With Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3, The MCU Has A Ton Of Actors Playing More Than One Role

This post contains spoilers for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."

Being a superhero movie fan requires a constant suspension of disbelief. Whether we're accepting the narrative coexistence of what Sam Wilson calls "the big three" (androids, aliens, and wizards), looking past the fact that no one in the world ever really responded to the appearance of Tiamut in "Eternals," or glossing over some high-profile recasts, Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are pretty consistently asked to just kind of roll with things. 

Now fifteen years into its run, the franchise has also gotten into the habit of reusing some actors in more than one role, a method that can be either distracting or delightful depending on the context. The list of actors who have appeared in more than one MCU role is already massive, but it grew even more this week as "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" repurposed familiar voices and faces in surprising new roles. Trilogy writer-director James Gunn has a knack for including people he likes working with in several of his films, to the point that some actors appear in three different "Guardians" installments — including at least one with three different credited character names.

Today, though, we're focused specifically on named characters with speaking lines (or whatever the space creature equivalent to those are). To simplify things, we're also not talking about actors who pointedly play variations of one person (like Oscar Isaac, or the cast of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."). Here are 20 great actors who have pulled double duty in the MCU.

Marvel fans have never actually seen Dee Bradley Baker on screen in the franchise, but the prolific voice actor has lent his considerable talents to the MCU twice now, playing ugly-cute otherworldly creatures both times. First, Baker played Morris, the furry, winged companion who appears alongside Ben Kingsley's Trevor in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." Despite looking a bit like a faceless Thanksgiving turkey with fur on it, Morris became a surprise breakout character in the film and even ended up with his own plush toy.

It remains to be seen whether or not Baker's other MCU character will have the same success, but Blurp, the role he voices in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," certainly has a similarly strange-but-adorable vibe. In case you didn't catch his name during the movie, Blurp is the four-eared, many-toothed fuzzball that ends up becoming friends with Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) by film's end. Marvel movies aside, Baker has built a career on great, species-crossing voice work, playing animal sidekicks in shows like "Phineas and Ferb" and "Gravity Falls" and providing vocals for tons of animated installments of beloved franchises like "Star Wars."

That sweet voice that came from Rocket's otter friend Lylla in the latest "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie? You've definitely heard it before. Actress Linda Cardellini has portrayed Laura Barton, the wife of Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye, in Marvel films and series since 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron." The less we say about Lylla the better — given that her character seems designed to make audiences burst into tears, even after the credits have rolled.

Before Cardellini's Laura Barton appeared in a surprise reveal (who knew Clint had a family all along?!), you might have also seen her in the live-action "Scooby-Doo" films, "Legally Blonde," and more. If one role prepared the actress to play the loving, hopeful critter with metal arms in James Gunn's latest film, though, it seems like it would be her turn as empath Judy Hale on Netflix's "Dead To Me." It's safe to say Judy and Lylla would totally get along.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is chock full of memorable and strange aliens, but few make as much delightful use of their screentime as Benjamin Byron Davis' Bletelsnort. The actor who's best known for his voice work in the "Red Dead Redemption" games here pops up as a random extraterrestrial security guard whom Mantis (Pom Klementieff) hypnotizes into falling in love with Drax (Dave Bautista). It's a cute gag, mostly because Bletelsnort's response is shy but obvious admiration for the Guardian.

Davis previously popped up in "Ant-Man and the Wasp," playing an FBI agent working alongside Randall Park's Jimmy Woo. Agent Burleigh, as his character was named, chased Scott Lang around San Francisco throughout the film before ultimately freeing him from his house arrest ankle monitor. Davis has played two Marvel characters who try to keep our heroes in one place, and both times he's been duped by those scrappy rapscallions.

Nathan Fillion technically breaks our "named characters only" rule, but his role in the first "Guardians of the Galaxy" was still extremely memorable despite the fact that it's just credited as "Monstrous Inmate." In the space prison Kyln, Fillion voiced a hulking blue alien who threatened to eat Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), before being taken down by some well-placed branches up the nose courtesy of Groot. The inmate ends up getting killed by Lee Pace's Ronan the Accuser, but Gunn's favorite actors often have nine lives in his films, so Fillion returned in to finish out the trilogy as the haughty Orgoscope guard Master Karja.

Like the alien inmate, Karja is mocking and intimidating, but he's also the kind of not-so-self-aware bozo Fillion has always been great at playing. You probably recognize the actor from "Firefly" or "Castle," but his latest character reminded me of the faux-heroic jerk he played in "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long-Blog." Also, Marvel fans might recognize his voice from a third role, albeit one that's not exactly in the MCU proper: Fillion voices Wonder Man in Hulu's Marvel comics-inspired stop-animation series "M.O.D.O.K."

