Actors that have been in both DC and Marvel movies

James Gunn came over from the Marvel world to make The Suıcide Squad, bringing a few Marvel folks along with him in the proceedings. Elba is one of those actors. He’s arguably the lead of The Suıcide Squad as Bloodsport. Before that, he played Heimdall in three Thor films, plus a couple of appearances in Avengers movies.

Simmons first appeared in a Marvel film when he stepped into the role of J. Jonah Jameson for the first three Spider-Man films from the days before the MCU. He then messed around, won himself an Oscar, and appeared as Jim Gordon in Justice League . Now, he’s back in the world of Spidey. Simmons returned to the role of Jameson alongside new Spider-Man Tom Holland in the new series. 

Reynolds probably hopes you would forget his time in the DC Universe. His turn as Green Lantern was an absolute flop. Fortunately, Reynolds found his footing as a superhero by getting snarky, raunchy, and metatextual as Deadpool. After a rough first appearance as the character in a Wolverine film, Reynolds and company revamped the character into the fourth-wall-breaking filth flinger he is known as today.

There are Marvel movies these days that still exist outside the MCU. One of those was Venom, which stars Hardy. (Venom's place in the MCU is muddier after Let There Be Carnage.) Before he took on the role of Eddie Brock, he famously played muffled Batman villain Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.

Arguably the first success for Marvel in the film world was the X-Men franchise. There, Berry played Storm. A few years later, after winning an Oscar for Monster’s Ball, Berry got the chance to star in Catwoman. It was a horrendous flop, winning her a Razzie to go with that Oscar.

We assume that Affleck is nobody’s favorite Batman, but he still got to play the role. That’s massive. Early in his rise to stardom, Affleck played a less-famous superhero, Marvel’s Daredevil. Neither part worked out for Affleck, but he still has a couple of Oscars, so he’s doing just fine.

Speaking of Batman, some questioned Keaton being cast in the role by Tim Burton, but his two films turned into huge successes. Keaton was a superstar for a while, but then his career went a bit quiet. In recent years, he’s had a renaissance, including a memorable turn in the first Tom Holland Spider-Man film. This time, he was on the villainous side of things as Vulture.

Dafoe has had a fascinating career, but for all the dark films and Lars von Trier collaborations, the man isn’t against a comic book film (or a cheerful Wes Anderson performance). In the first run at Spider-Man on the big screen, Dafoe played the villain, the Green Goblin. Many years later, he swapped to DC to appear in a supporting role in Aquaman.

Dastmalchian is not the biggest name on this list, but he’s ping-ponged between DC and Marvel and earned his spot here. He made his film debut with a small role in The Dark Knight. Several years later, he slapped on a broad accent for a fun role as Kurt in the Ant-Man films. Now, he’s back in the land of DC, thanks to his turn as Polka-Dot Man in The Suıcide Squad.

Chris Evans is synonymous with Captain America, and Captain America is synonymous with Chris Evans. This was not his first foray into superheroes. Let’s not forget the first two Fantastic Four films. There, Evans did a very un-Captain America turn as the Human Torch. But when it comes to DC, Evans played Captain Jake Jensen in the 2010 Peter Berg-directed film The Losers. 

Waititi is a big-time director these days. In the MCU, he’s tackled Thor: Ragnarok and directed Thor: Love and Thunder. He also cast himself in a small role in Ragnarok as Korg. On the flip side, he has appeared in not one but two DC films. Before his big movie break, he had a small role in Green Lantern and had an extended cameo as Ratcatcher 1 in The Suıcide Squad.

Halle Berry flopped as Catwoman, but Pfeiffer did not. Her turn as Selina Kyle is iconic. After many years away from comic-book movies, Pfeiffer returned as Janet Van Dyne, the original Wasp, in the Ant-Man films.

You can be forgiven for forgetting the erstwhile Chuck played Fandral in two Thor movies. That was a supporting role pretty far down the pecking order. These days, he’s a star. Specifically, he’s the star of Shazam! where he played the titular superhero. At least, he does when Billy Batson isn’t a mere child.

Remember when Jones played Two-Face in Batman Forever? The ‘90s were weird. And yet, Jones wasn’t put off comic-book films. He has a role in Captain America: The First Avenger as a stern military man, which fits him a lot better than the insanity of Harvey Dent’s alter-ego.

You’d have to check out the credits of Captain Marvel to know that Mendelsohn is in the films. He’s in some heavy-duty makeup as Talos, a member of the Skrull race. Mendelsohn is more visually noticeable in The Dark Knight Rises, though in a role that doesn’t involve anything terribly comic book-y.

Fishburne has been acting since he was a child and has an extensive filmography, so maybe it isn’t terribly surprising he’s on this list. That said, he was deep into his career before getting a role for Marvel or DC. DC came calling first, casting him as Perry White of the Daily Planet in Man of Steel. After two DC movies, Fishburne moved to Marvel to play Bill Foster in Ant-Man and the Wasp.

As you can see, several actors have been in DC and Marvel movies. Park did it in the same year. In 2018, he had supporting superpower-free roles in Ant-Man and the Wasp and Aquaman.

We probably don’t need to remind you that Stamp plays General Zod in Superman II. It’s a famed villain performance. You may need to be told that he played Stick in Elektra, though. We hope that was news to you because, otherwise, it means that you watched Elektra.

Viola Davis has played Amanda Waller in both of the  Suıcide Squad films, and she does a good job because, well, she’s Viola Davis. The Oscar winner wasn’t the first actress to bring Waller to screen, though. Bassett plays that role in Green Lantern. Later, she played Ramonda in Black Panther, a role that she reprised for the 2022 sequel.

Technically, Hounsou made his DC debut in Constantine, but that’s not really part of DC’s whole superhero line. We don’t need to count on that to get Hounsou on this list. On the DC front, he’s in Aquaman and Shazam! Meanwhile, over in the Marvel world, he’s played Korath in Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel.