Gwyneth Paltrow has the funniest response to Robert Downey Jr.'s MCU return

After five long years, Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The veteran actor, fresh off his big Oscar win earlier this year, made a triumphant return to San Diego Comic-Con, appearing before the audience in Hall H to reveal that he would be back in the franchise.

There is a twist, though. No longer will he be playing legendary MCU hero Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man. No, this time, he will don a different mask, playing none other than infamous Marvel villain Doctor Doom, starting with the upcoming Avengers movie (which is now titled Avengers: Doomsday).

It was a shock for fans around the world, but perhaps not as big a shock as it was for Downey's MCU costar Gwyneth Paltrow, who took to social media to share her surprise.

Gwyneth Paltrow responds to Robert Downey Jr.'s new MCU role

After Downey made the jaw-dropping reveal in Hall H, he took to Instagram to share an image of himself suited up as Doctor Doom, holding the silver mask in a post that was captioned, "New mask, same task". He also shared the instantly-iconic clip of himself stepping forward and unmasking in front of the Hall H crowd.

Gwyneth Paltrow responded to the post, commenting on it to convey her shock in a way that is equally clever and hilarious, saying:

"I don't get it, are you a baddie now?"

- Gwyneth Paltrow

It's a good question because, yes, he is indeed playing a baddie now; one of the worst baddies of all, in fact. It's also an inherently Gwyneth Paltrow response that has received a great response from fans.

Paltrow is one of the longest-standing MCU actors, having portrayed Pepper Potts since 2008's Iron Man (the first movie in the franchise). The CEO of Stark Industries and longtime love of Tony Stark, her chemistry with Downey was electric as the two often ad-libbed to bring Tony and Pepper's unique dynamic to life. Pepper would return for the next two Iron Man movies, as well as playing a supporting role in multiple MCU movies after that (including multiple Avengers movies).

However, Paltrow was very upfront about how being part of an expansive and secretive franchise like the Marvel Studios one often left her confused, specifically about what movie she was actually filming scenes for. This became a bit of a viral phenomenon in 2019 when she appeared in Jon Favreau's Netflix series The Chef Show and realized for the first time that she was in Spider-Man: Homecoming (she initially thought the scene she shot was for an Avengers movie).

Fans love to see her open up about her confusion because, honestly, unless you're a die-hard Marvel fan like all of us, keeping up with the MCU is a bit of a nightmare, and seeing Paltrow be so upfront about that is very endearing. Her hilarious comment on Downey's Instagram post is either just another example of that, or she might just be playing into it more by asking the questions she knows audiences would expect her to ask.

Now that Downey is returning to play Victor von Doom, there is a chance that Paltrow could reprise her role as Pepper at some point; I mean who better to react to an evil variant of Tony Stark than Pepper Potts? And let's be honest, seeing those two on-screen again would certainly be a treat!