Just when you thought Gwyneth Paltrow had bid adieu to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the actress cropped up for a small cameo at the tail-end of last month’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, proving that, yes, there’s still room within the MCU for her whip-smart Pepper Potts.
Prior to Homecoming, Tony Stark’s better half had been largely absent from Marvel’s interwoven franchise ever since her sizeable turn in Iron Man 3, where Pepper stopped Aldrich Killian in spectacular fashion. Now, we’re learning that Paltrow will be back, back, back for the so-far untitled Avengers 4, as today’s round of set photos attest.
First spotted by Twitter account Best of Marvel, these candid pics find Gwyneth Paltrow on set alongside Robert Downey Jr. (Stark), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk) and Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan), who appear to be awaiting instructions from one of the Russo Brothers. Dressed in a black tank top and white trousers, it’s impossible to know how these photos of Paltrow factor into the super-secret Avengers 4 storyline, but it’s a sequence that almost certainly takes place far away from the sequel’s Yakuza scene starring Scarlett Johansson’s kick-ass agent, Black Widow.
Per Twitter:
Peer close enough and you’ll also be able to spot that Gwyneth Paltrow is wearing an engagment ring, which is surely a cute nod to the knee-jerk announcement at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, when Tony and Happy were forced to address a room filled with press without Peter Parker in their midst.
Once Joe and Anthony Russo have waged Avengers: Infinity War, and both Ant-Man and the Wasp and the Brie Larson-led Captain Marvel movie have enjoyed their time in the limelight, the Russo Brothers will round up Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for one last battle against Thanos when Avengers 4 slams into theaters in May of 2019. Its title is supposedly a massive spoiler for Infinity War, so even if the cameras are rolling on the streets of Atlanta, don’t expect Marvel to announce that story-centric moniker anytime soon.