In "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," one of the High Evolutionary's highest-ranking henchanimals is War Pig, a part-cyborg pig that ends up facing off against Adam Warlock in a battle over poor, sick Rocket (Bradley Cooper). Surprisingly, the intimidating pig-robot bodyguard is reportedly played by none other than ever-underrated actress Judy Greer. Greer's first role in the MCU came in "Ant-Man," where she played Scott Lang's (Paul Rudd) estranged wife, Maggie.

Greer popped up again in "Ant-Man and the Wasp," but you might also know her from any number of non-MCU roles, including Hulu's short-lived comedy "Reboot," rom-coms like "13 Going on 30" and "27 Dresses," and franchise reboots including the new "Halloween" trilogy and "Jurassic World." It's cool to see Greer, an actress who is famous for playing wives and mothers, take on a totally unexpected role in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."

If you pay close attention to the voices of the Ravagers in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," you might notice something different: Mainframe, the clan leader who appears as a robot head with no body, isn't played by Miley Cyrus anymore. The singer had a brief cameo as the AI being in the second installment of the trilogy, but was reportedly recast in the final film, with prolific voice actor Tara Strong taking over the role.

Strong also appeared in a much larger role in one of the MCU's small-screen installments: she played Miss Minutes, the sinister but chipper animated clock that does the Time Variance Authority's bidding in the Disney+ series "Loki." With "Loki" renewed for a second season, we'll probably hear more from Strong soon, but if you want to catch her work in the meantime, she's starred in beloved shows like "Fairly OddParents" and "The Powerpuff Girls," not to mention several non-MCU Marvel animated series.

Is it a cheat to include Mahershala Ali here when we've only heard but haven't actually seen his biggest Marvel role? Sure, but we're excited enough about the upcoming "Blade" reboot that we think it counts. Ali made a brief debut as vamp hunter Blade in a post-credits scene of "Eternals," but he's also had ample screen time in the MCU already. The actor put in great work in Netflix's "Luke Cage" series, playing Harlem crime boss Cornell Bertram Stokes, aka Cottonmouth.

Cottonmouth probably won't be back anytime soon, given that he met a particularly gruesome fate in one of Marvel's only adult-oriented shows. Still, if you're itching for more from Ali while we wait for "Blade" to come together, I highly recommend pretty much everything in his filmography, including Best Picture winner "Moonlight" and the quietly devastating third season of "True Detective."

A newer member of the MCU two-timers club, Lake Bell most recently appeared on screen in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," where she played a CIA-contracted scientist named Doctor Graham. Bell showed up just long enough for me to say, "Ooh, Lake Bell!" before she was swiftly dispatched by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), who grabbed the helicopter that Graham was trying to escape in and hurled it into the ocean.

Before Bell met her watery fate in the latest "Black Panther" movie, she also appeared in a rather unexpected voice role. The actress, whose filmography also includes the HBO Max "Harley Quinn" series and the underrated film "In A World..." (which she wrote and directed!), actually plays Natasha Romanoff on the Disney+ series "What If...?" Bell has so far popped up in three episodes of the alternate reality-exploring animation, taking on the role made famous by Scarlett Johansson.

Did you know that the character actor responsible for great live-action turns in films like "The Shawshank Redemption" and "John Wick 4" also has a prolific voice acting career? You might have already heard Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor in a number of animated DC Comics projects, but his voice was also present in "Thor: Ragnarok," where he played the fire demon Surtur whose capture of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) kicks off the movie.

Brown also appeared in live-action during Marvel's fantastic Netflix series run, playing drug lord and major baddie Ray Schoonover — aka The Blacksmith — in "The Punisher" and "Daredevil." Ray wasn't just some criminal henchmen, but a military vet and drug dealer who was revealed to be responsible for the deaths of Frank Castle's (Jon Bernthal) wife and kids. The character went out with a bang later in the series, but Brown still isn't done playing supervillains; he also has a key role on HBO Max's upcoming "Penguin" series.

One of the more jarringly obvious double-casts in MCU history features Gemma Chan, an actor who played a main character in two different, relatively standalone entries in the franchise. First, she appeared as blue Kree alien Minn-Erva in "Captain Marvel," where she took on a pretty generic villain role. Minn-Erva worked for Starforce and Ronan the Accuser before her dastardly plan to eliminate Skrull refugees was cut short by Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch).

Chan reappeared a few years later in a much meatier role in "Eternals," where she played diety-turned-museum curator Sersi. Sersi is pretty much the main character in Chloe Zhao's polarizing film, and she's both admirably compassionate towards humankind and rather cornily infatuated with fellow Eternal Ikaris (Richard Madden). Outside of the MCU, Chan's biggest roles include turns in "Crazy Rich Asians" and "Don't Worry Darling," along with the AMC series "Humans."

