Gwyneth Paltrow Provides a Definitive Answer on Her Pepper Potts Return
When you have gigantic movie franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly these days when it has become very popular to bring actors back to their superhero roles after a very long time, we could say that today it’s not impossible for basically any living actor who ever played a role in any franchise movie to return somehow potentially. The return of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ showed that the superhero audience loves to see those special returns, although DC’s attempt with Michael Keaton in this year’s ‘The Flash’ wasn’t as nearly successful.
It’s common knowledge that the ‘Infinity Saga’ of the Marvel Cinematic Universe culminated with the final showdown against Thanos in 2019’s ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ which ended with Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, sacrificing himself to save the universe against the Mad Titan. Robert Downey Jr. said goodbye to the role after eleven years, and his character left his wife, Pepper Potts, and daughter, Morgan. So, in theory, Tony’s wife and daughter could appear in future MCU projects, although that’s pretty unlikely. But be honest, no return of this kind would surprise us at this point.
Gwyneth Paltrow: “Why do You Need Pepper Without Iron Man?”
Gwyneth Paltrow debuted as Pepper Potts in the original ‘Iron Man’ movie in 2008. She reprised the role in 2012’s ‘The Avengers‘ and both ‘Iron Man’ sequels in 2010 and 2013. After four years of pause, she reprised the role of Pepper Potts in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ in which she even had a superhero role in the final battle. Her character is still living in the franchise, so many fans are speculating if she could return at some point. And here’s what the actress had to say about that.
“Oh my god, stop yelling at me! We just stopped doing it because Iron Man died. And why do you need Pepper Potts without Iron Man? I don’t know. Call up Marvel and yell at them, not me. I’m just sitting here.”
Gwyneth Paltrow (via Variety)
In other words, Paltrow doesn’t think she’ll return to the role since RDJ’s Iron Man has left the franchise, but she didn’t say she wouldn’t return if Marvel would ask her. The franchise introduced so many characters, so if Hugh Jackman was convinced to return as the Wolverine again, is there any character return that couldn’t surprise us?
Some fans had their theories that Tony’s daughter Morgan could eventually grow up to become his successor in the franchise, but although it sounds good, that’s a very long shot, especially since Iron Man’s legacy will continue through other characters: Don Cheadle’s War Machine in upcoming ‘Armor Wars’ movie and Dominique Thorne’s Iron Heart in a Disney+ series of the same name.
We could say that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is also Iron Man’s successor in a way, but ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ finished his origin story, and he became a full-grown Spider-Man who isn’t Iron Man’s pupil anymore. Do we think that Gwyneth Paltrow will return to the MCU? Unlikely, to be honest, but never say never.
Would you like to see Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts again? What do you think would be the best MCU project to bring her back to the franchise? Let us know in the comments.
