We've spent the last week delving into the different ways the
Marvel Cinematic Universe overlaps with pop culture, from meta to infrared. It's been an intriguing trip to see how a multi-platform
Entertainment franchise has both been swallowed by and absorbed by the universe in which it resides. In fact, the MCU's reach is so broad that Hollywood stars such as Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett, and Michael Douglas have appeared in Marvel movies, seamlessly blending their A-list status with the comic-book-like reality.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has featured its fair share of performers over the span of more than two dozen films and a handful of TV programs.
Many of Hollywood's biggest names have appeared in the blockbuster superhero genre, including Florence Pugh and Brian Tyree Henry, as well as industry stalwarts like Robert Redford and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss.
While everyone knows who
Robert Downey Jr. is and that
Michael Keaton played the
Vulture, the MCU has also featured a slew of more minor cameos that you may have missed, some of which may surprise you. Read on to discover what other Hollywood stars have participated in
MCU. These
Hollywood Stars Appear In Marvel Movies without our knowing might be found here.#1 Stanley Tucci
Source: Paramount Pictures
As Abraham Erskine, Stanley Tucci starred in the first Captain America film, Captain America: The First Avenger. The protagonist is the German scientist who invented the Super Soldier Serum.
#2 Ty Burrell
Source: Universal Pictures
Ty Burrell is best recognized for his role in Modern Family, but he also appeared in a Marvel film just before the program began. Burrell plays Leonard Samson in The Incredible Hulk (2008). The character is a psychiatrist who is romantically involved with Bruce Banner/(Edward Hulk's Norton) ex-girlfriend Betty (Liv Tyler).
#3 Miley Cyrus
Source: DFree / Shutterstock.com
Nobody will criticize you if you completely missed this one. Miley Cyrus, a pop musician, and actor, has a minor voice role in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. In a mid-credits scene, she voices a robot named Mainframe and simply has to say, "I miss you guys so much."
#4 Kate Mara
Source: Paramount Pictures
Kate Mara starred in the 2015 superhero film Fantastic Four (not part of the MCU), but she had a brief role in Iron Man 2 five years before. Mara plays a U.S. Marshal who introduces herself only as "Marshal" and is tasked with delivering a court summons to Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.).
#5 Garcelle Beauvais
Source: Sony Pictures Releasing
Garcelle Beauvais, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, has a role in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Doris Toomes, the mother of Peter Parker's (Tom Holland) crush Liz (Laura Harrier) and the wife of the villain Adrian Toomes/Vulture, is played by her (Michael Keaton).
#6 Glenn Close
Source: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Did you know Glenn Close starred in a superhero film? In Guardians of the Galaxy, she plays the character Irani Rael. Irani is the military commander of the Nova Empire, one of the places in outer space visited by the main characters.
#7 Alfre Woodard
Source: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Alfre Woodard plays Miriam Sharpe, a US State Department staffer, in Captain America: Civil War. Miriam is also the mother of an American soldier slain in the Battle of Sokovia, which was depicted in one of the previous films, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and she confronts Tony Stark about it, causing a schism within the Avengers.
#8 Matt Damon
Source: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Matt Damon appears in Thor: Ragnarok as a character who plays another character. In the film, Asgardian people put on a play about the events of the previous film, Thor: The Dark World, for the enjoyment of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), who is actually the shape-shifting Loki in disguise. Damon portrays the actor who plays Loki; Tom Hiddleston plays the real Loki. Luke Hemsworth, Chris Hemsworth's brother, plays Thor.
#9 Trevor Noah
Source: lev radin / Shutterstock.com
You probably won't recall seeing Trevor Noah in Black Panther, but you probably heard him. Griot, the artificial intelligence on one of Wakanda's spacecraft, is voiced by the Daily Show presenter.
#10 Ken Jeong
Source: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Ken Jeong appears as a security guard in Avengers: Endgame. He frees Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) from a storage facility in which he has become trapped. Joe and Anthony Russo, who directed Jeong in certain episodes of his comedy sitcom Community, directed the film (and a few other MCU films).
#11 Yvette Nicole Brown
Source: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Yvette Nicole Brown, Jeong's Community co-star, also appears in Avengers: Endgame. In a sequence set in the 1970s, she plays a woman who observes a time-traveling Iron Man and Captain America (Chris Evans) acting suspiciously in an elevator.
#12 Joan Rivers
Source: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Finally, Joan Rivers portrayed herself in the MCU film Iron Man 3. She was on her show Fashion Police when she criticized War Machine's (Don Cheadle) new Iron Patriot armor.