Legendary actress Tsai Chin has graced the MCU with her presence not once but twice, playing no-nonsense family elders in both "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings." In the former, she pops up in season 1 as Lian May, the mother of Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen). In the latter, she plays the widowed, side-eye-throwing grandma of Awkwafina's Katy Chen, who is convinced Katy and Shaun (Simu Liu) are going to get married.

Both of these parts are small, but if you've seen Chin's other work, her cameos are a total delight and a bit of an homage to decades worth of great past performances. Chin played a Bond girl in "You Only Live Twice," an auntie in "The Joy Luck Club" and "Memoirs of a Geisha," and the villainous Lin Tang in a series of '60s Fu Manchu movies, among other roles. Recently, she gained acclaim for her performance in the indie comedy "Lucky Grandma."

The only actor on this list whose double casting was both intentional and obvious, Kenneth Choi pops up in two entirely different Marvel movies playing a World War II soldier and, later, his own character's grandson. Choi's first appearance came in "Captain America: The First Avenger," when he took on the role of Howling Commando member Jim Morita. He kicked HYDRA butt in the movie, but by the time Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) woke from his icy stasis in the present day, Morita had died.

Luckily, the character's legacy lived on in the form of Principal Morita, the put-upon head of the Midtown School of Science and Tech. Principal Morita only appeared in "Spider-Man: Homecoming," but definitely added to the humor of the movie, as his attempts to maintain order in the high school's halls was thwarted by superhero nonsense far beyond his pay grade. If you want to see more of Choi's work, he currently has a major role in the FOX first responders drama "9-1-1," playing a firefighter nicknamed Chimney. He's also appeared in "The People Vs. O.J. Simpson," "The Wolf of Wall Street," "Sons of Anarchy," and more.

Obviously Benedict Cumberbatch has played several variations of neurosurgeon turned cape-wearing magical wizard Dr. Steven Strange, but before his trip through the multiverse, he also voiced a villain in the first "Doctor Strange" film. Cumberbatch lent his distinctive voice to the role of Dormammu, the shimmery, cosmic monster Strange faces off against in the first film. Dormammu is a classic comic book-style villain in the sense that he basically shows up, plots to take over the world, and then is vanquished. Along the way, though, we get some scenes were viewers may not have realized the actor was essentially talking to himself.

Though Cumberbatch is actually uncredited as Dormammu, he told Yahoo that he provided the motion capture for the being's face as well as the audio for its voice. "I felt that it would be a nice twist to have this realm reflect something of Strange," he explained. Of course, the doctor saw even more direct reflections of himself in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," where Cumberbatch at one point got to go full zombie. Cumberbatch, of course, can also be seen in big hits like BBC's "Sherlock" and Academy Award-nominated films like "The Power of the Dog" and "The Imitation Game."

A superhero movie regular by this point, it's no surprise that David Dastmalchian (who's popped up in DC in no less than six different roles, by my count) has made more than one appearance in the MCU. The actor whom I first saw as a memorably mad Gotham resident in "The Dark Knight" made his Marvel debut in "Ant-Man," where he played a friend of Scott Lang named Kurt. A tech-savvy Russian-American ex-con, Kurt helped Scott rob Hank Pym and eventually worked at X-Con Security Consultants.

Kurt didn't appear in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," but Dastmalchian did: he took on a totally different role as Veb, the goo-thing whose ooze gave Scott the ability to understand quantum languages and who was very interested to know how many holes Scott has. Veb is a goopy little hero in his own right, but if you want to see more of Dastmalchian's work, he can be spotted (pun intended) playing Polka-Dot Man in Gunn's "The Suicide Squad." Dastmalchian has also collaborated with director Denis Villeneuve three times, most recently in "Dune."

Marvel fans on Reddit and elsewhere seem to be in a constant state of pointing out that Enver Gjokaj appeared in "The Avengers," but by the time the actor popped up as New York police Officer Saunders, he was already a household name in my household specifically thanks to his great turn on the show "Dollhouse" (or "Dohlhaus," as his Russian mobster persona would say). Gjokaj has been in lots of noteworthy shows, from "Resident Alien" to "NCIS: Hawai'i," but one of his most substantial roles came a few years after that "Avengers" cameo, on "Agent Carter."

Gjokaj played Daniel Sousa, a disabled war vet and Strategic Scientific Reserve agent who shared more than a little bit of chemistry with the titular agent (Hayley Atwell). After "Agent Carter" ended, Sousa made the leap to "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." where he continued the fight against HYDRA but was rather unceremoniously executed during a mission gone wrong.

