A deleted scene from Iron Man 2, being recirculated on social media, has got Marvel fans reminiscing about Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark. The deleted scene shows Tony bantering with his future wife, Pepper Potts, played by Gwyneth Paltrow.
The 8-second clip shows Pepper scolding Tony like a mother, telling him that he is ‘being a baby’ and that he deserves ‘a spanking’. Tony, breathing through an oxygen mask and wearing his Iron Man suit, tells her that he might enjoy it.
iron man 2 deleted scenes remain undefeated pic.twitter.com/hwNkgm5MYi
— emily (@starksyndrome) May 7, 2020
Fans seemed to like the scene, and wondered why it was removed. “Iron Man 2 is such a chaotic masterpiece in both the film itself and its deleted scenes,” one person wrote in reply to the original tweet. “They shouldn’t delete this,” wrote another. One fan, on the other hand, seemed to agree that the scene felt out of place in the film. “This honestly made Tony seem really pathetic. I’m glad it’s cut,” the fan wrote.
Robert Downey Jr ended his run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Tony was killed off at the end of the film, after having sacrificed himself to defeat the villainous Thanos.
There have, however, recently been rumours that Downey might reprise his role in some capacity in the future. A cameo in the upcoming solo Black Widow movie is on the cards, as well as a voice appearance in the upcoming Disney Plus show, What If?
In recent interviews, Downey has played it coy about making a return to the MCU. In an appearance on The Today Show, the actor once again failed to give a definitive answer. “I’m not sure. Are we in bargaining now? I am so pleased, just that, I wound up where I have. I’m very fortunate so, I’m not the kind of guy who — I want to try to keep it classy. We’ll see,” he said.
Iron Man 2, while critically and commercially successful, was marred by behind-the-scenes trouble and is generally considered to be inferior to the first Iron Man film.
