Gwyneth Paltrow’s hilarious response to Robert Downey Jr’s Marvel comeback

They starred in hit Marvel movies together, but Gwyneth Paltrow has been left utterly confused by Robert Downey Jr.’s MCU comeback.

Gwyneth Paltrow may have starred in the first movie to kickstart the $30 billion Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it seems she has no idea what the goop is going on with the Hollywood studio’s latest announcement.

The US actress, 51, first featured in 2008’s Iron Man, in which she played Pepper Potts, the love interest of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. The wellness brand founder went on to star in a whopping six films as Pepper, forming one of the most beloved romances of the dominant Avengers era.

But it appears she was as in-the-dark as the rest of the world when Downey Jr. sensationally announced his MCU return at San Diego Comic-Con at the weekend, with the Oscar winning actor poised to take on the new role of villain Doctor Doom in the next two Avengers movies after Iron Man was killed saving the universe in the blockbuster behemoth that was Avengers: Endgame.

After Downey Jr. posted the news on his Instagram account, his longtime co-star Paltrow chimed in to the comment section with a hilarious note.

“I don’t get it, are you a baddie now?” Paltrow wrote.

Robert Downey Jr. will play villain Doctor Doom in two new Avengers films.

Paltrow and Downey Jr. played love interests Pepper Potts and Tony Stark.

Paltrow’s permanently confused state about all things Marvel is by now the stuff of legend.

She’s been called out by co-star Sebastian Stan after apparently forgetting on more than one occasion that she’d met him before - and that’s after they’d starred in several Marvel movies together.

In another memorable gaffe, Paltrow had to be informed by her Marvel co-star Jon Favreau during a TV interview that yes, they had both appeared in the last Spider-Man movie.

Meanwhile, Marvel Studios has a habit of bringing back characters that have died. More recently, the latest blockbuster to hit cinemas, Deadpool & Wolverine, sees Hugh Jackman reprise his role as Wolverine after it was retired in 2017’s Logan.

But the latest development is somewhat of a new twist, with Downey Jr. set to play an entirely new character five years after he bowed out of the franchise.

Paltrow isn’t the only star who has been left confused by the notoriously convoluted MCU.

New Zealand actor Sam Neill, who had cameo roles in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok and its sequel Thor: Love and Thunder, previously said he had no idea what was going on during filming, telling news.com.au in 2021, “the whole Marvel universe is a complete mystery to me.”

“You need to devote weeks of your life with that. It’s a lifetime devotion,” he added.

Sam Neill had no idea what was going on while filming Thor: Ragnarok.

Downey Jr.’s triumphant return to the MCU as an antagonist was met with equal parts elation and trepidation.

His character was the pillar of the glory days of Marvel’s box office reign from 2008 until the end of that era in 2019. Since then, many diehard fans have been hopeful of a possible Tony Stark resurrection.

However, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige shot down hopes of an Iron Man comeback in an interview with Vanity Fair last year, arguing the character’s demise was central to Endgame’s legacy.

Downey Jr. at San Diego Comic-Con. Picture: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney

Paltrow and Downey Jr. in the first Iron Man film, released in 2008.

“We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way,” Feige said.

News of Downey Jr.’s return exploded on social media afterwards, and while thousands of fans were thrilled the undisputed king of the MCU would be coming home to the franchise, which has suffered a string of box office flops in recent years, notably last year’s The Marvels, others felt it was time for a new chapter.

Russo brothers Joe and Anthony have been tapped to direct the next two Avengers films in which Downey Jr. will star, including Avengers: Doomsday, due out in May 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars, set to be released in May 2027.

Originally published as Gwyneth Paltrow’s hilarious response to Robert Downey Jr’s Marvel comeback