WARNING: The following contains spoilers for What If...? Season 1, Episode 6, "What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?," streaming now on Disney+.
The latest episode of What If...? featured a number of strong performances from actors reprising their Marvel Cinematic Universe roles as voice actors. Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger performance reminded fans that he's the best MCU "villain," while Chadwick Boseman had another affecting turn as T'Challa. Danai Gurira, Angela Bassett and John Kani also returned to play Okoye, Queen Ramonda and King T'Chaka.
While Black Panther was well represented in the episode's cast, Iron Man wasn't. Supporting characters like James Rhodes, Christine Everhart and Happy Hogan were all played by their live-action counterparts, but Tony Stark and Pepper Potts weren't. While we've already heard Stark's animated MCU stand-in, Beth Hoyt just made her debut as his better half.
Hoyt has acting credits going back to 2006 when she appeared in the drama The Spiral Project. Her resume also features many web shows and shorts, including multiple videos on the YouTube comedy channel Key Of Awesome, where she parodied rapper Iggy Azalea and Frozen's Elsa.
Aside from a bit part in the 2012 comedy Bachelorette, her first prominent mainstream roles were on Inside Amy Schumer, which makes sense given her background in stand-up comedy. Hoyt's next big appearance was on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where she played Margaret Dozerman in the Season 3 episode "The Funeral."
In 2020, Hoyt made guest appearances on two dramas, Netflix's Dead To Me and the Breaking Bad prequel series Better Call Saul. In the latter, she played Kim Wexler's mother in a flashback. Aside from that, she's remained active working on YouTube videos and shorts, including Sisters!, which she co-wrote and starred in.
Unlike What If...?'s Black Widow, Lake Bell, the show is Hoyt's first foray into voice acting in general and the superhero genre specifically. She acquits herself well stepping into the role Gwyneth Paltrow originated, serving as a consistent vice of suspicion against Killmonger that falls on deaf ears. The episode's ending sees her team up with the only person to see through him in Wakanda, T'Challa's sister Shuri.
Hoyt took on the role of Pepper Potts after Paltrow used Avengers: Endgame as her jumping-off point from the MCU. Leaving alongside her on-screen soul mate, Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark, makes perfect sense. While she's appreciative of her time in the MCU, she was never entirely clear which Marvel movie she was appearing in at any given time. While she's unwilling to commit the time to another feature MCU role, much less a Rescue spin-off, Paltrow has made the caveat that she'd return for a quick cameo. However, doing voice work for What If..? apparently doesn't meet that criteria.
What If...? releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.
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