Superhero movies typically have a vast number of fun aspects to them. The action, the occasional jokes, and seeing people fly around in capes all certainly make movies like The Avengers and Justice League into fun trips to the theater, or even fun at home when watching the movies on DVD.
However, there’s one fun aspect of superhero movies that fans typically need to focus in to find: the cameos and Easter eggs.
Superhero movies are well known for including cameos from well known celebrities. Sometimes these cameos include people who were actually involved with the movie, and other times the cameos include people who had nothing to do with the project whatsoever, but were famous enough to be included anyway.
One of the most popular and well known celebrities to do cameos is Stan Lee, the former Marvel editor who has appeared in almost every Marvel movie in the past two decades. Stan Lee even made a cameo appearance in The Princess Diaries 2, but that’s a discussion for another day.
Cameos like Stan Lee’s in superhero movies make many superhero movies even more fun to re-watch, leading fans to play the movie over and over again, desperate to find their favorite stars hidden somewhere in the action-packed movie.
With that said, here are the 25 A-Lister Cameos Most Fans Completely Missed In Superhero Movies.
Zack Snyder In Wonder Woman
Love him or hate him, notorious Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder played an integral part in creating the DC Extended Universe.
If not for Snyder, the movie Wonder Woman could have actually been a lot different, as Snyder oversaw a good portion of the movie’s casting. In addition to helping behind the scenes, though, Zack Snyder managed to make an appearance on camera as well.
Snyder’s Wonder Woman cameo actually originated in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where he appeared in the distant background of a picture of Wonder Woman from World War I.
Wonder Woman went on to explore this part of Diana Prince’s past, which meant that this small appearance by Zack Snyder would turn into a full-fledged cameo appearance for the director.
During this part of Wonder Woman, Snyder actually appeared as a townsperson, dressed in the same outfit from the photograph. His appearance was once again in the background and easy to miss, but it was a fitting inclusion for the Justice League director.
In the past, Snyder has also made cameo appearances in other notable movies of his, including Watchmen and Dawn of the Dead. However, Wonder Woman is a significantly larger movie than both of those.
Kate Mara In Iron Man 2
Before she was in the regularly hated-on reboot of Fantastic Four, House of Cards actress Kate Mara was actually in a different Marvel movie.
Though it was before she was the well known name that she is today, it was still a noteworthy appearance from a well known actress worth mentioning.
In Iron Man 2, the third installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kate Mara actually popped up towards the beginning of the movie. She confronted Tony Stark, who naturally proceeded to flirt with her– he is Tony Stark, after all.
Mara’s character went on to reveal that she worked for the government, and was actually there to give Tony Stark a court order. This interaction started the plot line that would carry out for the rest of the movie.
This was a brief but pivotal role for the young actress. While not everyone recognized Kate Mara when Iron Man 2 first released in 2010, this appearance becomes quite notable upon rewatching it today.
However, we just wish that Kate Mara had been selected to be in a better Marvel movie, as both of her Marvel appearances have been in movies that a good portion of fans were not fond of.
Billy Dee Williams In Batman
Before Aaron Eckhart and Tommy Lee Jones were Harvey Dent, there was Billy Dee Williams.
The Empire Strikes Back actor appeared briefly as the attorney Harvey Dent in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman.
Though this was a bit larger than a cameo, as he showed up multiple times in the movie, he really didn’t get much of the spotlight in the movie, and thus a number of people still miss his appearance today.
As it turns out, Tim Burton was planning on bringing Williams back in Batman Forever where we would have seen him actually become Two Face.
In addition, Burton was also planning on adding Robin Williams to this movie as the Riddler.
Unfortunately, Warner Bros. fired Tim Burton from the project, claiming that the spec he had given for Batman Forever was too similar to Batman Returns. With Burton also went Billy Dee Williams, which is why we never saw him return to the role in that Batman franchise.
Fortunately, Williams went on to reprise his role as Harvey Dent last year in The LEGO Batman Movie when he voiced the animated version of Two-Face. While it was most likely not as good as his live-action portrayal would have been, it was still at least nice to hear him in the role.
Seth Green In Guardians Of The Galaxy
Seth Green’s cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy may have been hard to miss, but it was rather hard to notice that it was Seth Green.
The Robot Chicken and Family Guy voice actor appeared during the post-credits scene of 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy as the popular character Howard the Duck.
