Comic book movies often fight for the same big-name actors, and both Marvel and DC movies sometimes hire the same actor as close together as the same year. Both the Marvel Cinematic Universe films and the DC Comics adaptations rely heavily on recognizable stars to carry their films through sheer force of personality, with many familiar faces making their way through both universes. In some rare cases, both Marvel and DC manage to cast the same actor in different film roles within the span of a year, filling their filming schedules.
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It’s rare for actors who star in Marvel and DC movies in the same year to play a major character, as the amount of time needed to be on set for even one of those roles, let alone two, is probably too much. big to program it. Because of this, most of the actors who have found time to do it tend to be slightly lesser-known character actors who appear in supporting roles. However, rarely will a household name find the time to appease comic book fans across the aisle with two separate performances in the two greats’ films debuting in the same year.
8 Randall Park
2018
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Randall Park is a name that is gaining popularity in the last ten years. Park got her big break in a cameo in the office, in which he helped Jim convince Dwight that he had always been Asian-American. Since then, he won over television audiences with the 2015 comedy. Fresh off the boat, playing the friendly father and restaurateur Loius Huang. This newfound popularity helped him land two comic book roles simultaneously in 2018, appearing in the first. Aquaman film and Ant-Man and the Wasp from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In Ant-Man and the Wasp, Park plays affable FBI agent Jimmy Woo, a well-intentioned minor antagonist tasked with ensuring that Scot Lang doesn’t break the boundaries of his parole. Meanwhile, Aquaman introduces him as Dr. Stephen Shin, a marine biologist whose obsession with Atlantis leads him to unfortunately help the villain Black Manta attack underwater society. Park played both roles well enough that he was asked to return to both universes, reprising both characters in Aquaman and the lost kingdom and WandaVision.
7Ryan Reynolds
2011
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Because the superhero career of the highly successful and beloved funny man Ryan Reynolds has followed the success of the deadpool trilogy, Reynolds’s first approaches to the genre seemed to end in disaster each time. In 2004, Reynolds debuted in the Marvel universe as a sort of proto-Deadpool character in Leaf: Trinitymuch to the chagrin of star Wesley Snipes. In 2011, he re-entered the genre in both the Marvel and DC worlds, playing Hal Jordan in Green Lantern and Deadpool for the first time in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Unfortunately, both films were terrible failures for Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds himself has even publicly reprimanded Green Lantern many times, referring to the superhero movie as one of the biggest regrets of his career. While Hal Jordan remained a one-off role, Reynolds was at least able to redeem his X-Men Origins: Wolverine version of Wade Wilson in the solo deadpool movies, earning Fox and later the MCU enormous praise. Of course, some of the series’ fourth-wall-breaking humor comes at the expense of both films, shamelessly acknowledging Reynolds’ comic book movie history.
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6James Marsden
2006
James Marsden has been a Hollywood staple since the early 2000s, providing a third point to the tumultuous love triangle in The notebook and embodying the typical prince charming in Delighted. Today he is better known as “Donut Lord” in the Sonic the hedgehog trilogy, but he is also quite successful as a superhero actor. His best-known role in the comic book film space is that of the original version of Cyclops on Fox. X-Men movies, playing the steadfast leader of the mutant strike team clad in a monocular visor.
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However, Marsden also appeared in the lesser-known DC film the same year as X-Men: The Last Stand with Superman returns, in which he plays Richard White, the nephew of daily planet editor-in-chief Perry White and Lois Lane’s fiancé after Superman’s absence. Between Cyclops, Richard White and the notebook, Marsden, in the early 2000s, found himself unfortunately (and specifically) typecast as the attractive, “safe,” but always second-choice romantic choice for the female lead. At least he manages to maintain a solid marriage on screen in Sonic the hedgehog.
5 Strong Tare
2023
One of the most prolific voice actresses of all time, Tara Strong needs little introduction to anyone remotely familiar with the medium of animation. Famous for cartoons like Fairly OddParents, The Powerpuff Girlsand My Little Pony: Friendship is MagicStrong soon made a name for himself in DC animation as well. Strong appears as Harley Quinn in a wide variety of different projects, including Rocksteady. arkham video game series, but he has also played a wide variety of other roles for the company, including one that coincided with one of his rare MCU appearances.
