When the Marvel Cinematic Universe last checked in with Pepper Potts, she was the reigning CEO of Stark Industries and, in an even more involved and daunting task, in the process of making an honest man of Tony Stark. While she began as Iron Man’s right-hand woman, Tony realized at the conclusion of Iron Man 2 that he regarded Potts as more than his only friend in the company, if not the world, and they struck up a romantic relationship. But Pepper had no intention of being a kept woman cheering Tony on from the sidelines, taking over his company and even saving his ass at the close of Iron Man 3 by donning the dangerous, experimental Extremis armor herself.
Potts was absent from the recent Age of Ultron, presumably because Gwyneth Paltrow’s got probiotic oozes to sell to wealthy Californian mothers, though Tony Stark mentioned a plan to settle down somewhere quiet with his lady love, perhaps with the playboy shifting into the married life. But a new report from Empire magazine (via The Wrap) indicates that the whimsically-named character will appear in a “small, yet key” role in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War. Due on May 6, the film will pit Cap and Iron Man against one another in a deadlocked battle over the legal semantics of superheroism. (At least in the comics, it was cooler than it sounds.)
How Pepper figures into all of this has yet to be made clear, but with a cast as stuffed-to-bursting as this one — Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Emily Van Camp, William Hurt, Daniel Bruhl, Frank Grillo, Paul Rudd, Paul Bettany and Martin Freeman have all already signed on — it’s possible she won’t be taking up too much screen-time. That would be a shame given what a key role she played in balancing out Tony Stark’s impulsiveness. As long as director Joe and Anthony Russo don’t undermine her background of self-sufficiency and wit, there’ll be no complaints from me, but given how much Iron Man looks to be a key player in this sequel, it would make sense to give Potts plenty to do.
