Stars you didn’t realise had cameos in Marvel films – from Miley Cyrus as a robot to Matt Damon’s ‘fat hillbilly’
MARVEL fans were blown away by the impressive number of cameos in Spider-Man: No Way Home, including a few former foes.
The superhero film, which came out last week, has already taken £191million in its opening weekend and has topped the UK Box Office.
Tom Holland and Zendaya join webslinger villains of the past including Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, Alfred Molina's Doc Ock, Jamie Foxx's Electro and Rhys Ifans' The Lizard.
Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time, raking in £17bn, were thrilled to see the big names back on screen again.
The comic book-inspired flicks are well known for throwing in surprise guest appearances – easily missed by the average viewer.
However, eagle-eyed fans are always on the lookout for their favourite stars - here we reveal the celeb cameos you may not have spotted.
Miley Cyrus
Pop sensation Miley, 29, is known for her daring performances and cheeky comments – but unlike her music career, she was far from a “wrecking ball” during her Marvel cameo.
Miley had a very small role in a post-credits scene of the 2017 film Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2.
She voiced the character Mainframe, an artificial intelligence system that was shown on-screen as a robotic head.
“I missed you guys so much,” she says after Sylvester Stallone’s character talks about reuniting a team of crooks to perform heists.
Brad Pitt
This Hollywood A-lister is famous for giving award-winning performances that often steal the show, even when he has a small part.
However, you’d be forgiven missing Brad, 58, in Deadpool 2 because he is literally on-screen for a few seconds.
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In the Ryan Reynolds flick he played The Vanisher – an aptly named superhero because he is barely seen or heard.
It’s only during a parachuting scene, when the character lands on power lines and gets electrocuted, that we actually see his face.
Screenwriter Paul Wernick revealed Brad was drafted in by his pal Ryan because they thought it would be amusing to have such an established actor playing a cameo.
Jenna Coleman
Jenna, 35, has a string of high profile roles to her name, including Doctor Who’s companion Clara Oswald, but she too made a brief appearance in the superhero series.
She played Connie in the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger, who was on a date with Bucky, played by Sebastian Stan, for Stark Expo.
The part allowed her a few seconds on-screen alongside Chris Evans but her character was not brought back in other films.
Matt Damon
Matt Damon, 51, has played multiple roles in Marvel flicks – but he’s not always recognisable.
In the 2017 film Thor: Ragnorak, he impersonated Loki during a play for the Asgardians.
In a comical scene, Matt said: "I’m sorry about that thing with The Tesseract, I just couldn’t help myself, I’m a trickster."
The casting was a closely guarded secret as screenwriter Eric Pearson explained: “It was one of those, ‘Don’t tell your wife. You cannot tell anyone.’”
When he saw a picture of Matt in full costume he admitted: “I lost my mind.”
Matt also appeared in Deadpool 2 as Reckneck #2, but looked completely different thanks to a mullet, fake beard, prosthetic nose and a large beer gut.
Natalie Dormer
Natalie, 39, famously played Anne Boleyn in The Tudors, Margaery Tyrell in Game Of Thrones and Cressida in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.
But she also had a short scene with Chris Evans in Captain America: The First Avenger too.
She attempted to seduce the clearly-nervous superhero at a military base while he waited to be taken to one of the colonels.
Natalie is first seen reading a newspaper article about how the superhero saved nearly 400 men, and flatters him with praise.
“The women of America owe you their thanks... and seeing as they are not here,” she says - before pulling him into a shadowy corner for a passionate kiss.
Chris O’Dowd
The Irish comedian rose to fame in the UK while playing Roy Trenneman in the 2006 sitcom The IT Crowd, and starred in the comedy flick Bridesmaids.
Chris, 42, made a brief appearance in the 2013 film Thor: The Dark World.
He played Richard, who went on a date with the Asgardian god’s love interest Jane Foster before they were disturbed by some suspicious events.
Chris was as surprised as Marvel fans to be appearing in the film and told IndieWire: “I didn't think there was any way that I could be in a superhero movie.
“So I've done a scene in the new Thor movie, just for that.”
Sam Neill
Jurassic Park legend Sam, 74, made a short cameo in Thor: Ragnarok but you may struggle to recognise him due to his altered appearance.
He sported lengthy grey locks and a beard to play Odin in a theatrical production and for much of his time on screen, he wore a golden eye patch.
Despite starring in such a big film, the Northern Irish actor admitted he was “completely baffled” by his part and only took on the role as a favour to the film’s director Taika Waititi.
“I’ve never understood any of the Thor films… In fact, the whole Marvel universe is a complete mystery to me,” Sam told the radio station Nova.
The actor revealed he's due to reprise his role next year in Thor: Love And Thunder.
Seth Green
Comedy actor Seth, 47, starred in That ‘70s Show, Austin Powers and Rat Race but is probably best known as the voice of Chris Griffin in Family Guy.
He also had a small part in Guardians Of The Galaxy and an Avengers film, where he played the animated character Howard The Duck.
Seth was a hit with fans, who called for him to have his own Marvel spin-off, but he played down rumours of landing anything more than the cameo role.
“Nobody is thinking about a Howard The Duck movie… I love that people are running with it because you know it’s not going to happen,” he told IGN.
Seth admitted he was “a last-minute” casting as a favour to his friend, the director James Gunn, because they were desperate for someone to voice the part.
Ken Jeong
Doctor-turned-comedy-star Ken, who’s best known for playing in the Hangover trilogy, also made a surprising Marvel appearance.
In the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame, the 52-year-old played a security guard - but is less recognisable due to his handlebar moustache.
Tom Morello
Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom, 57, had a very brief part, playing a member of the Ten Rings in the first Iron Man film in 2008.
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In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, he appears in all green as part of the terrorist organisation that kidnaps Tony Stark.
Not only that, but the performer also played music for the soundtracks of both Iron Man and Iron Man 2.