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While Tara Strong is best known in the MCU for voicing Miss Minutes, the plucky cartoon clock-shaped AI used by the TVA of Loki fame, she also replaced Miley Cyrus as the voice of the robot Ravager Mainframe in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. This coincided with the release of a little-known superhero mascot movie, Scooby-Doo! And Krypto too!in which everyone’s favorite mystery-solving Great Dane teamed up with Superman’s beloved pet. Here, Strong lent her talented voice to Lois Lane.
4 Port of David
2025
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Relatively late in his acting career, David Harbor became a household name thanks to his gruff but lovable personality as small-town Sheriff Hopper on the Netflix series. Stranger things. This led to several comic book movie opportunities, including as the Russian Captain America knock-off, Red Guardian in black widow and as the titular paranormal investigator in 2019’s disastrously received. Hellish boy. Next year, David Harbor will double-dip into both the MCU and DCU, balancing two superhero roles at once.
David Harbor will reprise his role as Red Guardian in the next MCU film Good heavens*which will be released in 2025. Technically, this will also coincide with the final episodes of the first DCU animated series, Creature commandswhich will be released in January. Harbor lends his raspy voice to the cast of strange monsters such as Frankenstein’s monster, who, in this continuity, simply takes the last name of his creator.
3 David Dastmalchian
2023
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A dedicated character actor, David Dastmalchian is one of the few well-known Hollywood performers who can be said to have been slowly gaining fame thanks to a series of supporting roles in comic book movies. Dastmalchian appeared as Thomas Schiff in the Christopher Nolan film. The dark knight, collaborating again with the praised director recently with oppenheimer. He also lent his dry sense of humor to the cast of the first two. Ant Man movies like Kurt, an illicit hacker and friend of Scott Lang.
In Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, However, David Dastmalchain was recruited as a new character, Veb, a strange inhabitant of the Quantum Realm who is able to bridge the communication gap between the dimension’s races with his bodily fluids. Dastmalchian also contributed his vocal talents to the DC animated film. Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham just a month later that same year, playing a ghoulish version of Mr. Freeze who inhabits the film’s vision of 1920s Gotham City.
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2Jennifer Holland
2023
Although not a renowned actress outside of her contributions to superhero films, Jennifer Holland has quietly become one of the DCEU’s most impressive performers thanks to her role as Emilia Harcourt. Harcourt first appears in The suicide squad as a subordinate of Task Force X leader Amanda Waller, and eventually betrayed her boss after learning of his betrayal. Holland made further appearances as the character Black Adam, Peacemaker, and, most recently, a mid-credits scene in Shazam! Fury of the gods.
The same year as the release of Shazam! Fury of the gods, Jennifer Holland also appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as the supporting character, Kwol. Kwol is an employee of OrgoCorp, where she works as an administrator at the headquarters of her company, the Orgoscope, where she has a meeting with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Considering how minor both appearances were, it’s easy to see how Jennifer Holland squeezed them both into the same work year.
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1 Djimon Hounsou
2019
Another background actor who has become known for his minor superhero role, Djimon Hounsou, is a familiar face on the comic book movie circuit. Hounsou initially rose to fame thanks to his role in the 2006 film. blood diamond, but he quickly endeared himself to comic book movie audiences as Korath the Pursuer in Guardians of the Galaxy, being an excellent scene partner for Peter Quill in his first scene in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, it wouldn’t be until 2019 that Djimon Hounsou would enjoy dual roles in Marvel and DC projects.
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As a prequel, Captain Marvel saw the return of Korath the Pursuer in his early days as a soldier of the Kree Empire, facing and ultimately losing to Carol Danvers. The same year, Hounsou also received the honor of starring in Shazam! as the titular wizard who grants Billy Batson his powers, presiding over the mysterious magical kingdom in which he finds himself. Hopefully, future comic book movies can find additional roles for the talented Beninese actor.