Gwyneth Paltrow Says ‘Iron Man’ Was First Pitched To Her As An “Indie Film”

Jon Favreau‘s 2008 film “Iron Man” is usually referred to as the blockbuster that first kicked off Hollywood’s superhero movie craze (well, that one and “The Dark Knight“). But according to Pepper Potts herself, Gwyneth Paltrow, “Iron Man” wasn’t pitched to her as a sure-fire success. In fact, she says Marvel Studios pitched “Iron Man” to her as an “indie film,” which sounds ridiculous, considering the movie made over half a billion dollars at the box office.

READ MORE: No, Gwyneth Paltrow Doesn’t Know What’s Going On With Pepper Potts In The MCU: “We Just Stopped Doing It Because Iron Man Died”

EW (via Rolling Stone) reports that Paltrow discussed the original pitch for “Iron Man” at the Red Sea Film Festival this week. “The first film we did was very different from the rest because the studio didn’t think it was going to be a big hit,” Paltrow said. “They hired Jon Favreau to direct, who was great. And they hired Robert Downey Jr., who was un-hireable at the time. His career was at a very low point.” 

But Paltrow wanted to sign on after Marvel clarified that they didn’t want to make a conventional superhero movie. “They said, ‘It’s going to feel like doing an indie film. We’re gonna have fun, and you don’t have to be in too much of the action part anyway,’” she continued. “So I thought, ‘Oh, okay.’” And Paltrow also said that the creative process on the set of “Iron Man” did feel like an indie production, but that quality waned on the later sequels. “We improvised almost every scene of that movie. We would write it in the morning in Jon’s trailer, and it was like doing [an indie] film,” she said. “Then the movie was such a huge hit that we didn’t make them like that anymore.”

And with that lack of spontaneity, Paltrow’s interest in other MCU movies diminished entirely. In fact, she told the audience at the festival that she “stopped watching them as some point.” “I’ve never seen “Endgame,” said the actress. “I’ve never seen any of these. I can’t keep track. I probably should at some point.” That tracks since Paltrow has previously admitted she had no idea she was in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” and hasn’t watched it either.  

And Paltrow doesn’t sound at all interesting in returning to the MCU either. On an Instagram Q&A earlier this year, she responded to a question about not doing further MCU movies with, “We just stopped doing it because Iron Man died.” It doesn’t get more frank than that. But Paltrow, who barely acts anymore anyways thanks to her company Goop, has made similar comments to the press recently. Last month, she told EW she would only return to the MCU if RDJ contacted her personally. “It would be very hard for me to do any acting right at the moment, just because of my job,” she told the outlet, “but I guess Robert Downey Jr. could probably always get me back.

But is the return of Pepper Potts the boost Marvel needs right now? Hardly. Let’s just call the relationship between Ms. Paltrow and Marvel Studios definitively over, barring some creative overhaul that has Iron Man return to the fold.