Like Dastmalchian, comedian Patton Oswalt seems to be totally game for whatever superhero movie and TV roles come his way, and luckily for us, there have been quite a few. While his biggest role in a Marvel production yet isn't actually a part of the MCU — he voices M.O.D.O.K. in the series of the same name, which he also co-created — Oswalt has actually been popping up in the franchise for years. His first appearances came on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." where he pulled quintuple duty as high-level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Eric Koenig and his identical brothers, Billy, Sam, Thurston, and Ernest.

Most recently, though, Oswalt showed up in a particularly silly post-credits scene for "Eternals." The actor there played Pip the Troll, the sidekick to Harry Styles' Eros. Thanks to pandemic time, Eros and Pip's intro already feels like it happened a million years ago, and I keep thinking they'll end up in the MCU graveyard of post-credit false starts that went nowhere. Apparently, though, both Oswalt and Kevin Feige think more Pip is coming. In the meantime, you can catch Oswalt's great work in "The Sandman," "Veep," "Justified," and so much more, plus his excellent standup including 2016 Emmy winner "Talking For Clapping."

Marvel's former go-to director followed in the tradition of filmmakers past by popping up in his own films in cameo form. Joe Russo, who co-directed several Marvel films including "Avengers: Endgame" with his brother Anthony, made his first named character cameo in "Captain America and the Winter Soldier." There, he played SHIELD surgeon Dr. Fine, but he returned in the next "Captain America" movie in a whole new role, as psychiatrist Theo Broussard.

Theo was quickly murdered and replaced by Daniel Bruhl's Zemo, but Russo's most memorable — and controversial — role came in "Avengers: Endgame," where he offered up some paltry queer representation for a franchise severely lacking it, in the form of Bobby, a gay member of Steve Rogers' snap survivor support group. Since the Russos made their MCU bow with "Endgame," they've gone on to direct projects including "Cherry," "The Gray Man," and Amazon's new show "Citadel." Joe Russo in particular has also garnered headlines for his hot takes on AI and the theatrical experience.

Alfre Woodard is always phenomenal no matter the size of her role, and that's held true across two distinct Marvel appearances to date. First, the actor appeared in a small but pivotal role in "Captain America: Civil War," pleading to Tony Stark to think more about the collateral damage the Avengers cause after the battle against Ultron led to her son's death. Woodard makes a meal out of a single scene here, but we don't blame the Marvel powers-that-be for wanting her back for even more screen time.

Woodard's MCU return came via "Luke Cage," where she played politician — and initially begrudging member of the Stokes crime family – Mariah Dillard. Mariah ultimately went full dark side (and met a cool, messed-up fate like so many other characters in the Netflix Marvel shows) but before that she was one of the most morally complex characters in "Luke Cage." Not every actor gets a Marvel role worth their salt, but we're glad Woodard did. If you haven't yet, be sure to check out her other work, including films like "Passion Fish" and "Crooklyn" and her Emmy-winning turns on "Hill Street Blues" and "St. Elsewhere."

Michelle Yeoh is hot off her Oscar win for an indelible turn in "Everything Everywhere All At Once," but before she played multiverse-hopping mom Evelyn in that film, she appeared twice in the MCU. Yeoh's first role is a fun one, as she played sexy-scary Ravager Aleta Osgord in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." Married to Sylvester Stallone's Stakar, Aleta is an intimidating if under-utilized character.

Yeoh's second Marvel appearance is more substantial; in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," she returns as Ying Nan, aunt to the film's titular character and protector of the legendary village Ta Lo. Ying Nan has a fully developed character arc in the movie, and serves as an emotional link between Shang-Chi and the mother he lost when he was young. Yeoh's non-Marvel work involves lots of can't-miss titles, including "Crazy Rich Asians," "Star Trek: Discovery," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and much more.

Fans of "Gilmore Girls" probably won't be too surprised to learn that Sean Gunn had multiple jobs on the set of "Guardians of the Galaxy." Before he jetted off into space, Gunn played the most industrious citizen of Stars Hollow, Kirk, who had 62 different jobs during the show's original seven-season run. 

Perhaps none were quite so hard on the knees, though, as providing the physical performance for Rocket in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — while also pulling double duty as Kraglin, the second-in-command of Yondu's Ravagers and, later, a member of the Guardians crew. Sean Gunn told ComicBook.com that initially there hadn't really been a plan for how Gunn was going to play Rocket on set, so when rehearsals began, "I just got down on my hands and knees and started doing it from the character's height and position. And lo and behold, that's what ended up really working."

In fact, his presence on set proved integral to forming a genuine bond between Rocket and the other Guardians; the other cast members have said that being able to look into Gunn's eyes and respond to his acting helped drive their own performances. For the animators, having an in-camera reference for Rocket's gestures and emotions was invaluable. And while Bradley Cooper provides the voice for the adult Rocket throughout his MCU appearances, Sean Gunn delivered the vocal performance for the younger version of the character in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."