Astonishing Photos Of 27 Marvel Actors In Their First Role, Their Marvel Role, And Their Most Recent Role

Oh, those young fresh faces in their first roles are making us emotional.

Liezel

• Published in Film & TV
• April 30, 2022

Nowadays, the names of celebs like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Hemsworth are often interchanged with their characters from the Marvel franchise and it's understandable why. Over the years that they've played those characters, they've become the face of those characters and the world knows no one else in those roles.

They've become the heroes a lot of kids look up to. And it's definitely hard to imagine anyone else in their roles.

Another part of the reason a lot of people admire many of the actors from the Marvel franchise is their behind-the-scenes. From hilarious interviews and charming moments with fans to funny behind-the-scenes clips onset and the dedication they put into playing their characters, many fans have found many reasons to love these actors.

Outside the Marvel universe though, these actors and actresses have been making their mark in the industry with their skills and dedication in various films and projects. With other iconic films under their belt, a lot of these actors and actresses are proving that they don't special effects or huge studio works just to prove that they have the chops to be on the big screen.

In celebration of these Marvel actors and actresses who have stolen our hearts, here are side-by-sides that show their first role, their Marvel role, and their most current role.

1. Robert Downey Jr.'s first major role as Lee in Firstborn in 1984

Robert Downey Jr. in his role as Iron Man in the MCU from 2008 to 2019

Robert Downey Jr.'s most recent role as Dr. John Dolittle in Dolittle in 2020

Downey is also currently filming for Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer where he'll be starring alongside Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, and many more.

He has also produced several projects in recent years like Netflix's Sweet Tooth.

2. Gwyneth Paltrow in her first role as Rebecca in Shout (1991)

Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts in the MCU from 2008 to present

Gwyneth Paltrow as Georgina Hobart in The Politician from 2019 to 2020

3. Samuel L. Jackson in one of his very first roles in The Displaced Person as Sulk (1997)

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in the MCU from 2008 to present

Jackson last appeared in Spider-Man: Far From Home but he will continue to appear in upcoming MCU films including The Marvels and the new Disney+ series Secret Invasion. He has also voiced Nick Fury in the first season of What If...?

Samuel L. Jackson's most recent role as Ptolemy Grey in The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (2022)

4, Chris Evans in his first role as Cary in Opposite Sex (2000)

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/ Captain America in the MCU from 2011 to 2019

Chris Evans' most recent role in 2022 as Lloyd Hansen in The Gray Man

The Gray Man is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo who also directed Chris in several MCU films. The film will hit Netflix in July 2022 and it also stars Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Rege-Jean Page, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfre Woodard, Jessica Henwick, and more.

5. Sebastian Stan's first role as "Kid in the subway" in 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance in 1994

Sebastian Stan as Bucky/ The Winter Soldier in the MCU from 2011 to present

Fans are hoping Stan will continue to reprise his role in Captain America 4 which will feature Anthony Mackie leading his first MCU film as the new Captain America. Sebastian also voiced Bucky in the first season of What If...?

Sebastian Stan in 2022 as Steve in the film Fresh

Elizabeth Olsen when she was just a child in her first role as "Girl in Car" in How the West Was Fun (1994)

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda/ Scarlet Witch in the MCU from 2014 to present

Olsen's work as Wanda on her series WandaVision earned her critical acclaim and earned her an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Critics' Choice Award nomination. She's set to reprise the role again in the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Elizabeth Olsen in Love and Death (2022) as Candy Montgomery

In the series, she'll be starring as a Texan housewife who brutally murdered her friend in 1920.

7. Paul Bettany in his first role as Ian Greaves in Wycliffe (1994)

Paul Bettany as Vision/ J.A.R.V.I.S. in the MCU from 2008 to present

While Wanda's Vision is gone, white Vision is still out there so there's some hope of seeing him again in the MCU soon. He also voiced Vision in the first season of What If...?

Paul Bettany's most recent role is as Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll in A Very British Scandal in 2021

8. Kathryn Hahn's first roles include Lily Lebowski in the film Crossing Jordan from 2001 to 2007

Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness in the MCU from 2021 to present

Kathryn Hahn's most recent role is as Phyllis Shapiro in The Shrink Next Door in 2021

9. Chris Hemsworth as King Arthur in Guinevere Jones in his first role in 2002

Chris Hemsworth as Thor in the MCU from 2011 to present

Hemsworth will be reprising his role for Thor: Love and Thunder which will be the 10th MCU project he'll be appearing on which also includes him voicing Thor in the first season of What If...?

Chris Hemsworth in his most recent role as Tyler Rake in the 2020 Netflix film Extraction

10. Tom Hiddleston in his first role as Lord in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby in 2001

Tom Hiddleston as Loki in the MCU from 2011 to present

Tom will be reprising his role as god of mischief in the second season of Loki. He also voiced the same character in the first season of What If...?

Tom Hiddleston as Will Ransome in the 2022 film The Essex Serpent

In the coming Apple TV+ series, Hiddleston will be starring alongside Claire Danes which follows Cora, a widow who moves to Essex to investigate the reports of a mythical serpent. While there, she forms a bond with the village minister.

11. Tessa Thompson's first major role was as Jackie Cook in Veronica Mars from 2005 to 2006

Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie in the MCU from 2017 to present

She'll be joining in Thor: Love and Thunder in 2022.

