Featured Image Credit: Albert L. Ortega/WireImage
At this point, it seems like every major actor in Hollywood has made at least one appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it's hard to blame them considering just how successful those movies were, and how many careers those films either launched or rejuvenated.
That said, many of the original stars from the first Avengers and the movies that surrounded it, have now moved on to other things, after the events of Avengers: Endgame rendered many of them either dead or retired.
The door to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is never totally closed to those with enough commercial clout, however, and rumours are swirling about potential returns for actors who had seemingly drawn a line under their time as heroes (and villains).
The most obvious confirmed return is that of Robert Downey Jr. who will be appearing as the new main antagonist Doctor Doom, in Avengers: Doomsday. Downey Jr's original turn as Tony Stark/Iron-Man came to a close when he was killed at the conclusion of Endgame, after using his own gauntlet to snap Thanos et Al. out of existence using the Infinity Stones.
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Jeremy Renner has recently been cited as another potential unexpected return, after Hawkeye made it through the last Avengers movie unscathed, but he's not the only one.
As first reported by ComicBook.com, Gwyneth Paltrow could be set to feature as Pepper Potts in the aftermath of losing her husband. That comes after she spoke to attendees at Brown University about her career, claiming she "might be in another Marvel movie" during a Q&A session.
Though that's obviously not a direct confirmation from the actor, there are quite a few reasons to believe that the hint could be part of something bigger. The biggest is the potential story of Avengers: Doomsday, which will feature Downey Jr's face as it is, only this time attached to a new character in Doctor Doom.
Director's the Russo brothers confirmed that the movie will directly address this, so there will be a reason in the lore that Doctor Doom looks exactly like Tony Stark. Whether he's coming into the main MCU from another universe or timeline is unclear, but his sudden reappearance is bound to draw attention.
That leaves the door open for Pepper Potts to come back into the fold, as an evil being who looks identical to her husband tries to enact his nefarious designs.
