Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) are the first couple of the MCU, having begun their flirtations in 2008’s Iron Man before officially becoming an item in 2010’s Iron Man 2. It was a shock, then, when Captain America: Civil War revealed that Tony and Pepper were on a break. The problem seemed to be that Tony was continuously risking his life as an Avenger, after promising that he was done with his superhero career at the end of Iron Man 3.
Thankfully, the pair had apparently reconciled by the time of Spider-Man: Homecoming. As Paltrow only appeared in a cameo at the end of the movie, however, we didn’t get any explanation for what happened between them that helped them get past their problems. After all, Tony is still suiting up as Iron Man.
In a recent interview, Cinema Blend asked Downey Jr. where Stark and Pepper are at the start of Avengers: Infinity War. The daddy of the MCU didn’t elaborate on the ins-and-outs of how they got back together, but he did tease that the couple have made some “long-term” commitments to each other.
“He and Pepper have clearly resolved their differences. The way you resolve those differences is you shack up together long-term.”
We might have already seen the start of this long-term commitment in Homecoming. In order to cover for Peter Parker turning down the opportunity to be publicly announced as an Avenger, Tony came up with the idea to propose to Pepper in front of a press room full of reporters. She scoffed at the idea and suggested that she could come up with a better one, but the scene ended with Tony conspiratorially taking his engagement ring from Happy Hogan. So, it’s possible that the duo actually are engaged.
Either way, we’ll see exactly where Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark and Pepper are in the relationship when Avengers: Infinity War hits cinemas on April 27th.