Virginia Potts

"I do whatever Mr. Stark needs of me, including occassionally taking out the trash."

- Pepper Potts

Virginia Potts, usually called Pepper, is the CEO of Stark Industries and former personal secretary of Tony Stark.

Iron Man
Pepper Potts is Stark's personal secretary and budding love interest. He asks her to help him take his old arc reactor out and to put in a new one. Tony tells Pepper to get rid of the old model since he's not a sentimental person, but she but she kept it inside a glass box with a special border around it reading, "Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart".

In the charity event, Tony then leaves to dance with Pepper and they share a moment together in the moonlight and almost a kiss.

Tony tries to talk Pepper into helping him, believing that nothing else matters but stopping the people who he put in harm's way. Pepper is moved by Tony's dedication, and agrees. She goes into Obadiah's office with a tiny piece of equipment designed to copy files from the computer. As Pepper sifts through stored files, she finds a video from the terrorists proving that Obadiah was responsible for Tony's capture.

In the battle against Iron Monger Tony instructs Pepper to overload the building's Arc Reactor, which will generate a shockwave strong enough to knock out the Iron Monger's suit. Pepper is hesitant, believing that Tony could also be killed. Tony manages to keep fighting while she builds up power to the Reactor. The Arc explodes, taking out Obadiah and injuring Tony. But the energy wave from the Reactor also manages to re-charge Tony's heart battery, saving him from death.

Iron Man 2
Pepper is promoted to CEO of Stark Industries by Tony.

The Avengers
Pepper will have a small role in The Avengers.

Relationships

 * Tony Stark - Boss and lover.
 * Happy Hogan - Friend and assisstant.
 * Natalie Rushman - Assistant.
 * Iron Monger - Enemy.
 * Whiplash - Enemy.
 * Justin Hammer - Enemy.

Appearances/Actresses

 * Canon (3 films)
 * Iron Man (First appearance) - Gwyneth Paltrow
 * Iron Man 2 - Gwyneth Paltrow
 * The Avengers - Gwyneth Paltrow

Behind the scenes
Paltrow asked Marvel to send her any comics that they would consider relevant to her understanding of the character, which she considered to be very smart, levelheaded, and grounded. She said she liked "the fact that there's a sexuality that's not blatant." Favreau wanted Potts' and Stark's relationship to be reminiscent of a 1940s comedy, something which Paltrow considered to be fun in a sexy yet innocent way.

Trivia

 * In the comics Pepper was married to Happy Hogan, but they divorced.
 * In the comics, Tony makes Pepper her own suit and she is called Rescue.