Just when you thought Pepper Potts and the Marvel Cinematic Universe had gone their separate ways, Gwyneth Paltrow popped up for a surprise cameo during the finale of Spider-Man: Homecoming, and it’s that last-minute appearance that brought Tony Stark’s love life back into sharp focus.
Truth be told, the star-crossed duo have experienced their fair share of ups and downs – palladium poisoning, vengeful arsonists, and a full-blown alien invasion…to name but three – but in the eyes of Robert Downey Jr., star of Avengers: Infinity War and its forthcoming sequel, Pepper very much remains “the heart” of the Iron Man story in that her bond with Tony gives our hero something to fight for.
Via Entertainment Weekly:
Pepper remains the heart of the [Iron Man] story. I think we wanted to get back to that reality. Not just for them, but let’s really see how that can add to the something-worth-fighting-for of it all.
But don’t be fooled into thinking that Pepper Potts will stand by idly as the world falls into ruin; based on leaked set photos from Avengers 4, Paltrow’s MCU stalwart will be donning an Iron Man suit of her own as the war against Thanos begins to reach its crescendo.
That’s exciting in and of itself, but later in the interview, RDJ acknowledged that the Tony/Pepper romance has taken a backseat now that the standalone Iron Man franchise is on an unofficial hiatus.
It was hard to thread Pepper through every story that Tony was in, so we took opportunities to say, ‘We’re taking a break, and it’s my fault.’ [Laughs] Now, he and Pepper have kind of locked it up. We were talking about them living in some eco-lodge together, but then we thought, ‘Eh, any time they move somewhere [villains] just blow it up, so no one’s gonna believe that it’ll stay long.’
However, with the fate of the world – nay, the universe – hanging in the balance, we imagine Pepper and Tony will get much more screen time together for both Avengers: Infinity War and its unnamed sequel, the latter of which is expected to drop in May of 2019.