Virginia "Pepper" Potts is a fictional character, a supporting character of Iron Man in the Marvel Comics Universe. She first appears in Tales of Suspense #45 (September 1963) and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck. In 2007, she joined the Fifty States Initiative under the codename Hera, and after being given her own suit of armor by Tony Stark, assumed the codename Rescue in The Invincible Iron Man #14. She is portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow in the Iron Man film trilogy.