Gwyneth Paltrow Leaving Marvel Cinematic Universe After 'Endgame'

Gwyneth Paltrow is walking away from Tony Stark. In a February 19 cover story, the Amagansett resident told Variety she will be leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and her character Pepper Potts behind after the blockbuster sequel Avengers: Endgame hits theaters this spring.

Truthfully, Pepper fans are lucky she stuck with this role for 10 years. Paltrow told Variety she had already semi-retired from the film industry because movies, such as her super successful and Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love, aren’t made anymore. The reason she agreed to the first Iron Man movie in 2008—which launched the MCU—was because of her friendship with the director Jon Favreau, who talked her into the role.

Additionally, Paltrow says she’s uncomfortable watching herself and will only occasionally take on a small role. That’s not to say she regrets her time in the Marvel Universe. In fact, she said, “It was such a wonderful experience making the first Iron Man and then to watch how important it has become to the fans.”

So why retire? Paltrow says she’s “a bit old to be in a suit and all that at this point.” (While it’s bad news for fans, this comment comes with a silver lining: It seems to indicate she’ll be back in her Iron Man armor as Rescue in Endgame! In other bad news, Paltrow’s MCU costar, East Hampton resident Robert Downey Jr.—the Tony Stark to her Pepper Potts—is also rumored to be leaving the MCU after Avengers: Endgame since his contract concludes once the movie is released. So it’s very likely fans will have to say goodbye to both members of Marvel’s power couple this spring.

While Paltrow has never personally been invested in comic book movies, she does support the Academy nominating one for Best Picture this year. “So if the vernacular in film is superhero movies and they’re great movies, then I guess why not, right?” Paltrow told Variety. “I loved Black Panther. I thought it was a really powerful movie and culturally very important. So that’s great that it was nominated. I mean that’s so cool.”

Avengers: Endgame, Paltrow’s last Marvel movie, premieres on April 26.