'Avengers 4' Spoilers: Why Pepper Potts' Armor May Have Deadly Consequences

Tons of Marvel fans think Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts will get her own Iron Man-style armor in Avengers 4, especially after a set photo selfie of her in some kind of armor supposedly leaked on Tuesday.

A new fan theory unpacks what it would really mean for Pepper to suit up as Rescue, specifically how her armor would be more defensive in nature — an alteration that could even lead to Tony Stark’s untimely death in Avengers 4.

Redditor u/TheLazerShell posted their theory about Rescue to the r/FanTheories subreddit on Thursday titled, “[Avengers 4] Theory about the Rescue armor.” They theorize that rather than being just another Iron Man armor for Pepper, the Rescue suit is actually built for defense rather than offense.

“In the comics, the Rescue armor doesn’t have any offensive capabilities, it’s an armor Tony made primarily for Pepper’s protection. It’s described as an “Emergency Search and Rescue Unit” and it’s thrusters don’t even give off heat.” Chances are Tony forces in “RESCUE” as an acronym, so maybe it’s a “Responsive Emergency Shielding & Ulterior Evacuation” suit?

TheLazerShell explains how in the comics, the Rescue suit is a stripped down version of the Iron Man suit that has zero offensive capabilities and as such, is much faster. It can also manipulate magnetic fields (similar Magneto), create force fields, and emit EMP blasts disabling nearby electronics. Another Avengers 4 rumor indicates the film might take place five years after Infinity War, so the crux of this new theory is that Pepper uses the Rescue suit made by Tony to protect not only herself but their child as well.

“I think Tony makes [the Rescue suit] and gives it to Pepper out of paranoia and for Pepper to protect both herself and their kid when Tony isn’t there. So maybe there’s a potential attack on Earth where we do see her suit up and protect her kid alongside the other heroes, and just like the comics, it’s not gonna be big on the offense, instead it’s focus is gonna be primarly on protecting Pepper with force fields and speed.”

This actually makes a lot of sense considering Stark and Potts were engaged to be married and actively planning the wedding at the beginning of Infinity War, so if the time jump is true, then them only having a child makes sense. And because Tony is deeply effect by Peter Parker’s death in Infinity War, he’s bound to be more protective and obsessive than ever.

When the above photo hit the internet earlier this week, Inverse’s own Eric Francisco called shenanigans, citing how tight Marvel’s security is in terms of leaks and spoilers. Did someone hack Paltrow’s phone? Perhaps the photo is a fabrication entirely.

But assuming the photo is real, then it’ll no doubt have huge implications for Avengers 4. What can and what will Pepper Potts do with the Rescue suit?

“Maybe she somehow gets dragged into the big fight,” TheLazerShell theorizes, “and maybe this inability to attack is gonna prevent her from saving Tony.”

For all we know, if the Rescue suit is lacking in any potential offensive abilities, then maybe she tries and fails to protect Tony and has to be there as he dies?

Avengers 4 will be released on May 3, 2019.