Gwyneth Paltrow Reveals Why She Hasn't Returned to the MCU

Gwyneth Paltrow is setting the record straight about whether or not she is returning as Pepper Potts to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In a recent post to her Instagram stories, Paltrow answered a fan's question about her departure from the franchise, and whether or not she still misses her onscreen co-star Robert Downey Jr.. Paltrow's version of Pepper Potts first made her debut in 2008's Iron Man, and as appeared across its journey from an Earth-bound melodrama to a full-fledged cinematic universe — but apparently, she doesn't currently see the narrative need for her character to return after Avengers: Endgame.

"Oh my god stop yelling at me!" Paltrow responded. "I didn't, I just, it just — we just stopped doing it because Iron Man died and why do you need Pepper Potts without Iron Man? I don't know! Call Marvel and yell at them, not me. I'm just sitting here."

She’s so funny I’m sorry pic.twitter.com/7gynGEWCNI

— Joe Gunn (@joegunn) August 30, 2023

Could Pepper Potts Return to the MCU?

For the record, Pepper has had her own social life and story outside of Tony Stark in the pages of Marvel Comics, including marrying Happy Hogan multiple times over, operating as Madame Masque during Dark Reign, and suiting up as Rescue on several occasions. Still, Paltrow has previously made it clear that she doesn't immediately want to reprise her role in the franchise.

"I think so. I mean, I didn't die so they can always ask me," Paltrow said of her return during a podcast episode with fellow Marvel alum Scarlett Johansson.

"I think you may come back at some point," Johansson said. 

"Really?" Paltrow replied. "A 64-year-old Pepper Potts? How great. I'm a bit old to be in a suit and all that at this point."

Is Gwyneth Paltrow Retired From Acting?

In recent years, Paltrow has indicated that she is "semi-retired" from the acting world, especially after the fallout surrounding notorious Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who was involved with a number of her earliest projects and who she had already accused of inappropriate conduct in 1988.

"Being a kid who's, like, living every breakup on every headline, being criticized for everything you do, say and wear, and also... [acting is] so transitory," Paltrow said in late 2020. "You're always all over. It's hard to plant roots. Like I'm such a homebody, you know, me, I like to be with my old friends and cook and squeeze my kids. I don't want to be alone in a hotel room in Budapest for six weeks. Like, it's just not who I am. So, if you compound those things with the fact that, you know, to be totally candid, I had a really rough boss for most of my movie career at Miramax. So, you take all those things."

Would you like to see Gwyneth Paltrow return to the MCU? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!