15 Crazy Things Only True Iron Man Fans Know About Tony And Pepper’s Relationship

Thanks to the amazing success of 2008’s Iron Man, we not only got to see the launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we were introduced to one of Marvel’s most enduring romances!

Granted, readers of the comics have been following the love story that is Pepper Potts and Tony Stark for years, but they certainly have a great deal more knowledge than your average movie-going fan. Given that these two characters have been around for more than 55 years, it’s likely there is a lot you don’t know about the relationship between Tony and Pepper, especially if all you know comes from the films.

Pepper and Tony’s relationship has gone from two people simply working together to a romantic bond, and even to fighting crime and supervillains together.

How much do you really know about what goes on between these two powerhouses of Marvel entertainment? One is Iron Man: a founding member of the Avengers and pivotal character in the Marvel Universe, while the other is far more than she appears on the surface. Test your knowledge and see how much you know about Tony and Pepper.

Here are 15 Crazy Things Only True Iron Man Fans Know About Tony And Pepper’s Relationship

15 THEY’VE BEEN TOGETHER FOR OVER 50 YEARS

It should come as no surprise to learn that both Pepper Potts and Tony Stark have been around for a long time.

Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, made his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 all the way back in 1963. It wasn’t long before he needed an assistant, which meant Ms. Virginia “Pepper” Potts wasn’t far away.

Potts made her debut appearance only a few issues later in Tales of Suspense #45, alongside Happy Hogan and the characters have been sharing the same ink ever since.

Both characters were created by the man himself, Stan Lee who came up with much of the Marvel Universe. The man behind the pencil was Don Heck, who was also behind such characters as the Mandarin and Hawkeye.

Since 1963, Pepper and Tony have appeared alongside one another hundreds of times in the comics, cartoons, and films that followed.

14 PEPPER, TONY, AND HAPPY WERE IN A LOVE TRIANGLE

If your only knowledge of Pepper Potts and Tony Stark’s relationship comes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you might want to sit down: Pepper, Tony, and Happy Hogan were involved in something of a love triangle for a number of years after everyone was first introduced in Tales of Suspense.

Happy took an immediate liking to the young woman fetching coffee for his new boss, but he had little to no interest in him and was completely swooning over Tony.

Much of their early history read like a high school romantic comedy – except of course for the fact that one of the three was dressing up in a suit of armor and protecting the world from whatever evil plot popped up on a monthly basis. For most of the initial issues, Tony was either oblivious of Pepper’s affection towards him or he simply disregarded it to support Happy.

13 PEPPER AND HAPPY GOT MARRIED AND ADOPTED KIDS

These days, it’s all about the relationship between Pepper and Tony – that’s what this very list is about – but back in the early 1960s, it was all about Happy and Pepper.

Mrs. Pepper Hogan, as she eventually became known, married Mr. Happy Hogan and stopped working for Tony. After becoming a 1960s domestic, she and Happy adopted a couple of children who, for some reason, have disappeared in the Marvel Universe.

We do know that Happy and Pepper adopted a young boy and a girl, but Marvel never bothered to give the children a name.

They barely showed up in any issues and were eventually forgotten about. There was even an issue where Iron Man rescued the children and learned they were Pepper and Happy’s, but he clearly hadn’t kept up with them after they left his employ because he had no idea who the kids were.

12 IRON MAN MESSED UP PEPPER & HAPPY’S MARRIAGE(S)

If there’s on immutable truth about getting close to a superhero, it’s that your life will get turned upside down. Just ask Mary Jane Watson, Alexandra DeWitt, or Lois Lane and they will tell you that getting close to a superhero is just a bad idea.

For Pepper and Happy, the cost of being associated with Iron Man was their marriage. You know how supervillains enjoy tearing up the people close to their nemesis in order to break them down? That’s pretty much what went down for Happy and Pepper.

The constant battling, kidnappings, and other superhero-related drama eventually took its toll and the two couldn’t maintain their relationship.

They eventually divorced and while they got back together, they never could make it work. They have since gone on to be friends and the entire Happy-Pepper-Tony love triangle has been completelymissing from the MCU.