Howard may have only had one line, but director James Gunn still thought it would be worthwhile to reach out to Green for the part.
Gunn and Green are actually close friends in real life. While it’s unclear how the two friends first met, most people assume it was on the set of Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, which James Gunn wrote and Seth Green had a supporting role in.
Seth Green went on to reprise the role of Howard the Duck last year in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, where the duck was briefly seen flirting with some women towards the beginning of the movie.
While we’ve yet to see Seth Green’s Howard the Duck appear as anything more than a cameo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some Marvel Comics fans are hopeful that we will see him return to the role yet again in Phase 4, possibly with a larger part to play in the story.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan In Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice
While the notorious villain Negan from The Walking Dead may be Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s most memorable comic-book role, it is surely not his only role.
Morgan also appeared in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as a rather important character in the DC Extended Universe.
Right at the beginning of Batman v Superman, the Walking Dead and Grey’s Anatomy actor appeared as Thomas Wayne, the now deceased father of Bruce Wayne.
It was a brief appearance, but a certainly fitting inclusion from a great and well known actor. In addition, it’s worth noting that the cinematography of this scene was truly spectacular.
After the announcement of the Flashpoint movie, there have been a number of rumors that Jeffrey Dean Morgan will return to the role of Thomas Wayne yet again. During the Flashpoint events in the comics, the Flash accidentally messes up the timeline so bad that Thomas Wayne goes on to become Batman.
Many DC fans are hopeful for this to be true, desperate to believe that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s appearance was more than a cameo, and actually an investment for a later movie in the franchise. Only time will tell if we see this rumor come to be.
Lauren Cohan In Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Thomas Wayne would not be complete without Batman’s mother Martha Wayne, and who would be better to play Martha than another star from The Walking Dead?
Lauren Cohan, who has played the character Maggie since season 2 of the popular zombie series, appeared alongside Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Thomas Wayne at the beginning of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as Martha Wayne.
Alongside the rumors of Jeffrey Dean Morgan returning as Thomas Wayne in Flashpoint are also a number of rumors about Lauren Cohan returning to the role of Martha Wayne.
During the Flashpoint event in the comics, Martha Wayne actually went on to become a female Joker. This twist was certainly interesting, considering that her nemesis Batman was actually her husband in the normal timeline.
While both Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan are busy with The Walking Dead, with both of them set to appear for at least another season in the TV series, it would certainly be great to see their cameos pay off and become major roles later in the franchise.
Lauren Cohan is a truly fantastic actress, as The Walking Dead has proven, and it would certainly be interesting to see her take as the Joker should the opportunity arise.
Nathan Fillion In Guardians Of The Galaxy
Castle star Nathan Fillion made an appearance in the popular Marvel space opera Guardians of the Galaxy.
Towards the beginning of the movie, when our heroes were thrown into prison, Star-Lord was confronted by a large, purple alien who Groot went on to beat by growing his long, tree-like fingers into the alien’s nostrils.
What many people did not realize was that this purple CGI alien was actually played by Nathan Fillion. Fillion did more than just voice the large alien, though, he even did the motion capture on set for the purple prisoner.
Nathan Fillion landed this cameo due to his friendship with director James Gunn. The two have worked together on a number of projects over the years, including the cult horror classic Slither, which Fillion starred in and Gunn wrote and directed.
Fillion originally had a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as well, where he would have appeared as the superhero character Simon Williams/Wonder Man on a number of posters in the background.
In the comics, Simon Williams was an actor, and all of the posters featuring Fillion were in-universe movies starring his character.
However, these scenes were deleted from the final cut of the movie and were not included with the Blu Ray release, so this is one cameo we will never see from the actor.
Octavia Spencer In Spider-Man
Before she was an Oscar-winning actress starring in movies like The Help and Hidden Figures, Octavia Spencer actually appeared in Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man.
It was a brief appearance earlier on in Spencer’s career, before she was as well known as she is today, but it is still something fun to look out for when rewatching the movie.
Early on in Spider-Man, when Peter Parker decided to use his newfound abilities for wrestling, Spencer actually appeared working the sign-up table at the ring. She had a bit of quick banter with Peter Parker during this scene, but was not seen again during the rest of the movie.
This was a short yet notable appearance from the actress. When Spider-Man first released, not many people would have imagined that the “sign-up lady” would go on to become an Oscar-winning actress.
