Top 20 Actors You Didn’t Know Were in Marvel Movies
I hesitate to use titles like ‘you didn’t know,’ because you very well may know. I don’t want to discount your intelligence or knowledge base my dear reader. But, I digress and will use the title anyways because it sounds better than other titles I had in mind. This list is fairly self explanatory. Actors/celebs you may not have known were in Marvel movies. This is not just limited to the MCU, and I kept cameos as themselves out (e.g. Elon Musk in ‘Iron Man 2’).
Jenna Ortega- One of the most relevant names in Hollywood at the moment, Ortega is now known for roles in ‘Wednesday,’ ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,’ & the ‘Scream’ franchise, but her first film role came in another franchise, the biggest of them all, the MCU. Ortega played the notable role of Vice President’s Daughter in ‘Iron Man 3,’ which for those of you who don’t remember, the VP was actually a bad guy trying to steal the Extremist serum for a good reason, to help his wheelchair-bound daughter.
Troye Sivan- This Australian singer-songwriter also has a brief acting career, with his first film role coming as a young James Howlett in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine,’ meaning that the only actor other than Hugh Jackman to ever portray Wolverine on screen is Troye Sivan. That’s a strange fact that you can share at parties.
Stephanie Hsu- The year before Stephanie Hsu shot to stardom with her Oscar-nominated role as Joy/Jobu Tapaki in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ she played a small role in Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.’ She plays the character of Soo, an old friend of Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi & Awkwafina’s Katy. You may remember this film also features a larger role from her EEAO on-screen mother, Michelle Yeoh, as Shang-Chi’s Aunt Nan.
Dallas Liu- Definitely the least famous name on this list, Liu’s first notable role came earlier this role when he took on the role of Prince Zuko in Netflix’s liv action ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender.’ Liu appeared in ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ in a minor role as Ruihua Chen, the brother of Awkwafina’s Katy.
Pete Davidson- This comedian known for his time on SNL has had roles in both DC & Marvel. He played a small role in James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ & reunited with Gunn in 2023 for a cameo in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.’ Davidson’s face never appears on screen and if you want to give it a Google he played a character by the name of Phletik.
Seth Green- A well known TV & voice actor, Seth Green has appeared in many movies as well. He actually appears in all three ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ films as the same character. Green provides the voice for the character of Howard the Duck in what is really a cameo role in all three movies. And if 1986’s ‘Howard the Duck’ is any sign, this bird is really better suited in a non-starring role.
Miley Cyrus- Similar to Davidson, the former ‘Hannah Montana’ star’s face never appeared on screen. She has a small role in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ as the voice of Mainframe, a robotic head who is a part of Stakar Ogord’s original Ravenger team. The character also appears in the third film, but is voiced by Tara Strong.
Michael Rosenbaum- Another character who was a part of Ogord’s team was the diamond-skinned Martinex, who is portrayed in GOTG Vol. 2 & Vol. 3 by Michael Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum is more well known for his DC roles, voicing Wally West/The Flash in the animated series, ‘Justice League,’ and playing Lex Luthor on ‘Smallville.’
Nathan Fillion- Fillion has a very tenured TV resume starring in shows such as ‘Firefly,’ ‘Castle,’ & ‘The Rookie.’ Fillion also makes a notable appearance in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ as Master Karja, a security guard the team takes on. Fillion also had roles in the other two Guardians films. In Vol. 2 his role was cut, but he was too play an actor named Simon Williams, who in comics becomes Wonder Man. I imagine this role was cut because Marvel wanted to do more with the character, who is significant in print. In the first film he plays the ‘Blue Alien Prisoner’ who tries to intimidate Star-Lord and gets his nose fatally picked by Groot. Fillion also has a cameo in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ as a Deadpool Corps member known as Headpool, who is a flying Wade Wilson head.
Matthew McConaughey- Another actor who appears as a Deadpool Corps member in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is Matthew McConaughey. McConaughey provides the voice of Cowboypool who is exactly what he sounds like. Deadpool… that’s a cowboy. When we watched this in theater I sat there staring trying to place the utter familiar voice. I lean over to my wife and say ‘I’m really trying to figure out who that is.’ She stares blankly at me and says ‘That’s obviously Matthew McConaughey.’ Thanks babe.
