Movies

Gwyneth Paltrow announces her exit from Marvel Cinematic Universe

Say your goodbyes to Pepper Potts.

February 19, 2019

Avengers: Endgame will in many ways signal the end of an era for the MCU, with many fans theorizing that a number of our favorite heroes won’t survive the films events. While we don’t know any major spoilers just yet, there’s at least one iconic character that fans should say their goodbyes to — Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts.

“I mean, I’m a bit old to be in a suit and all that at this point,” Paltrow Variety. “I feel very lucky that I did it, because I actually got talked into it. I was friend with [‘Iron Man’ director] Jon Favreau. It was such a wonderful experience making the first ‘Iron Man’ and then to watch how important it has become to fans.”

Paltrow was there for the birth of the MCU in Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, as the ever reliable Pepper Potts — secretary, close friend, sometimes babysitter to Tony Stark. She reprised her role in Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War. As Pepper Potts Paltrow went from friend and secretary, to CEO of Stark Industries, and finance of Tony Stark.

While she’s more or less closed the door on returning for further sequels, Paltrow has said she’d be open to returning for cameos, flashbacks, and brief appearances. “I feel honored to be a part of something that people are so passionate about,” she said. “Of course, if they said, ‘Can you come back for a day?,’ I will always be there if they need me.”

Fans are very confident Paltrow will be making a big final appearance in Endgame in the role of her character’s comic book superhero persona, Rescue — Pepper Potts’ armor that mirrors Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit. The most popular theory is that Potts will rescue (wink wink) Tony Stark from the cold reaches of space, and the two will head back to Earth to rejoin with Captain America and the other Avengers for a final confrontation with Thanos.

Avengers: Endgame will premiere on April 26.