero was far from cash strapped. Tony Stark aka Iron Man called an imposing New York skyscraper home, drove a selection of flash cars and boasted a wardrobe bursting with designer suits. Not to mention his high-tech collection of gadgets.

Assets:

Stark Tower – The skyscraper is reported to have been built by Stark for $600 million (AUD 871 million).[1]
Gold titanium exoskeleton and weaponry – The exoskeleton, helmet and inbuilt weaponry combined gives Stark’s Iron Man suit an estimated value of $180 million (AUD 261.4 million).[2]
JARVIS supercomputer – This high-tech computer system, which utilises artificial intelligence, is estimated to be worth $10 million (AUD 14.5 million).[3]
Car collection – A combined worth of $640k (AUD 929.5k) was calculated for the cars Tony Stark has been seen driving throughout the movie series, including the Audi R8.[4]

Black Panther

As King of Wakanda, T’Challa aka Black Panther not only resides in an extravagant Royal Palace, but he is the rightful guardian of the city’s £9 trillion reserve of vibranium (a fictional rare metallic ore). He boasts an extensive collection of gadgets and technology – largely invented by his younger sister Shuri – and travels from A to B in nothing less than his own personal fighter jet. The iconic nanotechnology suit he sports is woven from vibranium, making it impenetrable and capable of absorbing energy.

Assets:

Nanotechnology suit & vibranium sneakers – A value of million $260 million (AUD 377.6 million) was calculated for the suit and trainers, based on the fact they’re made of vibranium.
Fighter jet – The jet was valued at $65 million (AUD 94.4 million), based on the price of a military jet.[1]
EMP discs – EMP discs were likened to hand grenades $130 (AUD 190 each) and a 10,000-piece supply was valued at $1.3 million (AUD 9 million).[2]
Royal Palace of Wakanda – The most expensive real building in Africa is valued at $220 million (AUD 320.9 million). Arguably the Royal Place of Wakanda is more impressive and therefore was priced at $325 million (AUD 472 million).
Reserve of vibranium – Vibranium retails for about $10,000 per gram (Fantastic Four #607), and Wakanda’s vaults hold 10,000 tons of the stuff (Doomwar #1), which adds up to $9.7 trillion (AUD 14.1 trillion).[3]
Kimoyo beads – A price tag of $9.75 million (AUD 14.6 million) was attached to the kimoyo beads, which were likened to a top-of-the-range smart watch, enhanced with vibranium.[4]

Thanos

As it stands, Thanos has been the most powerful villain in the Marvel universe to date. For a significant chunk of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game he was the bearer of all six infinity stones – precious gems that brought great power to their owner. He displayed them in pride of place on a gold gauntlet, coordinated to match his armour. He gets about in an epic star ship entitled ‘Sanctuary II’, which is comparable to a colossal military warship.

Assets:

Gauntlet and infinity stones – A comparison was made between the infinity stones and the precious Musgravite stones (worth $35.75k (AUD 52.15k) per carat), giving the former a value of $1.37 million (AUD 2 million) for six 5-carat stones. Another $65k (AUD 94.8k) was added for the gold gauntlet.[1] [2]
Armour – The armour was priced at £15.6k (AUD 22.8k), based on the price of a full suit of custom armour.[3]
Starship – The starship was likened to a US military warship, which costs approximately $13 billion (AUD 19 billion).[4]
Sanctuary – Sanctuary has been valued at $13 million (AUD 19 million). As a barren area in space, we compared it to the price of buying a small private island.[5]

Captain Marvel

Arguably one of the most powerful Marvel characters on the roster, Captain Marvel boasts a number of superhuman abilities, including ultra-strength, endurance, stamina, lightning-fast speed and flight.

She may be less cash-rich than her peers, but she’s received a lot of government money to train as a fighter pilot and she commandeers an enormous star-ship worth a cool £10 billion.

Assets:

Super suit and boots – An estimate of $4.8k (£3.7k) has been previously given for three of Captain America’s suits combined. Captain Marvel’s suit is very similar, so therefore has been costed at $1.56k (AUD 2.3k)) for one.[1]
US fighter pilot training – The cost of training a basic qualified fighter pilot is approximately $5.5 million (AUD 8 million).[2]
Starship – The starship was likened to a US military warship, which costs approximately $13 billion (~ AUD 19 billion).[3]
Pscyhe-magnetron – We estimated the Psyche-Magnetron to be worth a cool $1.3 million (AUD 1.9 million) – since it’s a fictional piece of technology, this price was based on the cost of advanced technology and engineering.

Joker

The Joker is Gotham’s most notorious resident. He robbed a bank just to set the cash alight, so clearly money is not a motivating factor in his crimes. It’s unclear what his background is or where he lives, but he comes across as well-educated and well-spoken.

It appears a chunk of his spare cash goes on his appearance – donning thick clown-like makeup and green dyed hair that complement a unique sense of style. His weapons are his prized possessions, many of which resemble clown props with a sinister twist.

Assets:

Custom suit – Based on the cost of custom clothing, you can reasonably expect Joker’s suit to be no more than $286 (AUD 417).
Gold chains – A selection of genuine gold chains have been valued at $7.8k (AUD 11.4k).[1]
Makeup, hair dye and tattoos – Joker’s exaggerated appearance is estimated to have cost $1.56k (AUD 2.3k), based on image upkeep (annual expense of buying makeup and hair dye) and cost of tattoos.
Razor playing cards and acid lapel flower – The cost of sulphuric acid (sprayed from the flower) and razor blades were combined with the price of playing cards and a joke flower, adding up to $104 (AUD 152).[2]
Glock 17 pistols and grenades – A Glock 17 costs approximately $650 (£500).[3] A pocketful of five hand grenades costs approximately $650 (AUD 1.9k).[4]

Harley Quinn

Partner in crime – and life – to the Joker, Harley Quinn (originally Harleen Quinzel) is another of Gotham’s troublemakers. Much like the Joker, details of Harley’s home life are shrouded in secrecy, and any money she has is likely a result of the crimes she commits.

She is, however, a trained psychiatrist and shares the Joker’s love for heavy caricature-esque makeup and tattoos – which are quite an investment!

Assets:

Harlequin outfit, boots and accessories – An estimate of $305 (AUD 649) has been given for the Harlequin outfit, boots, PUDDIN necklace[5] and graffitied baseball bat.
Makeup, hair dye and tattoos – We estimated $1,066 (AUD 1.6k) for the maintenance of Harley Quinn’s image, including replacement of makeup and hair dye and her tattoos.
Chiappa Rhino 6DS revolver – This gun is priced between $670 (AUD 977) and $1000 (AUD 1.5k), therefore we costed it at $975 (AUD 1.4k) for its special edition status.[1]
Psychiatric training – The cost of attending a four-year medical course in the US is $220k (AUD 321k).[2]

Currency conversions calculated based on a conversion rate of AUD$1.46 to every US$1.00