Gwyneth Paltrow debuted as Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) love-interest Pepper Potts in the first Iron Man movie, and has since made several notable Marvel Cinematic Universe appearances, ultimately getting the chance to suit-up as Rescue in Avengers: Endgame.
Despite donning armor of her own and getting more screen-time than she had in a lot of her previous MCU appearances, Paltrow has now revealed that she still hasn't watched the movie.
Paltrow was speaking about the directors she's most enjoyed working with during a career retrospective this evening at the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, and the subject of her MCU role came up.
“To be honest, I stopped watching them at some point," the Academy Award-winner said of Marvel Studios' output. "I’ve never seen Endgame. I can’t keep track of who’s what. But I probably should at some point.”
As for why she gradually became disillusioned with the MCU, Paltrow feels that the franchise hasn't been the same for a while, suggesting that the movies gradually lost their "independent" feel as they went on.
“The first film we did was very different from the rest because the studio didn’t think it was going to be a big hit,” she said. “They hired Jon Favreau to direct who was great. And they hired Robert Downey Jr., who was unhireable at the time. His career was at a very low point.”
“We improvised almost every scene of that movie," the actress continued. "We would write scenes in the morning in Jon’s trailer. It was like doing an independent film. Then the movie was such a huge hit that then we didn’t make them like that anymore.”
It doesn't sound like Paltrow has much interest in reprising the role of Pepper Potts - especially if Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark isn't involved.
“Oh my god, stop yelling at me!” she jokingly responded when asked why she stopped playing Pepper during a recent Q&A with fans on Instagram. “We just stopped doing it because Iron Man died. And, why do you need Pepper Potts without Iron Man? I don’t know. Call up Marvel and yell at them, not me. I’m just sitting here.”
Paltrow does raise a good point: Does the MCU really need Pepper without Stark, especially with Riri Williams/Ironheart in line to take up the mantle of the next Armored Avenger?
Despite Paltrow's comments indicating that she really is done with the character, rumors persist that there are future plans for Pepper/Rescue in the MCU, so we'll just have to wait and see how things pan out.
What do you think? Any interest in seeing Paltrow back as Pepper Potts in some capacity? Drop us a comment down below.