MCU: 10 Marvel Movie Characters Who've Changed The Most

6. Pepper Potts

Despite how poorly she's been written at times, Pepper Potts has been through a lot in the MCU to date. She's been a lover, a business mogul, a nanny, a damsel in distress and an Extremis-empowered superhero. She also used to be relevant, which she isn't now thanks to her being effectively written out of the series before Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

Back when she was first introduced, Pepper had a similar narrative function to Rhodey, in that she was used to counter-balance Tony Stark and keep him anchored. She was his reason for not being self-destructive and not giving in to his primal, emotional urges that would usually get him in trouble.

As the films progressed though, Pepper became way too expendable and she's now just a former girlfriend of Tony's who gets mentioned in Avengers movies, but doesn't get to appear.

What Caused The Changes?

Logistically, it appears Gwyneth Paltrow's contract ending was the reason for her disappearing, but narratively, her being side-lined was very much a means to giving Tony Stark space to mess things up. After Iron Man 3 and The Avengers, Tony was racked by guilt, which was then exacerbated by Sokovia and the African Incident and his impulsiveness led to bad decisions.

If Potts had been there as the emotional, logical anchor he once had, he probably wouldn't have developed Ultron, he probably wouldn't have signed the Accords and he probably wouldn't have fought Cap so fiercely. So her change from relevance to irrelevance was a necessary sacrifice for the development of his arc.