Gwyneth Paltrow Explains She Thought Spider-Man: Homecoming Was An Avengers Movie

Gwyneth Paltrow hasn't been making good friends of Marvel fans as of late, as the Avengers: Endgame actress has shown herself to be rather aloof about the significance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and her role in it. That all started when Paltrow forgot she was in Spider-Man: Homecoming during a conversation with her Homecoming co-star Jon Favreau, on his new Chef Show series. Since then, Favreau has spoken up to defend Paltrow, as has Spider-Man franchise star Tom Holland. Now, Paltrow herself is speaking up, and offering a defense of her MCU confusion. Short version: too many movies, too many plotlines, to keep track of.

Here's what Paltrow said on Jimmy Kimmel, when the Spider-Man: Homecoming "Incident" with Favreau was brought up:

"Oh my god, he's so embarrassing... Well now I know this. I just got confused. There's so many of these wonderful Marvel interconnecting movies and I thought that it was an Avengers movie, but it was not."

That explanation echoes everything that Tom Holland and Jon Favreau have said before, in Paltrow's defense:

"...I have to say, the Marvel universe over these past eleven years is very convoluted," Favreau explained. "You know, all the different storylines and characters intersect. I could understand how it could sometimes be confusing.

He's also added that, "With the Marvel things, they have so many films happening at the same time and all of them interweave with one another. Oftentimes you're not exactly sure what's happening, even me. I'm an executive producer on [Avengers: Endgame], I didn't always know what was going on."

This may sound like ego-soothing and making excuses - but it's actually not. Captain Marvel star Brie Larson has famously conveyed how she was thrown into the Carol Danvers role completely out of order, filming Avengers: Endgame scenes first, before she ever got a chance to get the full script for Captain Marvel. That included the latter film's post-credits scene, which was a direct lead-in to Avengers: Endgame's story. Larson had to act out her close connection with Sam Jackson's Nick Fury without ever knowing how it formed - not to mention speak to a room of surviving Avengers after the Infinity War snap, without being able to know which characters they were:

"There was also nobody else there," Larson explains. "I was by myself on a green screen and just real quick 'We're gonna whip pan over to you and you ask 'Where's Fury?'"

So, if you take all of that into account, Gwyneth Paltrow doesn't look so bad by comparison. After all, she only appeared in the final scene of Spider-Man: Homecoming - a scene which involved Tony Stark attempting to introduce Spider-Man as an official Avenger! If Paltrow only had to show up on set and play out that sequence, and cameras started rolling on Avengers: Infinity War / Endgame soon thereafter... then yeah, it's not surprising Paltrow got it confused.

WandaVision is set to hit Disney+ Spring 2021. Other upcoming Marvel Studios projects includeBlack Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022. Marvel Studios Disney+ series without release dates include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.