Tessa Thompson's most recent role as Irene Redfield in Passing (2021)

12. Tom Holland in his first role as Lucas Bennett in The Impossible (2012)

Tom Holland as Peter Parker/ Spider-Man in the MCU from 2016 to present

Tom Holland's most recent film Uncharted (2022) where he played Nathan Drake

13. Zendaya's first projects include Shake It Up where she played Rocky Blue from 2010 to 2013

Zendaya as MJ in the MCU from 2017 to present

Zendaya's most recent in Euphoria as Rue Bennett from 2019 to present

Zendaya won an Emmy in 2020 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Rue in Euphoria becoming the youngest actor to ever win in the category.

14. Jeremy Renner's first role is as Mark "Dags" D'Agastino in National Lampoon's Senior Trip in 1995

Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/ Hawkeye in the MCU from 2011 to present

Jeremy Renner's most recent role as Mike McLusky in Mayor of Kingstown in 2021

15. Hailee Steinfeld in her first role in Back to You as "Little Girl" in 2007

Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop in the MCU from 2021 to present

Hailee Steinfeld's most recent role as Emily Dickinson in Dickinson from 2019 to 2021

16. Mark Ruffalo's first roles include playing Christian in the film Mirror Mirror II: Raven Dance in 1994

Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/ Hulk in the MCU from 2012 to present

He'll be reprising the role in the MCU series She-Hulk on Disney+ alongside Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters/ She-Hulk.

Mark Ruffalo in his most recent project The Adam Project as Louis Reed in 2022

17. Chadwick Boseman's first role as Reggie Porter in All My Children (2003)

Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/ Black Panther in the MCU from 2016 to 2019

Chadwick Boseman's last role as Levee Green in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom in 2020

Boseman sadly passed away in 2020 because of colon cancer at the age of 43. His last role ended up being when he voiced his MCU character for the first season of What If...?

The Black Panther sequel will also be dedicated to him.

18. Lupita Nyong'o first project was East River where she played F in 2008

Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia in the MCU from 2018 to present

She'll be reprising her role as Nakia in the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Lupita Nyong'o in her most recent role as Khadijah Adiyeme in the film The 355 in 2022

19. Michael B. Jordan in his first role in The Sopranos as "Rideland Kid" in 1999

Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger in Black Panther in 2018

Michael B. Jordan's most recent project is A Journal for Jordan as Charles Monroe King in 2021

20. Angela Bassett's first role is as Salina McCulla in Search for Tomorrow in 1985

Angela Bassett as Ramonda in the MCU from 2018 to present

She will also be reprising her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Angela Bassett's most recent role is as Sgt. Athena Grant-Nash in 9-1-1 from 2018 to present

21. Paul Rudd's first projects include Sisters where he played Kirby Philby from 1992 to 1995

Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/ Antman in the MCU from 2015 to present

He'll be putting on his suit again for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. He also voiced Scott in the first season of What If...?

Paul Rudd in his most recent project The Shrink Next Door playing Dr. Isaac Herschkopf in 2021

22. Florence Pugh's first role as Abbie Mortimer in The Falling in 2014

Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova in the MCU from 2021 to present

Florence Pugh in the upcoming Don't Worry Darling playing Alice

Pugh will be starring in Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling alongside Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, and Chris Pine. The film centers around the story of a 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community who begins to worry that her husbands company might be hiding disturbing secrets.

23. Chris Pratt's first ever major role was playing Bright Abbott in Everwood from 2002 to 2006

Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/ Star-Lord in the MCU from 2014 to present

He will also be in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder and he'll also be starring in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+ and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Chris Pratt in his most recent project, The Tomorrow War, as Dan Forester in 2021

24. Zoe Saldana's first role was in Law & Order as Belinca in 1999

Zoe Saldana as Gamora in the MCU from 2014 to present

She'll also be appearing on The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+ and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Zoe Saldana in her most recent film, The Adam Project, as Laura in 2022

25. Karen Gillan's first role was as Teri Cotter in the 2006 film Rebus

Karen Gillan as Nebula in the MCU from 2014 to present

She also voiced Nebula in the first season of What If...? and she'll be reprising the role in Thor: Love and Thunder. She'll also be appearing on The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+ and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Karen Gillan's most recent project, The Bubble, where she plays Carol Cobb/ Dr. Lacey Nightingale

26. Lauren Ridloff was Fatima in If You Could Hear My Own Tune for her first role in 2011

Lauren Ridloff as Makkari in the MCU from 2021 to present

Lauren Ridloff's most recent roles include Connie in The Walking Dead from 2018 to 2022

27. Taika Waititi's first role is as Alex in Scarfies in 1999

Taika Waititi as Korg in the MCU from 2017 to present

He will be reprising the character in Thor: Love and Thunder which he also wrote and directed.

Taika Waititi's most recent roles include Our Flag Means Death where he played Edward "Ed" Teach/ Blackbeard

Seeing all those early pictures of our favorite MCU actors kind of makes us emotional because it just shows how far all these people have come. Just imagine, if one of them just decided to quit acting right before their MCU casting, we might be seeing a different hero or villain right now and well when it comes to the MCU, that's just a hard thing to imagine.

We're glad they're where they are right now and for giving us all those amazing characters in the MCU.

Liezel