Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts in Avengers: Endgame
(Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Gwyneth Paltrow Doesn’t Get Robert Downey Jr.’s New MCU Role Either

It’s been a wild week for the MCU. The biggest announcement out of this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con was the shocking news that Robert Downey Jr, the man who played Iron Man and kicked off the MCU in the first place, would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as villain Doctor Doom.

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When the news of this spread, the reactions were … mixed. Some people liked the idea because they were always up for more Robert Downey Jr. Others saw the whole thing as a desperate move from Marvel Studios—a jumping the Stark, if you will. And a lot of people, including casual fans, were just plain confused. Didn’t Iron Man die? Why bring him back as a new character?

Downey’s Iron Man co-star Gwyneth Paltrow is one of those confused people. When the actor posted news of his new role on his Instagram account, Paltrow commented on it, saying, “I don’t get it, are you a baddie now?”

Well, long story short … we don’t really know. Will the new Doctor Doom be a variant of Tony Stark, causing the Avengers much heartache when they see his face? Or will we never even see the face of Doctor Doom, just his mask? Only time will tell.

This isn’t the first time Paltrow has been confused about an aspect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When Spider-Man: Homecoming came out she was very surprised to discover she was in it, as she was sure she was shooting scenes for an Avengers movie instead. At least this time around, Paltrow is far from alone in her MCU confusion.


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Sarah Barrett
Sarah Barrett (she/her) is a freelance writer with The Mary Sue who has been working in journalism since 2014. She loves to write about movies, even the bad ones. (Especially the bad ones.) The Raimi Spider-Man trilogy and the Star Wars prequels changed her life in many interesting ways. She lives in one of the very, very few good parts of England.