Joss Whedon teases brother/sister duo in 'The Avengers 2'; Gwyneth Paltrow says there won't be an 'Iron Man 4'

It's always been a little confusing to figure out how Marvel decides which characters they can use in any of their feature films. In some cases it's pretty clear, like for instance they can't use Spider-Man because Sony currently owns the film rights. But that leads to the question of where someone like the Scarlet Witch would land. As the daughter of the X-man villain Magneto, one would think she falls under 20th Century Fox's umbrella, but she's also best identified as a member of The Avengers. It's a conundrum that could possibly be coming to a head as Joss Whedon seemed to tease the presence of the Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver in The Avengers sequel.

While doing press on the Iron Man 3 red carpet, Whedon had this to say to Yahoo....

Whedon: "I’ve got these two characters, two of my favourite characters from the comic book, a brother-sister act."

There are plenty of sibling duos in the Marvel Universe, but to the best of my knowledge the only brother/sister pair who were Avengers are Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. The characters are pretty much up for grabs, so Marvel may be looking to strike first and get them on the big screen sooner rather than later.  Whedon also revealed that he's finished one draft of the script and is reworking it now.

But will that script include any reference to Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark? Our good friend Kevin McCarthy had a chance to hit up the Iron Man 3 junket, and while talking with Gwyneth Paltrow, she sounded convinced it would be the last film in the series....

Paltrow: "I don’t think there’s going to be [an Iron Man 4]. I think we’re done with Iron Man."

Downey has been talking a lot lately about his future as Tony Stark, and right now it's unclear whether he's agreed to extend his contract with Disney. It's possible that Iron Man 3 will wrap up the story, and maybe from there on we only see Stark when the Avengers assemble. Or maybe this will be the last time we see the character at all? Unlikely, but anything is possible.

It does seem strange that Paltrow would reveal something like that, though, especially right before the film opens. So maybe this was just her having a bit of fun? For that matter, Whedon may have been pulling our legs and getting the Internet in a tizzy with his comments. Presumably we'll learn more when Iron Man 3 opens here on May 3rd. The Avengers 2, possibly minus Iron Man, arrives on May 1st 2015.