‘Captain America: Civil War’ Won’t Include an Actor We Expected to See

One VIP will be missing, despite reports to the contrary

Captain America Civil War
Marvel

(Spoiler alert: Please don’t read this if you don’t want to know which actor won’t be appearing in “Captain America: Civil War”)

Don’t bother paging Pepper Potts — Gwyneth Paltrow does not appear in the forthcoming “Captain America: Civil War,” despite claims the Oscar winner participated in recent reshoots for the film.

A widely circulated report in February said Paltrow was included in additional scenes, resuming her role as love interest to Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark (and badass in her own right). While she’s played Potts in four different films, the actress was never tapped for this particular assemblage, an individual familiar the situation said.

The actors who are present for this go-round include Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, new Spider-Man Tom Holland and Paul Rudd.

Gone, however, does not mean forgotten.

(Extra spoiler alert: Do not keep reading if you don’t want minor spoilers for “Captain America: Civil War.”)

When he’s not trying to kick the perfect teeth of Evans’ Captain America in the latest adventure for the Avengers, Iron Man speaks almost exclusively of Potts — specifically, there’s no rest in the kingdom for the billionaire mogul and his smarter right hand. They’re on a break. Big time.

“I’m a handful,” Stark tells Captain Steve Rogers in one scene (before the bad blood starts to spill), indicating that he hasn’t progressed much beyond the obsessive, borderline manic behavior he subjected Potts to in “Iron Man 3.”

Early on in “Civil War,” Stark addresses a group of grad students at MIT — an engagement that Potts was supposed to attend judging by teleprompter copy that the mogul glosses over in his lady’s absence. He is visibly shaken.

“We all need people,” Cap writes to Stark in a note, encouraging him to mend fences with his partner in crime. Lest they pop up in the forthcoming “Thor: Ragnarok,” they won’t get the chance to smooth things over until 2018’s next “Avengers” sequel, “Infinity War Part 1.”

Paltrow has said numerous times that she’s taking an extended break from acting to focus on her lifestyle enterprise Goop, which consists of a weekly newsletter, blog, publishing entity, retail collaborations and a skin care line. She also appeared last year with Johnny Depp in the comedy “Mortdecai.”

“Captain America: Civil War” opens May 6.

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