You might think it's a bit premature to label Avengers: Doomsday as the most hotly-anticipated movie of 2026, but considering we're talking about an Avengers movie that will kick off the final chapters of the Multiverse Saga, I think that is a pretty fair assessment. Marvel Studios bring their A-Game when the Avengers get together, with all four previous installments of the subfranchise within the Marvel Cinematic Universe all surpassing $1 billion (two of them surpassed $2 billion). A fraction of that would be a huge win for any other franchise.
And Marvel really is pulling out all the stops to ensure that this one makes itself at home amongst the other Avengers movies. We'll not say that the franchise's best days are all behind it, but the MCU has struggled to make the current saga as seamless and must-see as the Infinity Saga, so you can bet they are committed to making sure we all see how this current storyline ends. To make that happen, the studio will be bringing back some mighty familiar faces.
With reports of Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Anthony Mackie, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, and perhaps even Elizabeth Olsen all set to join Robert Downey Jr. in making an MCU comeback for Avengers: Doomsday, a new report claims the returns won't end there.
Gwyneth Paltrow rumored to return to the MCU as Pepper Potts in Avengers: Doomsday
According to longtime Marvel scooper MyTimeToShineHello, Gwyneth Paltrow will be reprising her role as Pepper Potts in Avengers: Doomsday. On social media platform X, formerly Twitter, the scooper quoted a post that featured a GIF of Paltrow's previous MCU appearance in Avengers: Endgame, adding: "She'll be back in Doomsday". This comes after veteran insider Daniel Richtman also claimed that Marvel wants her to appear in both that film and its sequel Avengers: Secret Wars.
If this turns out to be the case it wouldn't be the biggest surprise given that her MCU and Iron Man trilogy costar Robert Downey Jr. will also be making his grand return in the 2026 film. Downey Jr.'s original role in the MCU was as Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, who was the partner and love interest of Pepper Potts. Given that his new character, Doctor Doom, will have Tony's face as he threatens the multiverse, it's pretty understandable that the film might feature Pepper as her reaction to the appearance of her husband's evil doppelganger will be the most important of all.
Paltrow had a hilarious reaction to the announcement that Downey Jr. would be returning to the franchise, commenting on his Instagram post with "I don't get it, are you a baddie now?", but that quickly led to fans speculating that Pepper could be involved in that return, too. It's a feasible theory, particularly as the character's arc seemingly concluded with Tony's death.
The star has been vocal about this being the end of Pepper's time in the franchise, asking one fan when responding to a question on social media "why do you need Pepper Potts without Iron Man?", but she has also implied that she would be open to returning if Marvel called her with the right opportunity. If the rumors are true, this could be that opportunity.
Making her first appearance as Pepper Potts in 2008's Iron Man (a.k.a. the very first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe), Paltrow is one of the longest-serving actors in the MCU franchise (or at least she was until her apparent retirement from the role in 2019). She would then reprise the role in 2010's Iron Man 2, 2012's The Avengers, 2013's Iron Man 3, 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming, 2018's Avengers Infinity War and 2019's Avengers: Endgame.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in movie theaters on May 1, 2026.