If there’s any hope thatGwyneth Paltrowwill return to acting,Robert Downey Jr.is (probably) it. The two actors, and off-screen friends, appeared in multiple MCU films as Iron Man (Downey Jr.) and Pepper Potts (Paltrow) beginning in 2008. The two exited the MCU following 2019’sAvengers: Endgame. During Monday’s 2023 CFDA Fashion Awards in New York City, Paltrow spoke withEntertainment Tonightabout the possibility of returning to acting, saying:
“It would be very hard for me to do any acting right at the moment, just because of my job. But, I guess Robert Downey Jr. could probably always get me back.” She added: “You know, to some degree.”
Paltrow’s last feature film credit was inAvengers: Endgame, and in 2020, she appeared in the second season of Netflix’sThe Politicianand executive produced and starred in the documentary seriesThe Goop Lab, which explores alternative medicine. Most recently, Paltrow voiced a character in this year’sAmerican Horror Stories; her voice can also be heard in 2022’sShe Said, the film based on the New York Times investigation that exposed Harvey Weinstein’s history of abuse and sexual misconduct against women.
In 2008, Paltrow founded her wellness and lifestyle brand Goop, and her most recent products, the skincare line ‘good. clean. goop,’ recently launched on Amazon and Target. And it’s clearly a project that has kept her busy.
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Could Gwyneth Paltrow & Robert Downey Jr. Return to the MCU?
Paltrow and Downey Jr. appeared across the MCU inIron Man, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War,andAvengers: Endgame, and while it’s easy to assume (given the conclusion ofAvengers: Endgame) that the two rejoining the MCU is unlikely, maybe that’s not too far-fetched.
It was recently reported there have been talks aboutreuniting the originalAvengersactorsfor a movie. This would mean that Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow would rejoin the franchise post-character death, but as the report fromVarietystates, “That shouldn’t be a stumbling block — in comic books, beloved characters are often killed off, only to be resurrected thanks to the power of things like the multiverse.”
When fellow MCU alum Johansson appeared on theGooppodcast this April, she asked Paltrow if she was completely done with the franchise:
“I think so. I mean, I didn’t die, so they can always ask me,” Paltrow answered.
There are now rumors circulatingthat Downey Jr. has already agreedto an MCU return. So maybe there’s some hope for more Pepper Potts and Iron Man? If that doesn’t come to fruition, a non-Marvel project would also excite fans of Paltrow and Downey Jr.
Paltrow rose to stardom after she earned an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her work in John Madden’s 1998 romantic comedyShakespeare in Love. She later appeared in films, including thrillersSe7enandThe Talented Mr. Ripley, Wes Anderson’sThe Royal Tenenbaums, andProof. Downey Jr., who began acting as a child in 1970, most recently starred in Christopher Nolan’sOppenheimeras Lewis Strauss, a role that has made him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar contender.
