Iron Man Alum Gwyneth Paltrow Says "You Can Only Make So Many Good" Superhero Movies

Gwyneth Paltrow has been associated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe since its inception, portraying Pepper Potts in the first Iron Man all the way through the end of the Infinity Saga. In the years since Avengers: Endgame's 2019 debut, Paltrow has been vocal about that chapter in her life being closed — and now, she is offering her thoughts on superhero movies overall. During a recent appearance on Hot Ones, Paltrow reflected on the current state of the film industry, and argued that superhero movies' attempts to broadly appeal to a larger audience might be holding them back.

"I think if I look at the industry as a whole, this sort of big push into superhero movies, I mean, you can only make so many good ones that feel truly original," Paltrow explained. "And yet they're still always trying to reach as many people as possible, which sometimes hinders quality or specificity or real point of view."

"I grew up doing [mid-budget] movies, and I sometimes lament the fact [that] I look back at some of the movies that I made in the '90s and think, that just wouldn't get made now," Paltrow added. "I do think that you get more diversity of art when there's less at stake and people can express their true voice and make a film the way they want to make it, and then I think those are generally the more resonant ones."

Could Pepper Potts Return to the MCU?

In a social media post last year, Paltrow responded to fans clamoring to see her reprise her role as Pepper in the MCU, even though her onscreen husband, Tony Stark / Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) has canonically passed away. As Paltrow argued at the time, Pepper might not be able to work as a character "without Iron Man." (Granted, 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.)

"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."

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 Marvel Cinematic Universe? What do you think of her new comments about superhero movies? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!