Kevin Nash- A name that may not be familiar to the average movie fan, Nash’s name will be more familiar to the pro wrestling fandom. Big Daddy Diesel is known for his time in WWE (then WWF), WCW, & TNA, where he is a several time world champion across the brands and a WWE Hall of Famer both as individual performer and as a part of the New World Order. Nash has also dipped his toes into acting and is mostly known for his role in the ‘Magic Mike’ movies, and also appeared in the 1991 film ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze’ where he played Super Shredder. None of that is important to what I’m talking about though, when Nash appeared in 2004’s ‘The Punisher’ where he plays a villain known simply as ‘The Russian’ opposite Thomas Jane’s take on the vigilante.
Triple H- Recently, WWE stars have had a hard time in Marvel. Damian Priest’s role as Attuma in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ was taken aware (apparently at the behest of WWE), Becky Lynch’s still unknown role was cut from ‘Eternals,’ & it’s rumored Seth Rollins’s role (assumingely a member of the Serpent Society) in ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ will also be cut. The man now at the (Hunter Hearst) Helm(sley) of WWE on the other hand was able to make an appearance in ‘Blade: Trinity.’ Triple H played the role of Jarko Grimwood, a vampire who ended up being slain by Ryan Reynolds’s Hannibal King.
Donnie Yen- Another actor who played a supporting role in the ‘Blade’ series is the legendary Donnie Yen. Known mostly to Western audiences for roles in ‘Ip Man,’ ‘Rogue One,’ & ‘John Wick: Chapter 4,’ Yen played a mute swordsman vampire who is a member of the Bloodpack.
Jennifer Connelly- 2017’s ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ was the first outing of Tom Holland’s version of the character. While the film features notable performances from a slew of well-known actors, one who appears only by her voice is Oscar-winner, Jennifer Connelly, who voices Spider-Man’s JARVIS-like A.I. support, known as Karen (though Peter Parker refers to her as ‘Suit Lady’).
Trevor Noah- Another star who appeared only vocally in the MCU is South African TV host, Trevor Noah. Noah has appeared in both ‘Black Panther’ & ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ as Griot (not Groot), an A.I. created by Shuri that acts as her lab assistant of sorts.
Matt Damon- Matt Damon is actually one of the more well-known MCU cameos, playing a part of an Asgardian actor ensemble. The group features Damon as a Loki actor, Sam Neill as an Odin actor, Luke Hemsworth as a Thor actor, Melissa McCarthy as a Hela actor, and Ben Falcone as the stage manager. The real reason Damon appears on this list though is his unrecognizable cameo in ‘Deadpool 2’ where Damon & Alan Tudyk appear as some rednecks that get knocked out by Josh Brolin’s Cable. Damon is credited as ‘Dickie Greenleaf,’ a character played by Jude Law across Damon in ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley.’
Peter Billingsley- Ralphie Parker himself appears in a small role as William Ginter Riva, a scientist who fails at making an arc reactor, even though Tony Stark was able to build it in cave with a box of scraps. Billingsley is also an executive producer on the film and reprises his role as the character in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ as a part of Mysterio’s team.
Natalie Dormer- Prior to her well known roles as Queen Margaery Tyrell in ‘Game of Thrones’ & Cressida in the last two ‘Hunger Games’ films, Natalie Dormer makes a brief appearance as Private Lorraine, a woman who attempts to seduce Steve Rogers and succeeds in planting a passionate kiss on him.
Bryce Dallas Howard- The character of Gwen Stacy was made more famous in film by Emma Stone in the ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ films and Hailee Steinfeld’s voice role in the ‘Spider-Verse’ films. However she first appeared in Tobey Maguire’s ‘Spider-Man 3’ in a brief role played by Bryce Dallas Howard.
The Cast of ‘Community’- Many stars of the hit sitcom ‘Community’ have appeared in MCU cameo roles. I’m not really including Donald Glover’s role as Aaron Davis in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ (a role he returned to in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’), but I will mention it. The show was executive produced & often directed by Anthony & Joe Russo, who also directed ‘Captain America’ films, ‘The Winter Soldier’ & ‘Civil War' & ‘Avengers’ films ‘Infinity War’ & ‘Endgame.’ Cameos in those films include Danny Pudi in ‘The Winter Soldier,’ Jim Rash in ‘Civil War,’ & both Ken Jeong & Yvette Nicole Brown in ‘Endgame.’ With the Russos set to helm the next two ‘Avengers’ films, one can hope other cast members may appears, maybe Joel McHale, Alison Brie, or Gillian Jacobs.
