15 Best Performances In MCU Movies (So Far)
5. Gwyneth Paltrow - Pepper Potts
With Robert Downey Jr’s gadget-laden performance as the billionaire playboy genius philanthropist Tony Stark, the Iron Man films can be a bit of a boys’ own adventure. But it’s Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts who brings the most out of her character, evolving over the course of the series and injecting one of the more surface level strands of the universe with far more shade and depth.
Paltrow is a gifted comic actress, but her light touch often goes underutilised. Here she’s given free reign to develop a great character, a foil to Robert Downey Jr (often pricking his pomposity with a detached air) and in due course an important presence in her own right.
The two Iron Man stars have fantastic chemistry; their scenes sparkle in a screwball fashion, with Potts taking the role of the one person who can put Stark in his place. The relationship evolves and expands over the course of the series, but Potts is the sole constant in Stark’s life, and Paltrow’s performance grows with the character.
It’s one of the most versatile and developed turns in the MCU. Potts isn’t the most glamorous character, but she’s up there with the most human.