Spider-Man: Homecoming rumored to feature Pepper Potts' return to the MCU

Pepper Potts, Iron Man’s love interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been absent from the big screen for years, but if a new rumor pans out, she’ll be showing up again in an unlikely movie: this summer’s Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Lainey Gossip reports that though actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s contract with Marvel has expired, the upcoming Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures co-production was able to secure her return in their new Spider-Man movie. We don’t have official confirmation from the studio about this yet, but if it’s true, it would be the first time we’ve seen Paltrow play the character since 2013, when Pepper Potts appeared in Iron Man 3. In last year’s Captain America: Civil War, Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark mentioned that he and Pepper had broken up because he couldn’t stop being Iron Man.

I’m a little surprised Pepper would be returning in Homecoming, since two massive Avengers movies are coming up soon and I figured that’s where Marvel might pull out all the stops to get every major character to come back. But the interesting thing about her possibly appearing in the new Spider-Man movie is it means there could be room for a potential love triangle between Pepper, Tony, and Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May, with whom Tony was seen flirting in Civil War. That could be a nice way to provide some humor and additional conflict with Stark, who has a larger role in Homecoming than anyone anticipated.