11 IRON MAN 2’S ORIGINAL OPENING SCENE

When it came time to direct Iron Man 2, John Favreau was given a somewhat shorter leash than previously for the first Iron Man film.

In the first movie, he clearly established a growing romantic relationship between Tony and Pepper on screen so it should come as no surprise to learn he wanted to continue to explore this in the second. Unfortunately, he was reigned in a little bit with his original opening scene.

His initial plan was to begin the film with Tony waking up to Pepper in his bed only to realize he just slept with Pepper! He would then freak out and various levels of drama would ensue.

Marvel nixed the idea in favor of what Favreau described as their “Avengers Agenda,” which meant they wanted to preserve some aspect of their relationship for future films. Sadly, the scene was never shot, but it could have been fun.

10 PEPPER’S GROWTH

Pepper Potts is a woman of many talents. In the 55+ years she has been around, she has worn many hats and they have all been depicted by Gwyneth Paltrow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

When she first appeared, she was a typical misogynistic depiction of a 1960s secretary who was infatuated with her boss, but seriously good at her job.

As time when on and she got closer to Tony, they fell in love and began a romantic relationship.

Eventually, the woman who started working as a secretary went on to become the CEO of one of the largest and most profitable companies in the Marvel Universe. Each of these roles have been covered in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has even included Ms. Potts as something of a reluctant superhero in Iron Man 3. That’s not too far from the comics, which we will delve into shortly.

9 ON-AGAIN/OFF-AGAIN RELATIONSHIP

Just like her relationship in the comics with Happy Hogan, Pepper and Tony’s time together has been a bit rocky and it’s almost always due to his role as Iron Man.

In Iron Man 3, it was clear they were starting to have some issues with their relationship when the house was destroyed by his enemies and things only got more out of hand when Pepper became the pawn in Aldrich Killian’s plot to destroy Iron Man. When Captain America: Civil War came around, Tony mentioned he and Pepper were “taking a break,” which is never a good thing.

Fast-forward a bit and we see Pepper and Tony back together again at the conclusion of Spider-Man: Homecoming. This on-again, off-again depiction of their relationship mirrors the troubles the couple faces in the comics as well and is indicative of the strain on a relationship being a superhero can have.

8 RDJ INSISTED PEPPER BE IN AVENGERS

Robert Downey Jr. recognizes the talent Paltrow brings to the table, which is why he insisted she be included in Avengers. His reason for wanting her included weren’t simply related to Paltrow, but also due to how he views both characters and their relationship.

RDJ felt that in order for Tony to progress as a character, he needed Pepper there to help bring him along.

Director Joss Whedon initially wanted her to be absent, insisting that “you need to separate the characters from their support systems in order to create the isolation you need for a team,” but he was swayed by RDJ’s argument.

Tony needs Pepper to mature as a person as well as a superhero and their onscreen chemistry is a testament to this. Downey was right – Pepper’s brief appearance in the film would have been missed were she absent.

7 TONY TRUSTS PEPPER WITH HIS ARMOR SHUT-DOWN REMOTE

When you have the skills and resources to build a suit of armor that is the most powerful weapon system in the world, it’s important to know who you can trust.

Throughout the years, Tony’s armor has evolved from a clunky medieval-looking monstrosity into a nanomachine-fueled, sleek suit of pure beauty. In order to to keep everything in check and ensure his overall safety, Tony trusts Pepper with something that could be incredibly dangerous for him: a remote shutoff for his armor.

He has entrusted her with this for a number of reasons, but he made the remote primarily as a fail-safe should his armor need to be deactivated in an emergency.

The level of trust he has in her is clear from the fact that he gives her the ability to remotely deactivate his armor. This responsibility has also helped to evolve Pepper as an important character in the Marvel Universe.

6 ALTERNATE CASTINGS

It’s rare that a movie begins filming having only considered one actor or actress for a role and Iron Man was no exception.

Before casting Robert Downey Jr.and Gwyneth Paltrow in their roles, Tom Cruise and Rachel McAdams were reportedly considered.

Rotten Tomatoes reported that McAdams was the first and only actress considered for the role of Pepper Potts. She was apparently sent a copy of the script back in 2006 with the hopes she would take it, but ultimately, the role went to Ms. Paltrow.

