If you believe the multiple fan theories, things are looking pretty grim for Tony Stark in Avengers 4. Rumors state that this will be Robert Downey Jr.’s last performance in the role, with him stepping aside to allow Phase 4 of the MCU to focus on new blood. But, if he’s in for some miserable times, he seems to be holding up pretty well. At least, if this new photo (seen in the gallery below) with Gwyneth Paltrow from the film’s reshoots is anything to go by.
Word is that Paltrow’s Pepper Potts will be playing a more active role in Avengers 4. After all, we’ve already seen pictures of her apparently dressed in the same kind of mocap suit that Downey Jr .wears, suggesting that she’s going to don her own armor, possibly as her comic book alter-ego Rescue.
If that’s going to happen, then it’s worth considering what might drive her to her own superheroism. My bet is that Stark’s journey back from Titan will be neither easy nor quick, and that in the meantime, Earth will be left with an Iron Man-sized hole in its superhero roster, which Potts will fill.
In another hint as to what Avengers 4 might hold for the couple, Paltrow had a bit of a slip of the tongue in an interview back in May, where she casually dropped the bombshell that Pepper and Tony have a child together. My theory is that Potts is pregnant during the events of Infinity War, only for Stark to disappear and return when the child’s already a few years old – tragically mirroring the hands-off treatment his own father, Howard Stark, gave him.
With the film’s reshoots set to wrap up in the next few weeks, we might get a look at what’s to come sooner rather than later. After all, Marvel Studios dropped the trailer for Infinity War in November of 2017, so fingers crossed we’ll at least see something by the end of 2018 for Avengers 4.