Gwyneth Paltrow, the Oscar-winning actress and lifestyle entrepreneur, answered one Marvel Cinematic Universe fan’s burning question in a rare Instagram Q&A Wednesday afternoon, addressing why she hasn’t appeared in a Marvel project since “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019.
“I ask this every time, answer the question,” the commenter said, writing in to the Goop founder’s call for questions. “Why did you stop with Marvel and do you miss RDJ [Robert Downey Jr.]?”
Humorously, in the midst of answering questions about books, beauty products, fame and motherhood, Paltrow obliged.
“Oh my god stop yelling at me!” she said. “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!”
She also joked that concerned parties should take it up with Marvel instead of her.
“Call Marvel and yell at them, not me,” she said. “I’m just sitting here.”
Paltrow, an Oscar winner for “Shakespeare in Love,” first appeared in the MCU as Pepper Potts, the assistant-turned-love interest of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in 2008’s “Iron Man.” She appeared in seven more Marvel projects over the next decade, concluding her run in 2019’s “Endgame,” in which Stark did indeed die.
Her absence from the series shouldn’t come as an altogether surprise for fans of Marvel, either. She’d been saying in the lead-up to “Endgame” nearly five years ago that that feature would likely be her last outing with the superhero franchise.
“I mean, I’m a bit old to be in a suit and all that at this point,” actress said at the time, speaking with Variety. “I feel very lucky that I did it, because I actually got talked into it. I was friends with [‘Iron Man’ director] Jon Favreau. It was such a wonderful experience making the first Iron Man and then to watch how important it has become to fans.”
In that same interview, however, the actress did leave the door cracked for potential Marvel involvement down the line.
“I feel honored to be a part of something that people are so passionate about,” she said. “Of course, if they said, ‘Can you come back for a day?,’ I will always be there if they need me.”
Unfortunately for Pepper Potts fans, that call has apparently not come to pass.