Tom Cruise was in talks with Favreau and Paramount to play the character in 2004, but delays and a transfer of the rights meant Cruise wouldn’t be able to take the part. While both actors are fantastic and could have done a great job in their roles, it’s difficult to imagine anyone in the roles besides RDJ and Gwyneth Paltrow.

5 THE SECRETLY PLANNED PROPOSAL

Tony Stark may seem like an impulsive man, but he only appears that way on the surface. At the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Tony is all set to reveal Peter Parker’s Spider-Man as the newest addition to the Avengers at a press conference, but things don’t go according to plan. Peter, believing the whole thing to be an elaborate test by Stark, decides to forego his Avengers Membership Card and return to high school where he can remain the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

Left with a room of news-hungry journalists, Stark has nothing left to give them so he seemingly decides to pop the question to Pepper.

However, when Happy pulls the ring out of his coat pocket, it’s clear he has been carrying it around for quite some time. It may seem that he impulsively proposed to Pepper, but he clearly had it on his mind for some time.

4 TONY SAVED PEPPER AND MADE HER INTO A SUPERHERO

In the comics these days, Pepper is no longer a secretary or CEO of the company, she is a full-blown superhero!

After Ezekiel “Zeke” Stane launches a terrorist bombing that severely wounds her, Tony saves her life by implanting an incredibly strong magnet in her chest to keep shrapnel from travelling to her heart (sound familiar?). She then receives some cybernetic enhancements and upgrades the magnet to one similar to Tony’s arc reactor from the films.

With her newfound powers, she receives a suit of armor crafted just for her and adopts the superhero name: Rescue.

She has similar abilities to Iron Man, but she also gained the ability to manipulate electromagnetic fields and levitate similar to Magneto. Her suit is equipped with different repulsor technology and, like Tony, she has had to upgrade from one suit of armor to another.

3 TONY VS ZOMBIE PEPPER

There was a time when the Marvel Universe was overrun by zombies and Stark Industries was not immune to the effects of the zombie plague. It was up to Tony to try and keep the whole place from going the full Walking Dead on him. Unfortunately, he was not able to save the lovely Ms. Pepper Potts, who turned into an undead monster intent on tearing the flesh from her boss’ bones.

To combat this, Tony did what any would-be zombie victim would do: he puked all over her and ran away. This being Tony, the vomit wasn’t just bile and the Kale Smoothie he had for breakfast, it was laced with nanomachines designed to cure cancer.

When facing the zombie virus, they ended up destroying the host by eating them from the inside so Tony effectively destroyed the zombie Pepper by puking on her.

2 THE ACTRESS WHO INSPIRED PEPPER

When an artist sets out to create a new character, it’s normal for them to model after a real person or even another character played by a real person.

For inspiration in creating Pepper Potts, Don Heck looked towards Ann B. Davis’ character, Charmaine “Schultzy” Schultz from The Bob Cummings Show. You probably recognize Davis as the housekeeper from another hit series, The Brady Bunch, but that particular series didn’t hit the airwaves until 1969 – six years after Ms. Potts first made it to print.

It may be difficult to picture Pepper Potts being derived from the look and mannerisms of Schultzy, but in her early days, that’s exactly what she was like.

These days, most people picture her as Gwyneth Paltrow’s take on the character, which is what the comic book version eventually evolved into, but in those early days, she was a completely different person.

1 WEDDING BELLS IN THE MCU?

After seeing Tony decide to finally pop the question at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, fans are dying to see what will happen next.

With Avengers: Infinity War upon us, the hope is we might get to see the two lovebirds finally tie the knot. Of course, as superhero films go, getting married often means a wedding will get interrupted by some sort of supervillain or another so it seems logical that any nuptials will be interrupted by Thanos sticking his purple face into our heroes’ business.

Much of the fan speculation came from some set pictures released back in August, 2017, which showed Paltrow on set getting chummy with RDJ.

Of course, this is all speculation and a wedding could take place off-screen between Homecoming and Infinity War, but only time will tell for sure.

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Do you have any other trivia to share about Iron Man‘s relationship with Pepper Potts? Let us know in the comments.

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