Spider-Man unfortunately did not give Spencer the chance to truly shine, and she actually did not receive that chance for another few years after.
At the time, Octavia Spencer wasn’t exactly new to the acting business, having had a number of other roles in countless other projects for eight years prior. However, she was still not the iconic and inspiring actress who she is today.
Elle Macpherson In Batman & Robin
When it comes to notoriously disliked superhero movies, Batman & Robin is arguably considered one of the most well known. Despite being a bad movie, Batman & Robin is at least a fun type of bad movie.
While some bad superhero movies are just painful to rewatch, it’s a lot easier to have a good time and laugh while watching the notorious 1997 Batman sequel.
While rewatching it, something else that’s fun that you can do is keep your eyes peeled for Bruce Wayne’s new romantic interested, Julie Madison. Madison plays a minuscule part in Batman & Robin, a bit larger than a cameo, but small enough of a role that people still tend to miss it.
Julie Madison is actually played by former model Elle Macpherson. Macpherson was wildly popular during the time of Batman & Robin’s release. Not only has she appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue a record breaking five times, but she even had a recurring role on Friends.
All in all, Macpherson was a familiar face, yet people often forget that she had anything to do with Batman & Robin. Say what you will about this movie, but it will always be funny to see a Sports Illustrated model propose to Bruce Wayne, only to be turned down.
Jeff Goldblum In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
In Thor: Ragnarok, most Marvel fans saw Jeff Goldblum’s hilarious depiction of the Grandmaster for the first time. Goldblum brought his iconic Goldblum-ish mannerisms to the role, becoming one of the funniest parts of the movie.
What many people do not realize is that Goldblum’s appearance in Thor: Ragnarok was not actually his debut to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In actuality, his first on-screen appearance was earlier that same year in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
One of the most fun parts of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 was, surprisingly, its credits. The credits were filled with 5 mid- and post-credits scenes, and there were even some fun animations and inclusions during the credit crawls themselves.
One sequence during the credit crawl featured a number of the movie’s heroes like Gamora and Peter Quill dancing inside of different shapes that moved up with the credits.
One of these shapes actually included Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster doing one of Goldblum’s signature, goofy dance moves. It was hard to miss, but was still worth looking for.
Another one of these shapes also included Peter Quill’s grandfather, played by Gregg Henry. However, this appearance was certainly not as noteworthy as Jeff Goldblum’s.
Stan Lee In Big Hero 6
Typically, Stan Lee’s iconic cameos are well known and easy to spot by most Marvel fans. However, Lee’s cameo in the Academy Award-winning animated movie Big Hero 6 is one that is commonly overlooked.
What many people do not know is that the movie Big Hero 6 is actually based on the heroes with the same name from Marvel Comics.
Though this superhero team isn’t as well known as other Marvel teams like the X-Men or the Guardians of the Galaxy, they have had a number of team-ups with characters like Spider-Man over the years.
With Big Hero 6 technically being a Marvel movie, despite not opening with the Marvel logo, a cameo from the former Marvel editor was still unspokenly obligated.
Stan Lee actually appeared twice in Big Hero 6, though, which most people did not see coming.
His first appearance was about halfway through the movie in the character Fred’s mansion. An animated depiction of Lee was framed on the wall, revealing himself to be Fred’s father.
Then, after the credits, Stan Lee actually showed up and revealed himself to Fred. As it turns out, the reason why Fred’s parents were gone for so many years was because they were actually superheroes, Stan Lee included.
Natalie Dormer In Captain America: The First Avenger
Before she was in Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games, Natalie Dormer actually appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
She appeared in the background of a couple different moments in Captain America: The First Avenger, before actually stepping into the spotlight in one truly memorable scene.
During this scene, Dormer’s character flirtatiously confronted Steve Rogers and proceeded to passionately kiss him, only for that kiss to be interrupted by the movie’s true romantic interest, Peggy Carter.
This sudden act of grabbing Chris Evans and wanting nothing but to kiss him arguably made Natalie Dormer the most relatable character in the entire movie.
Unfortunately, Natalie Dormer’s inclusion in Captain America: The First Avenger put a damper on a lot of fans’ hopes after the announcement of a Captain Marvel movie.
Before Brie Larson was cast in the titular role of Captain Marvel, a number of Marvel fans wanted to see Natalie Dormer in the role.
