Pepper Potts

"Pepper pots" redirects here. For other uses, see Pepperpot.

Pepper Potts
File:Pepper Potts in TheOrder 6.jpg Pepper Potts, from issue 6 of The Order. Art by Barry Kitson.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales of Suspense # 45, September, 1963
Created by	Stan Lee Don Heck
In-story information
Full name	Virginia "Pepper" Potts
Team affiliations	The Order
Supporting character of	Iron Man

Virginia "Pepper" Potts is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe, debuting in 1960s comic books as executive secretary to Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, in Tales of Suspense #45 (September 1963). She is portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow in the 2008 Iron Man film.

Fictional character biography

Pepper, originally in the secretarial pool, gets her job by fixing an accounting mistake made by Stark himself. Pepper is originally infatuated with Tony and responds to the attentions of Stark's chauffeur and assistant Happy Hogan with caustic remarks. This, almost immediately after her first appearance, coupled with Stark's growing affection for her, puts her in a love triangle between Stark and Hogan. Pepper is for a time interested in Iron Man, unaware that he and Stark are the same person. However, she eventually falls in love with and marries Hogan, eloping with him in Tales of Suspense #91, though that relationship isn't without its troubles.

Pepper and Happy eventually leave Stark Industries settling in the Rocky Mountains and then finally in Cleveland where they adopt children after being unable to conceive, and disappear from the main Iron Man storyline. After being kidnapped by Stark's rival Obadiah Stane, Pepper tells Tony to stay out of their lives. At an unspecified point during their absence, Pepper and Happy divorce. After Tony Stark's return from the Heroes Reborn universe, Pepper and Happy join Tony at his new company Stark Solutions and once again become core characters. After some time, Happy and Pepper once again became involved and remarry, eventually considering conceiving a child to supplement their adopted children. At this point, Tony and Pepper's relationship has a brief rekindling during trouble in Happy and Pepper's marriage. Pepper eventually does conceive, only to lose the baby at the hands of Stark's former lover and enemy Ayisha.

After Happy sustains massive injuries in a fight with Spymaster during the Civil War story arc, Pepper requests that Tony turn off Happy's life support. The final pages of Invincible Iron Man (vol. 4) #14 shows the apparent death of Happy; it is debated as to whether Tony actually complied with Pepper's request as the only link between Happy's heart failure and Tony is the fact that they are side by side in the panel.

The Order

After the events of the superhuman Civil War, Pepper joined the Fifty State Initiative as a member of 'The Order', a government sanctioned superhero team operating within California. She assumed the moniker of the Greek goddess Hera and used advanced computer hardware and prosthetics to monitor and coordinate the team's missions. Upon the absorption of The Order into the Initiative, Tony Stark offers her a job on the special projects team at Stark Enterprises, which she accepts.

The Invincible Iron Man (2008)

Pepper Potts resumes her activities as personal secretary of Tony Stark, in a manner reminiscent of Gwyneth Paltrow's portrayal in the Iron Man feature film, constantly hinting at some sexual tension between herself and Tony, unreturned because of Stark's womanizing personality. However, this abruptly comes to an end when Ezekiel Stane, son of Obadiah Stane, causes an explosion during a party hosted by Stark, and Pepper, unable to flee, is trapped under debris and wounded by shrapnel. Suffering a concussion, damage in almost every internal organ, some degree of deafness in the right ear, and pieces of shrapnel embedded in her chest, she's far too weak to withstand a prolonged surgery, so Tony Stark embeds a strong magnet (similar in appearance to the arc reactor of the movie) in her chest, essentially turning Pepper Potts into a cyborg dependent on keeping her chest magnet engaged to stay alive like he was once. Pepper survives the less invasive procedure, but, as it was for Tony, it's uncertain when, and if, the magnet could ever be removed. Pepper's body was further enhanced with new cybernetics. Pepper at first is shattered: even if bionics gave her back her full mobility and her hearing, Pepper feels herself losing her humanity and becoming a weapon, until Tony is forced to admit that Pepper's bionics is not Starktech in origins: instead, it comes from Danny Rand's design for a new battery. Comforted by the humanitarian origins of her tech, Pepper embraces her cyberization, exploring her new magnetic powered abilities, like gliding over magnetic lines.

Other versions

Amalgam Comics

In the Amalgam Comics Universe, DC Comics' Green Lantern and Marvel's Iron Man are combined to create Iron Lantern. Iron Lantern is secretly Hal Stark, owner of Stark Aircraft, a developer of experimental aircraft. One of his test pilots is Pepper Ferris (an amalgamation of Pepper Potts and DC's Carol Ferris). Like both her DC and Marvel counterpart, she is involved in a love triangle, this time with Stark and his chief mechanic Happy Kalmaku (an amalgamation of Marvel's Happy Hogan and DC's Thomas Kalmaku). When Pepper comes in contact with a mysterious alien gem, she is transformed into Madame Sapphire (a combination of Marvel's Madame Masque and DC's Star Sapphire). Pepper Ferris first appeared in Iron Lantern #1 (April 1997), published jointly by Marvel and DC. She was created by Kurt Busiek (script) and Paul Smith (art).

Heroes Reborn

In the alternate universe of Heroes Reborn, Pepper and Iron Man are lovers, although she can also be seen performing romantic activities with Happy Hogan. Stark is forced to leave her unexpectedly and without explanation as his very presence in the universe will endanger her life and the lives of everyone else.

The Ultimates

Virginia "Pepper" Potts can be seen in the Ultimate Universe during Ultimates 2. She and Happy(with whom she appears to be in a relationship) can be seen monitoring Tony when he uses the armor.

Appearances in other media

Television

• Pepper Potts has appeared in the Invincible Iron Man segments of the 1966 animated series, The Marvel Super Heroes voiced by Peg Dixon.
• Pepper Potts appears in Iron Man: Armored Adventures, voiced by Anna Cummer.

Film

Pepper Potts appeared in The Invincible Iron Man voiced by Elisa Gabrielli, with an apparent British accent.

Gwyneth Paltrow portrays the character in the 2008 Iron Man feature film. She serves a central role in the film as Stark's personal secretary, who is impressed by her employer's improved attitude and moral stance upon returning from his imprisonment in Afghanistan. She also plays a crucial role at the film's climax when Stark battles Iron Monger. The movie alludes to Tony's constant dependency on her (to where he even needs her to remember his social security number) and hints towards a sexual tension between the two, though neither act upon it. As for her relationship with the film version of Happy Hogan (played by director Jon Favreau), aside from a brief shot of them talking in one scene the two characters do not speak to each other in the film. In the novelization of the film by Peter David, there is a scene where Happy speaks to James Rhodes during Stark's disappearance, and he notes his concern about Pepper's emotional state. The film's novelization by Peter David states that her given name is really Virginia, and that "Pepper" was a nickname bestowed upon her by Tony after she threatened to pepper spray a coworker who'd been harassing her.