A “cameo role” was first used to describe a minor part notable for its size and prominence in the 1920s. In the late twentieth century, the term “cameo” began to be used for any brief appearance by a character. Now, no one is using the concept as beautifully and profitably in the current era as Marvel Cinematic Universe.
If we talk about MCU, we know that all franchise projects are intricately interconnected. Every movie and TV show narrates a different story, but it also sets up a ground for a sequel or a spin-off. The franchise uses cameos to highlight the connection between the stories. For example, Spider-Man: No Way Home pulled the Daredevil into MCU mainline via cameo. Recently, we saw the presence of the Fantastic Four with John Krasinski’s cameo as Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
All in all, from Charlize Theron as Clea to Harry Styles as Thanos’ brother, amazing superhero cameos have been popping up all over the place in Phase Four of the MCU. Considering the increasing significance of cameos in the franchise, the following list highlights the 10 most surprising cameos in the MCU.
Image Credits: Spiel Times
- Brett Goldstein As Hercules
Movie: Thor-Love and Thunder
Fans first got a glimpse of the city that all the gods call home during the middle act of Thor: Love and Thunder. Thor went there in search of assistance but instead fatally wounded Zeus and stole his chariot. After the credits roll, Zeus gives his son Hercules a mission to exact revenge on Thor.
Now Hercules could be the main antagonist in Thor’s next movie, or he might appear in a solo project of his own.
Image Credits: Screen Rant
- John Krasinski As Reed Richards
Movie: Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness
When Doctor Strange lands on the Earth-838 universe in the Multiverse of Madness, he is promptly arrested for interfering with the space-time continuum. The convicted Stephen Strange is brought before a team of Illuminati. The audience literally applauded the moment in the theater when the movie amazed them with an all-you-can-eat buffet of a superhero cameo line-up.
In contrast to the teasers, which revealed cameos from Hayley Atwell as Captain Carter and Patrick Stewart as Professor X, the film itself kept secret the fan-pleasing casting of John Krasinski as Mr. Fantastic. And undoubtedly, the audience enthusiastically appraised the surprise.
Image Courtesy: Insider
- Charlie Cox As Matt Murdock
Movie: Spider Man-No Way Home
In the opening of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker is in legal trouble after the Daily Bugle disclosed his secret identity to the public. So, he retained the services of acclaimed attorney Matt Murdock.
Matt’s cameo in No Way Home officially integrated the Daredevil series from Netflix into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Besides getting Peter out of legal trouble, he also protected him from a flying brick.
Image Courtesy: Glamour
- Evan Peters As Pietro Maximoff
TV Series: WandaVision
Wanda Maximoff built a sitcom fantasyland to deal with her grief. She resurrected Vision, the love of her life, and fabricated their two sons, Tommy and Billy. Now, Vision was not the only one that Wanda loved and lost. She also lost her beloved brother, Pietro, so the Scarlet Witch brought him back, too.
However, this time it was not MCU’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson who played Pietri in WandaVision. Instead, Evan Peters from the 20th Century Fox X-Men series played the part. She recast Pietro?! Exclaimed a shocked Darcy Lewis. It turned out that Ralph Bohner, a local of Westview, was actually just pretending to be Pietro.
Image Courtesy: Collider
- Jonathan Majors As He Who Remains
TV Series: Loki
In the season finale, the trickster God, Loki, and his female counterpart Sylvie finally made it to the Citadel at the End of Time. It was after discovering in episode four that the TVA is a big, intricate deception and beating Alioth in the episode before that. It was promised they would meet the space-time mastermind behind the TVA’s operations there.
In reality, this overlord was “He Who Remains,” a subversion of Kang the Conqueror portrayed by Jonathan Majors. He was previously cast as the original Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Image Courtesy: Digital Spy
- Harry Styles as Eros
Movie: Eternals
Harry Styles was revealed to be Eros in the film’s mid-credits scene. It’s already shocking enough to see One Direction’s Harry Styles in a Marvel film. Still, his herald Pip the troll, reveals that he’s actually Thanos’ biological brother.
Despite the lack of family resemblance, Eros’ connection to the Mad Titan suggests that he will bring a vast amount of cosmic power to the MCU on his next appearance.
Image Courtesy: TV Insider
- Vincent D’Onofrio As Wilson Fisk
TV Series: Hawkeye
The second last episode of Hawkeye eventually revealed the criminal mastermind behind the Tracksuit Mafia, none other than the Kingpin himself, Wilson Fisk. Vincent D’Onofrio plays the Fisk, reprising his role from the Daredevil series. Fisk fought with Kate Bishop in a toy store, proving her significance as an Avenger.
Fisk’s presence in Hawkeye, along with Daredevil’s own cameo appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home officially established the canceled Netflix shows within the MCU canon.
Image Courtesy: The Direct
- Brie Larson as Carol Danvers & Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner
Movie: Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings
Shang-Chi and his best friend Katy are invited by Wong to the Sanctum at the movie’s end, who appears through a portal. Wong discusses the Ten Rings with Shang-Chi and Katy, plus a couple of the Avengers through FaceTiming in a sequence that plays during the middle credits.
Brie Larson (Carol Danvers) appears, reuniting Destin Daniel Cretton, Short Term 12 director. While Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner) also appears, however, out of his “Smart Hulk” form.
Image Courtesy: MaxBliz
- Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock
Movie: Spider Man-No Way Home
We saw another victim in the movie, claimed by the multiversal shenanigans of the movie. While Tom Hardy’s Venom spent the whole film at a pub, catching up on MCU news, Doc Ock, the Green Goblin, Electro, the Lizard, and the Sandman were all fighting three Spider-Men in New York.
Soon after Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock is introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), he is yanked back to the Sony Universe by Doctor Strange’s spell to fix the multiverse.
Image Courtesy: Koimoi
- Charlize Theron As Clea
Movie: Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ends on a shocking cliffhanger with Dr. Strange falling to his knees with a third eye opening in his forehead. We see that he’s accepted this third eye as a permanent facial feature. Meanwhile, Dormammu’s niece Clea shows up in the middle of the credits to invite him to the Dark Dimension to stop an incursion.
In the comics, Clea became Strange’s apprentice and later his wife. Thus, the stage is set for Theron to have a significant long-running role in the MCU.