Unfortunately, Dormer’s inclusion in Captain America: The First Avenger would have kept her from this role, had she actually been considered. Marvel has on a number of occasions used the same actors and actresses for different parts, but never for a leading role.
Jack Gleeson In Batman Begins
Christopher Nolan’s first installment in the Dark Knight trilogy, Batman Begins, included a number of villains from Batman’s rogues gallery, including Ra’s Al Ghul and Scarecrow.
However, what a lot of people missed was that it actually included a boy who went on to become one of the most hated villains of all time: Joffrey from Game of Thrones.
Batman Begins was the first major movie for young actor Jack Gleeson, who was 13 at the time of the movie’s release. Gleeson did not join the cast of Game of Thrones until six years after Batman Begins’ release.
He had four other acting roles between the two projects, but nothing was really as noteworthy as the Batman origin or the hit fantasy HBO series.
At the time of Batman Begins’ release, Jack Gleeson was not the most well known face. However, when rewatching the movie, it’s actually quite a bit of fun to look for his character.
Though he only has a small part, it’s kind of hilarious to see a young Joffrey being saved by Batman.
Did Batman know at the time that the boy he was saving would one day go on to become the worst king to ever sit on the Iron Throne?
James Gunn In Guardians Of The Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy is already filled with a number of cameos, with some more obvious than others, so it would not have been right for director James Gunn to not include himself in the Marvel space opera.
While Gunn was rather public about himself having a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy, many people had quite a bit of trouble spotting him.
Shockingly, James Gunn didn’t just appear in Guardians of the Galaxy, but he even had some dialogue. As it turns out, Gunn’s cameo appearance was actually as one of the Sakaarans, the minions who worked for Ronan the Accuser and helped him with his attack on Xandar.
The specific Sakaaran that Gunn played was the Sakaaran leader who confronted Yondu after he crashed his ship during the Battle of Xandar. Gunn’s character ordered Yondu to have his men turn on the Nova Corps, only to be taken out, along with the rest of the Sakaarans, by Yondu’s powerful arrow.
This was a very prominent cameo that most people did not catch, even after Gunn told people to keep their eyes open. This just goes to show how incredible of a job was done by his make-up and visual effects teams.
Peter Billingsley In Iron Man
While Peter Billingsley may not be a household name, his biggest acting role is incredibly iconic. Billingsley got his start in the movie industry back in 1983 when he starred as Ralphie in the holiday classic A Christmas Story.
While Billingsley did continue to act after A Christmas Story, he never landed the largest of roles, which is why he eventually tried his hand at producing.
As it turned out, producing was a much more viable option for his adult career, and has since worked as a producer on over 20 projects.
His biggest producing project was on the 2008 movie Iron Man. Not only did he produce this movie, but he even snuck himself in a cameo. Billingsley portrayed the head of villain Obadiah Stane’s team of scientists who were trying to replicate Tony Stark’s miniaturized arc reactor.
Billingsley’s biggest moment of screen time was when he was personally being yelled at by Stane, who was furious that the scientists couldn’t replicate what Stark had been able to do in a cave, to which Billingsley’s character replied, “I’m not Tony Stark.”
Most people did not recognize Billingsley in this scene, mostly given his bald spot. Rest assured, the Christmas Story actor still has a full head of hair, and the bald spot was only made for the movie.
En Vogue In Batman Forever
En Vogue was an all-female R&B group from the ’90s that gained popularity for songs such as “Don’t Let Go”, “Free Your Mind”, and “My Lovin’”.
Shockingly, this popular music group managed to make a brief appearance in the loved by some, and hated by others, Batman sequel Batman Forever.
The R&B group appeared about halfway through the movie when Dick Grayson / Robin, played by Chris O’Donnell, high jacked the Batmobile and took it for a joy ride. The ladies of En Vogue played a group of pedestrians that Robin drove the Batmobile up to.
The girls became excited to see Batman, but were visibly disappointed when Robin stepped out. “That’s not Batman,” one of them exclaimed, “that’s Bat-Boy!”
Their cameo was in a weird part of a weird Batman movie, so all in all, this strange and random cameo from En Vogue was actually rather fitting.
This cameo most likely would not have occurred had previous director Tim Burton still been involved with the project, which can be taken in both a positive and negative way.
