The Avengersmarked the first major team-up of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while the 2021 film had the rare luxury of having the majority of its roster including its villain pre-established in prior films, the bulk of the weight that it had to carry centered on believably tying the heroes together, all within a reasonable runtime. As a result of this burden, many supporting characters from the lead-in films had to be benched forThe Avengers. Aside fromGwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts, the heroes' closest cohorts didn’t make the cut, and writer-directorJoss Whedoncredits Iron Man himself (Robert Downey Jr.) for Pepper’s inclusion.
The Avengers
Why Did Robert Downey Jr. Want Gwyneth Paltrow in ‘The Avengers’?
In 2012, during a promotional press junket before the film’s premiere, theLos Angeles Timesreportedon Whedon’s initial inclination to exclude the bulk of the supporting characters fromThe Avengers. “You need to separate the characters from their support systems in order to create the isolation you need for a team,” he told the publication. Ultimately, it was Downey Jr. who broughtPaltrow’s Pepper Pottsinto the mix. “But Pepper, this was really Robert’s thing,” Whedon continued. “He pushed hard …, He really thought Gwyneth would bring something great to the table, and we all thought so as well, but he was the one who convinced her to come and do it.”
Why Is Pepper Potts Essential to Tony Stark’s Arc?
WithThe Avengers, most notably, the love interests had to be set aside. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) got to bring Erik Selvig (Stellan Skårsgard) andLoki (Tom Hiddleston)over in service of the plot, but there’s been no room for Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) outside of Thor’s solo films. Captain America (Chris Evans) quite literally left his supporting cast in the previous century after being frozen out of time, and the non-super-powered Avengers — Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) andHawkeye (Jeremy Renner)— wouldn’t get their solo ventures until afterAvengers: Endgame.
The Incredible Hulkdidn’t even keep its Bruce Banner, withEdward Nortonbeing replacedbyMark Ruffalo, and its supporting characters would be benched for quite some time.William Hurt’s Thaddeus Ross didn’t make a return until 2016’sCaptain America: Civil War,Tim Roth’s Emil Blonskyis finally seeing a resurgence post-Endgame, and Phase Five of the MCUwill reportedly bringLiv TylerandTim Blake Nelsonback into the foldwithCaptain America: Brave New World.
However,for Tony Stark and Iron Man’s arc, Pepper Potts has been integral since the beginning. Pepper herself would even grow to become a larger part of the MCU, showing up in her Rescue armor during the final battle ofAvengers: Endgame. At the aforementioned press junket, Joss Whedon added, “[Robert Downey Jr.] didn’t want to be sort of, crazy alone guy, he wanted to be crazy in-a-relationship guy,” and that track would ultimately play out perfectly beforeTony Stark’s death inAvengers: Endgame. From an entirely selfish billionaire/playboy/philanthropist to the husband and father ready and willing to make the self-sacrificial move, Iron Man would not have been able to evolve over the first decade of the MCU without Pepper showing Tony the man he wanted to become.
