Here’s everything we know about Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Happy Hogan’s (Jon Favreau) roles in Avengers: Endgame. Playing Tony Stark’s assistant-turned-fiancee and his driver/right-hand-man, respectively, the two helped kick off the MCU in 2008’s Iron Man, alongside Robert Downey Jr., who played the titular character. Since then, they’ve portrayed their roles a handful of times over the course of the decade, with Paltrow coming back five times and Favreau returning three times.

Happy and Pepper have been Tony’s support system long before he took on the mantle as Iron Man and they’ve remained loyal to him all throughout his outings as an Avengers member. Following the events of Avengers: Infinity War where he and his team failed to stop Thanos from wiping out half of all life in the universe, Tony is currently floating aimlessly in space with no hopes of being rescued, as revealed in Endgame trailers. But as the remaining heroes grapple with the thought of losing to the Mad Titan and live out the repercussions of The Decimation, Happy and Pepper are undoubtedly more concerned about knowing Tony’s whereabouts.

Tony is expected to make his way back to Earth and rejoin the team for their last stand against Thanos, although it’s still unclear how. But as he gears up for arguably the most important fight of his life, Happy and Pepper will, as always, stand by his side. Here’s everything we know about their roles in Endgame.

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Happy Hogan & Pepper Potts Were Confirmed For Avengers: Endgame By Posters

Infinity War ended with Thanos dusting off half of life in the whole universe, and that includes some beloved MCU heroes. But the fates of other characters from the franchise were left a mystery, including Pepper and Happy. Pepper appeared in the beginning of Infinity War on a jog with Tony, randomly talking about the possibility of being pregnant before they got married. But after he was whisked away by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to deal with Thanos, we never get back to her on Earth. Since The Decimation was random, many were worried that she would’ve been one of the unfortunate people who died. However, a slew of character posters for Endgame laid out which characters lived and which had died, thus confirming that she and Happy survived the galactic genocide, thus paving the way for their appearance in the Phase 3 capper.

Prior to the individual portraits, the first ensemble poster for Endgame that rolled out alongside the second trailer also listed Paltrow and Favreau for Endgame. Their characters weren’t featured in the one-sheet, but the billing at the bottom included both their names alongside Benedict Wong, who plays Doctor Strange’s companion, Wong. Given this, fans are expecting Pepper and Happy to play a sizeable role in the movie, which makes sense considering that Tony will be at the forefront of the upcoming battle against Thanos. Much of their arcs in the MCU have been anchored on Tony and his subsequent adventures as Iron Man. Pepper, who started as his personal secretary, developed a romantic relationship with him and is now his fiancee on top of being the CEO of Stark Industries. Happy, meanwhile, has stayed with him through thick and thin, even after his near-death experience in Iron Man 3.

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Pepper Potts Likely Becomes Rescue In Avengers: Endgame

There have been rumblings of Pepper suiting up in Endgame since Paltrow uploaded a photo of herself on social media, wearing a motion capture suit, back in 2017. In the MCU, she briefly donned an armor (albeit Stark’s own) in Iron Man 3 following the attack on their Malibu home, but in the comics, the character has worn her own suit, taking on the mantle as Rescue during 2009’s World’s Most Wanted storyline. This is likely going to be the case in Avengers: Endgame, with evidence backing up the claims that she will become Rescue.

Key art for Avengers: Endgame’s Hero Vision toy line revealed an assembly of tie-in merchandise, including a purple-and-white version of an Iron Man suit that resembles Pepper’s own suit from the comics. Not long after that, a supposedly leaked behind the scenes photo of the actress wearing a plated armor made its way onto social media, reinforcing this possibility. The fact that she was sporting a similar nano-tech power tracksuit in Infinity War as Stark’s corroborates with this idea as the mechanism makes it easier to suit up, whether it’s for battle or simply for protection.

With Tony stranded in space, one possible theory is that Pepper will come and rescue him. The Endgame trailers saw him recording a message for his fiancee using his armor’s busted helmet. It’s uncertain how it can be communicated to her but assuming that it does and she come save him, that will effectively earn her comic book superhero moniker, Rescue in the MCU.

We Don’t Know Anything About Happy Hogan’s Avengers: Endgame Role

No concrete details yet with regard to Happy’s involvement in Endgame. Favreau’s MCU character was supposed to have a part in Infinity War in the same sequence where Tony and Pepper rambles on about the possibility of being pregnant, but it was ultimately cut from the theatrical version. Instead, it was included in Avengers: Infinity War’s deleted scenes as part of its home entertainment release and revealed Happy was struggling to contain media interest on the upcoming wedding between Tony and Pepper. Before the posters confirmed his return, Favreau had already revealed that he would be in Avengers: Endgame.

The last time fans saw Tony’s right-hand-man was in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Happy was in charge of keeping an eye on Peter Parker (Tom Holland) as he underwent training to officially become an Avenger. He was also packing up the Avengers HQ in Manhattan after his boss sold the new building in the film. And had it not been for Spider-Man, the Vulture (Michael Keaton) would’ve gotten away with hijacking the plane transporting Tony’s stuff from New York City to upstate, and Happy could’ve been out of a job.

Happy’s role in Endgame will more likely be the same as his past MCU outings in the last decade - and that’s to provide support for Stark, especially as he gears up for the Avengers’ big fight against Thanos. But regardless of what Happy is going to be up to in the Phase 3 capper, one thing is certain - he’ll live past the ongoing debacle centering on the Mad Titan. The first trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home has already confirmed his appearance in the movie as he seemingly develops a romantic relationship with Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), which, understandably, makes Peter very uncomfortable.

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Avengers: Endgame will be the culmination of everything that has transpired in the MCU for the last 10 years, and since Pepper and Happy were among the very first characters in the franchise, it’s only apt that they’re expected to play a sizeable role in the final film in the film series’ Infinity Saga. Their roles will be tightly integrated with Tony’s fate in the movie, regardless of whether that means he’s permanently or temporarily walking away from being Iron Man.

More: Time Travel In The MCU & Avengers: Endgame Explained

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