Forbes reveals highest grossing actors of 2016

Scarlett Johansson took the top spot while her Marvel co-stars Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr came joint second

This year’s list was dominated by superhero and comic book films (AFP/Getty)

Scarlett Johansson has been named the top grossing actor of 2016 by Forbes magazine.

The actor topped the list after her films raked in $1.2bn (£977m) globally over the past 12 months. These included everything from Captain America: Civil War to Coen Brothers’ Hail Ceaser!.

Johansson's Marvel co-stars Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr took a joint second place with $1.15bn (£938m) each.

In 2015, Chris Pratt topped the list, while Jennifer Lawrence took the first place the year before.

This year’s list was dominated by superhero and comic book films, with Suicide Squad stars Margot Robbie and Will Smith taking fourth and tenth place. Deadpool’s Ryan Reynolds came in at number eight and Batman v Superman's Henry Cavill took the number seven spot.

As well as Robbie, Johansson is joined by another woman in the top five. Amy Adams came in at number five for sci-fi film Arrival and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in which she played the role of Lois Lane.

In actual fact, the only actor without a comic to contribute to her total is Star Wars' Felicity Jones who made her debut onto the ranking this year.

Forbes calculate the annual list by tallying up the worldwide ticket sales of leading actors’ films.

It should come as little surprise that Johansson topped the list. In July, Box Office Mojo revealed Johansson now has the highest lifetime gross of any actress in history. However her reaction to being informed she was the highest-grossing actress ever was somewhat bittersweet.

Addressing her top spot, she told Extra: ”It’s exciting to be the only woman in the category – it's kind of disappointing actually to be the only woman in this category, that was a little bit of a surprise to me.”