Back in February, you may recall that a TV spot for the upcoming Avengers: Endgame aired during the Super Bowl, which drew a lot of scrutiny for one particular shot.
We’re specifically referring to the clip of Black Widow, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner and James Rhodes standing outside of the Avengers Compound and staring up at the sky. The uneven spacing between the actors seemed to imply that one character had been edited out of the shot, presumably to avoid spoilers. And sure enough, one of the many recent TV spots for the Avengers: Infinity War sequel (viewable above) reveals just who was missing from that picture.
Stood in the unusually large space between Bruce and Rhodey is none other than Pepper Potts, who looks as fixated as the rest of the gang on whatever they’re seeing in the night sky. Of course, now that we know who’s in the shot, the question is raised of why Marvel felt the need to hide her in the first place. After all, was anybody really shocked by the revelation that Gwyneth Paltrow was returning for Endgame?
Regardless, Pepper’s inclusion feeds heavily into the popular theory that the team is witnessing the return of Tony Stark. At the very least, the trailers have previously shown us a clip of Pepper hugging her fiancé at what appears to be the same location on the same night.
In any case, it’s expected that next week’s release has some big plans for Pepper. Last year, for instance, a leaked set photo implied that Paltrow will be suiting up in her new Rescue persona, and since then, the actress has confirmed that this will be her final film in the MCU. We’ll find out what kind of sendoff she receives when Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26th.
