People You Didn’t Know Were in Marvel Movies
The Marvel Cinematic Universe employs even more of Hollywood than you expect! Do you know all of these celebrity appearances in Marvel films over the years?
Marvel Studios has been producing TV shows and movies based on their iconic comic-book characters since the 80s but took it to a whole new dimension when 2008’s “Iron Man” kickstarted the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The revolutionary concept of devising a shared universe of connected movies that culminated in The Avengers took audiences by storm, and the MCU has only grown and grown with every new phase. With so many movies produced over the years, a ton of people you have been wanting to see in a Marvel movie may have already been in one.
Elizabeth Banks - Appeared In Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy
Elizabeth Banks at the Los Angeles premiere of “Spider-Man 2.” The actress and director played J. Jonah Jameson’s assistant Betty Brant at The Daily Bugle newspaper and had small scenes in all three of the Raimi films.
Donald Glover - Appeared In “Spider-Man: Homecoming”
Donald Glover was the subject of an internet campaign to get him to play Spider-Man when the 2012 reboot was casting. The role went to Andrew Garfield, but Glover had a minor appearance as Aaron Davis in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”
Lee Pace - Appeared In “Guardians Of The Galaxy” & “Captain Marvel”
Lee Pace at the World Premiere of “Captain Marvel.” You may know this if you could see through his intense makeup, but Twitter’s favorite hottie Lee Pace has portrayed the villain Ronan The Accuser in two MCU films.
Kevin Smith - Appeared In “Daredevil” (2003)
The writer, director and de-facto king of nerds Kevin Smith has written for Marvel Comics in the past, but his only Marvel acting role was when he played a forensic assistant for a cameo in the critically-panned 2003 film “Daredevil” starring Ben Affleck.
Jenna Ortega - Appeared In “Iron Man 3”
Jenna Ortega has been taking the world by storm with incredible performances in several recent horror movies. Her film debut, however, was at the age of 11 in a short scene of “Iron Man 3” where she played the Vice President’s daughter.
Hannibal Buress - Appeared In “Spider-Man: Homecoming” & “Spider-Man: No Way Home”
Hannibal Buress had a minor role in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” as Peter Parker’s physical education teacher who later learns that he is actually Spider-Man. Buress’ dry humor makes the most of this two-movie cameo role.
Danny Pudi - Appeared In “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
Danny Pudi, who played the iconic character Abed Nadir in the sitcom “Community” had a cameo that would’ve gotten cinephile Abed very excited. He played a comms tech in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”
Lana Condor: Appeared In “X-Men: Apocalypse”
Lana Condor, best known for fronting the “To All the Boys…” franchise, started her acting career in the MCU. She was the electricity-wielding mutant Jubilee who made a small appearance in 2016’s “X-Men: Apocalypse.”
Sean Gunn - Appears In “Guardians Of The Galaxy” Films, “Avengers: Infinity War” & “Endgame”
Sean Gunn, the actor best known as Kirk on “Gilmore Girls,” played Kraglin in “Guardians of the Galaxy” but also had an essential role as the motion-capture actor for Rocket The Raccoon for all of his MCU appearances. Sean is the brother of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn.
Tim Heidecker: Appeared In “Fantastic Four” (2015) & Ant-Man and the Wasp
Tim Heidecker of the surreal comedy duo “Tim & Eric” played Reed Richards’ father in a brief flashback scene in the 2015 film “The Fantastic Four.” He also had a comedic appearance in “Ant-Man and the Wasp” as a Whale Boat captain.
Ben Falcone & Melissa McCarthy - Appeared In “Thor: Love & Thunder”
Actress Melissa McCarthy and her husband, the director Ben Falcone went viral when they posted an audition tape begging to be in “Thor: Love and Thunder” online. They both got their wish with cameo appearances as an Asgardian theater troupe making a play about Thor’s exploits in the previous film “Thor: Ragnarok.”
Trevor Noah: Appeared In “Black Panther”
The host of “The Daily Show” Trevor Noah had a voice-only acting role in a Marvel film. He appeared in “Black Panther” as the voice of Griot, an A.I. in a futuristic vehicle piloted by Martin Freeman.
Matt Damon - Appeared In “Deadpool 2”
Matt Damon had a surprise cameo in “Deadpool 2” in which he was practically unrecognizable as a rambling redneck with a gut, southern accent, baseball cap and a long wig.
Nathan Fillion - Appeared In “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “M.O.D.O.K.”
Veteran TV actor Nathan Fillion has voice acted for Marvel twice, once as a monstrous inmate at the prison where the titular group first meets, and then he later voiced Wonder Man on the Hulu cartoon “M.O.D.O.K.”
Little Simz - Appeared In “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”
Popular British rapper Little Simz plays herself for a brief cameo in the sequel to 2019’s “Venom” when the symbiotic antihero briefly appears in a nightclub. She reportedly got the part because the film’s star, Tom Hardy, is a fan of her music.
Richard E. Grant - Appeared In “Logan” and “Loki”
Seasoned British actor Richard E. Grant has lent his gravitas and humor to two small MCU roles. He appeared in “Logan” as an Army doctor and also played an alternate version of Loki that appears for a few episodes in the Disney+ series “Loki.”
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Jacob is a Temporary Partnerships Editor at Hearst based in Queens, New York with his partner and cat Tiger. He loves learning and writing about Film and TV, Video Games, and the weird histories of unexpected subjects.
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