Regardless, En Vogue fans were certainly rather pleased with this creative decision, managing to see their favorite singers in a popular superhero movie.
Rob Zombie In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
Rob Zombie has certainly made quite a name for himself, both in the music industry and in the movie industry. Zombie got his start as a heavy metal artist, and has gone on to create a number of well known horror movies over the years.
Zombie can also add Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to his list of movies that he’s worked on.
Director James Gunn and Rob Zombie are actually friends, so when working on the second Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn reached out to Zombie about having a small role in the movie.
Though the heavy metal artist never actually appeared on screen, he lent his voice for a couple different parts of the movie. First off, he voiced the Ravagers’ navigation system. Additionally, he added his voice to the group of screaming Ravagers, despite never being shown on camera and not being on set.
This is actually not Zombie’s first voice acting gig, or not even his first Marvel voice acting gig. Zombie actually voiced Dr. Curt Connors / the Lizard in the 2003 TV show Spider-Man: The New Animated Series.
Shockingly, this means that Rob Zombie has voiced three different Marvel characters over the past 15 years, which is a remarkable feat that not many actors have achieved.
Hugh Jackman In X-Men: First Class
While this is a cameo that practically everyone who saw the movie should not have missed, it’s still one of the best cameos in superhero movie history in a film that not many people actually went to see, so it is still worth mentioning.
Despite originally being set up to be a reboot, having recast almost every character, X-Men: First Class still included an appearance from Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
About midway through the movie, when Professor Xavier and Magneto are recruiting mutants for their mutant team, later known as the X-Men, the two characters encounter Wolverine himself.
The two mutant leaders walk into a diner to find Wolverine smoking a cigar. Xavier and Magneto introduce themselves to Wolverine, only for him to quickly respond with, “Go f*** yourself.”
Without saying another word, Xavier and Magneto turn around and leave the diner, leaving Wolverine alone and at peace.
As it turns out, Wolverine’s hilarious response was not in the script. Instead, Hugh Jackman improvised the profanity, and director Matthew Vaughn decided to keep it in.
This was the first use of the “f” word in an X-Men movie, and shockingly every X-Men movie since has used this word at least once.
Jerry Hall In Batman
The 1989 Batman featured a number of appearances from actors and actresses we did not expect to see. One such appearance was of model Jerry Hunt, who appeared as a romantic interest to Jack Napier, later known as the Joker, towards the beginning of the movie.
Her character, Alicia Hunt, was rather entangled in the crime industry in the movie, and thus Jack seemingly could not keep his eyes off of her.
Despite already being romantically involved with the crime boss Carl Grissom, Hunt also became involved with Jack. Discovering this, Carl Grissom sent his goons to have Jack taken out, which directly led to him becoming the Joker.
Her role went on for a bit more during the rest of the movie, with Joker eventually getting his revenge by ruining Hunt’s face, so it was a bit more than just a cameo. Regardless, it was still a small enough role that it is worth mentioning.
Unfortunately, Jerry Hall was not known for being an actress. She was a model first and foremost, and has also been well known for her marriages to Mick Jagger and Rupert Murdoch.
Her lack of acting experience regrettably showed in Batman, with her British accent accidentally coming through during a scene, despite her character being American.
Chris O’Dowd In Thor: The Dark World
The year 2013’s Thor: The Dark World had a lot of problems that seriously aggravated those who saw it. One thing that some fans did appreciate, however, was the brief inclusion of well known Irish comedy actor Chris O’Dowd.
O’Dowd is well known for his roles in comedies series such as The IT Crowd and Get Shorty. He is arguably most notable for his work in Moone Boy, a sitcom series on Sky 1 that he both stars in and created.
All in all, Chris O’Dowd is a well known and respected member of the acting and comedy community, so his inclusion in Thor: The Dark World was certainly welcome.
Chris O’Dowd showed up rather early in The Dark World, as the blind date of Jane Foster, who was heartbroken after the departure of Thor in the first movie.
For the purposes of comedy, the date did not go well, leaving O’Dowd’s character humorously confused as to what had just happened.
Surprisingly, O’Dowd appeared later in the movie as well, calling Jane to ask her out on another date.
This actually worked as a decent and humorous plot device, as Jane and Thor were in another realm at the time, and Jane used the call to figure out where the break in reality was so they could travel back to Earth / Midgard.
