There are a lot of Marvel Cinematic Universe projects out there. To date, as of Werewolf By Night, there have been at least 38 stories spread across both movies and television. So it's not too hard to blame someone for being a little forgetful—such as Iron Man's Gwyneth Paltrow.
The actress has been known to be a little forgetting of her time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For example, she seemed perplexed when Jon Favreau told her that they both worked on Spider-Man: Homecoming.
It's basically become an ongoing Internet joke, with people always looking for new examples.
Now, MCU actress Elizabeth Olsen reacted to the ongoing joke online regarding Gwyneth Paltrow's Marvel memory loss.
Olsen Reacts to Co-Star's Memory Loss
In an interview with Variety, WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness star Elizabeth Olsen commented on the ongoing thought that Gwyneth Paltrow is experiencing some Marvel memory loss.
The first thing she said was, "right, right, right, right, right. Yeah, that’s very funny."
The actress defended Paltrow, saying that "she does a lot of things besides being an actor:"
"I know exactly what I’m doing. But I feel like she does a lot of things besides being an actor. So, maybe she just kind of feels like, 'Oh yeah, this is this thing I do sometimes. And then this is my real job, running this empire,' or whatever."
So when did this whole saga begin with Paltrow? Well, it's all thanks to an Instagram post:
"I love April 4th because it was the day god gave us @robertdowneyjr HAPPY BIRTHDAY, dear heart. Love me and that other guy in the photo."
It's the "other guy in the photo" that led people to think she had legitimately forgotten who Holland was—even though it seems to be a casual joke from the actress.
But then, during an interview with Popsugar, Holland seemed to believe she had actually forgotten him. It was on the set of Avengers: Endgame when Gwyneth Paltrow had come up to him and "asked [him] for a photo with [him] and Robert [Downey Jr.]:"
"One time when we were shooting Avengers: Endgame, she was in her blue suit, and I was in my Spider-Man suit and she came up and she asked me for a photo with me and Robert [Downey Jr.] and then I think she posted it and she said, 'Robert Downey Jr. and myself and this guy.' I was just the guy."
Things continued from there when on Jon Favreau's cooking show, The Chef Show, the actress revealed that she never remembered working on Spider-Man: Homecoming.
After mentioning how Favreau had worked with Paltrow on his cooking endeavors while filming Spider-Man in Atlanta, the actress responded, "Spider-Man?"
She went on to say that "[they] weren't in Spider-Man... No, [she] was in Avengers."
When Favreau tried to correct her and pointed out she had been involved with both, her response was simply, "What?"
The actor behind the MCU's Happy Hogan went on to describe that scene at the end of Homecoming where Tom Holland's there, Happy gives Pepper the ring, and she walks out to do a press conference.
Paltrow remained confused, responding back with, "That was Spider-Man?"
Favreau went on to defend Paltrow's honor, revealing that Marvel's secrecy and ways of doing things can lead to one not being completely aware of what's actually going on around them—like if one is filming a Homecoming after-credits tease or an Avengers film:
"With the Marvel things, they have so many films happening at the same time and all of them interweave with one another... often times, you're not exactly sure what's happening, even me. I'm an executive producer on [Avengers: Endgame]; I didn't always know what was going on."
In that same Popsugar interview from above, Holland referenced The Chef Show incident, saying it "[broke his] heart:"
"I mean, I've only worked with Gwyneth one time on Spider-Man: Homecoming. But she doesn't remember. Which, still to this day, breaks my heart."
During an interview in late 2019, Paltrow spoke out about the claims, defending herself in that "there are so many Marvel movies" and that she is "a 47-year-old mother:"
“I never read stuff... but it is confusing because there are so many Marvel movies, and to be honest, I haven’t seen very many of them. It’s really stupid and I’m sorry, but I’m a 47-year-old mother.”
Fans kept finding incidents that fit in with her memory loss narrative. As seen in a Twitter post, Zendaya wore an outfit previously worn by Paltrow herself to the 25th annual Critics Choice Awards.
The Petter Potts actress promptly look to Instagram to declare how happy she was to "have something in common with Zendaya." It didn't take long for a fan to point out to her that they were both involved in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Most recently, a fan asked her over Instagram if she had watched the Hawkeye series on Disney+, to which she responded, "No, what is that?"
Is Gwyneth Paltrow Truly Forgetful?
Gwyneth Paltrow's reasoning isn't all that far-fetched. Not only are there tons of Marvel Studios projects, but the company's level of secrecy could easily lead to some confusion.
After all, the actress' scene in Spider-Man: Homecoming did take place in the Avengers compound. So if she didn't pay much attention to that film's codename, it makes perfect sense for her to simply have assumed the bit was for an upcoming Avengers outing.
The big question is, will she remember to come back for more? After all, not only does Pepper Potts have her own Iron Man suit now, but she's watching over the daughter of Tony Stark.
Maybe the upcoming Armor Wars movie could be the perfect spot to see both of them again.
