Pepper Potts is perplexed.
Gwyneth Paltrow, 51, reacted to the announcement that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to Marvel to play the villain Doctor Doom in the next two “Avengers” movies — 2026’s “Avengers: Doomsday” and 2027’s “Avengers: Secret Wars.”
Paltrow played Pepper Potts, the love interest of Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man, in several MCU movies.
Since Iron Man was killed in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” Paltrow was understandably confused by the news of Downey Jr.’s return to the superhero franchise.
“I don’t get it, are you a baddie now?” Paltrow wrote in the comments section of Downey Jr.’s Instagram post about his comeback.
Downey Jr., 59, surprised fans at Marvel’s San Diego Comic-Con panel on Saturday to reveal he’s playing Doctor Doom in the next two “Avengers” films. Both movies will be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, who helmed four MCU films already including 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War” and 2019’s “Endgame.”
The Oscar winner coyly walked out onto the stage in an olive-green robe with dozens of others wearing Doctor Doom’s iconic metal mask. He dramatically pulled it off and revealed his face to wild cheers.
He announced his return on Instagram as well, with the caption, “New mask, same task.”
For more than a decade, Downey Jr. starred as Iron Man before the character was killed off saving the universe in the latest “Avengers” movie.
Other OG Marvel actors reacted to the news of Downey Jr.’s return, including Mark Ruffalo a.k.a Bruce Banner/The Hulk.
“Hey Brat, green suits you,” Ruffalo wrote on Downey Jr.’s Instagram, referencing Charli XCX’s green-themed album “Brat.”
Zoe Saldana, who plays Gamora in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, commented a series of clapping emojis on another one of Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom-related Instagrams.
Jeremy Renner, who plays Clint Barton/Hawkeye, reacted to the news on an Instagram post shared by the Russo brothers. “Congrats gentlemen!!! We’ve missed you,” he wrote.
Florence Pugh, who plays Yelena Belova, was shocked when she was told about the news during an interview with Variety at Comic-Con.
“I bet it went insane in there,” she said.
It’s been over five years since Downey Jr. and Paltrow were in a Marvel movie. While Downey Jr.’s return has been confirmed, Paltrow has been less interested in playing Pepper again.
“It would be very hard for me to do any acting right at the moment, just because of my job,” the Goop CEO said to Entertainment Tonight last year.
“But, I guess Robert Downey Jr. could probably always get me back,” she added. “You know, to some degree.”
Paltrow, who appeared in seven Marvel movies, infamously forgot she appeared in 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” while she was a guest on director Jon Favreau’s “The Chef Show” Netflix series.
“Yeah, we were in ‘Spider-Man’ together,” Favreau said at the time. “Remember, we were on ‘Spider-Man’?”
“We weren’t in ‘Spider-Man,’ ” Paltrow insisted.
“Yes we were. You were in ‘Spider-Man,’” Favreau added.
When Paltrow noted “No, I was in ‘Avengers,’” Favreau replied: “No, you were in ‘Spider-Man’ also. Remember, Spider-Man, at the end? And Tom Holland’s there and you’re gonna walk out and do a press conference?”
The actress laughed and quipped: “Oh, yes. That was ‘Spider-Man’? Oh my God!”
During a 2019 interview with Elle, Paltrow said about the MCU movies, “To be honest, I haven’t seen very many of them. It’s really stupid and I’m sorry, but I’m a 47-year-old mother.”
At the Red Sea Film Festival last year, Paltrow explained that she also only did 2008’s “Iron Man” because it was pitched to her as an “indie film.”
“The first film we did was very different from the rest because the studio didn’t think it was going to be a big hit,” she said. “They hired Jon Favreau to direct, who was great. And they hired Robert Downey Jr., who was un-hireable at the time. His career was at a very low point.”
Paltrow added, “We improvised almost every scene of that movie. We would write it in the morning in Jon’s trailer, and it was like doing [an indie] film. Then the movie was such a huge hit that we didn’t make them like that anymore.”