Yesterday, the announcement came by way of Variety that Avengers: Endgame will be the last major outing for Gwyneth Paltrow in the MCU. Indeed, as one of the original stars of the superhero saga, it only figures that Marvel’s Phase 3 finale would serve as the swan song for Pepper Potts. But with the CEO of Stark Industries soon to be out of the game, the question remains of what’s to become of her fiancé Tony.
It’s been a popular prediction for a while now that the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War sequel will see Iron Man end his run in the MCU, and Paltrow’s exit makes Robert Downey Jr.’s departure seem all the more likely. After all, Pepper is such a prominent figure in Tony’s corner of the cinematic universe that it’s hard to imagine an Iron Man solo movie without her. Granted, two potential means of writing Paltrow’s character out of Tony’s story would be separating the couple and killing Pepper off, but both sound like unusually harsh ways to end the pair’s relationship.
For Iron Man, on the other hand, a heroic death would absolutely fit the tone of his journey, though a quiet retirement doesn’t seem out of the question, either. After all, a lot of fans are also predicting that Captain America might die, suggesting that Tony may not be the one to make the sacrifice play.
Interestingly, before Pepper leaves the series, Paltrow mentioned last year that she and Tony are going to have a child, suggesting that their legacy could still live on in future movies by way of a franchise newcomer. Either way, we’ll find out who lives long enough to raise this kid when Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26th, 2019.
