50 Actors You Forgot Did Superhero Movies
Pretty much everyone has done one at this point
Pretty much everyone has done one at this point
Blake Lively
Before Ryan Reynolds had a comic-book hit on his hands with Deadpool, he starred in the legendary flop Green Lantern, which also starred his future wife Blake Lively. Blake played Carol Ferris, long-time love interest of the Green Lantern.
Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett also starred in Blake and Ryan's version of Green Lantern. She played Amanda Waller, a character who would later be played by Viola Davis in Suicide Squad. In 2018, Angela will be back in the superhero game as Ramonda in Black Panther, a movie that looks to be approximately 500 times better than Green Lantern.
Cara Delevingne
Suicide Squad didn't come out that long ago, but between Harley Quinn's sequinned shorts and Jared Leto's off-set antics, it's easy to forget that Cara Delevingne also starred as June Moone, aka Enchantress.
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx did villain duty as Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (that's the second one with Andrew Garfield). Electro, as his name suggests, is able to manipulate electricity as the result of an accident that also turned his skin blue.
James Franco
Before he was an auteur and an MFA-pursuing grad student, James Franco was just a regular movie star who played Harry Osborn in 2002's Spider-Man, aka the one with Tobey Maguire. Harry later became a villain, which wasn't surprising because his dad was the Green Goblin. Blood will out! (James reprised the role of Harry in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.)
George Clooney
It's usually easy to remember who gets to wear the most important suit in these movies — no one will forget that Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man, for example — but Batman & Robin is a special case. In that one, George Clooney put on the bat suit, which for some inexplicable reason had nipples. 1997 was a crazy time!
Viola Davis
Viola Davis, who is one Grammy shy of an EGOT, played the aforementioned Amanda Waller in 2016's Suicide Squad. Waller is the character who creates the titular squad.
Anne Hathaway
The year before she took home her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Les Misérables, Anne Hathaway put on a catsuit to play Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman, in The Dark Knight Rises. Unfortunately that was Christopher Nolan's last Batman film and Anne didn't get to reprise the role, but never give up hope that she'll appear in a future DC Extended Universe movie.
January Jones
January Jones is known to Mad Men fans as ice queen Betty Draper, but in 2011 she played comic-book ice queen Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class. Maybe if Betty had telepathic powers like Emma she'd have been able to get out of that terrible marriage faster.
Kerry Washington
Before she was Olivia Pope, Kerry Washington was Alicia Masters in the 2005 Fantastic Four movie and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Alicia is a love interest of the Thing, played in that version by Michael Chiklis. Fantastic Four wasn't Kerry's only superhero work, though — she also voiced Princess Shuri in a 2010 Black Panther animated miniseries.
Nicole Kidman
Yep, even Nicole Kidman has done a Batman movie. She played Dr. Chase Meridian in 1995's Batman Forever (Val Kilmer was her Batman). Nicole will literally dip her toe back in the superhero waters in 2018, when she appears in Aquaman as Queen Atlanna.
Michael B. Jordan
The 2015 version of Fantastic Four somehow fared even less well than the 2005 edition — it still hasn't gotten a sequel — but at least Michael B. Jordan fans got to see him as the Human Torch. He'll be back in the world of Marvel again in 2018 as Erik Killmonger in Black Panther.
Kate Mara
Kate starred in Fantastic Four as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman.
Miles Teller
Miles joined Michael and Kate in that same Fantastic Four, playing Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic.
Jessica Alba
Before Kate Mara took on the role of Sue Storm, Jessica Alba did it with aplomb in 2005 and 2007 alongside Chris Evans as Johnny Storm. Chris, as you know, went on to play Captain America in the newer round of Marvel movies.
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen starred as Britt Reid in 2011's The Green Hornet, and yes, Britt Reid is the titular Green Hornet. "While we were making it, it was a fucking nightmare," Seth has said.
Alicia Silverstone
You know her as Cher from Clueless, but Alicia also portrayed the iconic Batgirl in 1997's Batman & Robin. It's really too bad that had to be the one with the nipple bat suit.
Zoë Kravitz
You might remember that Zoë played Angel in X-Men: First Class, but did you also know that she voiced Catwoman in The Lego Batman Movie? Another fun fact: Her stepdad is Jason Momoa, aka Aquaman.
Jennifer Lawrence
This one is somewhat harder to forget than others because it involves Jennifer Lawrence naked and covered in blue paint, but still, her turn as Mystique in the newer round of X-Men movies isn't quite as iconic as her Katniss Everdeen role in The Hunger Games.
Tao Okamoto
Most recently, Tao played Lex Luthor's personal assistant Mercy Graves in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but she also played Mariko Yashida in 2013's The Wolverine.
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