The directing duo never forgot their roots, as they managed to sneak in several cameos for their former Community stars. This includes Danny Pudi as a technician in The Winter Soldier and Jim Rash as a slightly different college’s dean, this time M.I.T., in Civil War. Ken Jeong appears as the security guard at the self-storage facility who discovers Ant-Man in Endgame, while Yvette Nicole Brown is featured as a S.H.I.E.L.D. employee during the 1970s in the same film. Many other side characters from Community also appear throughout the MCU, and Donald Glover has a small part in Spider-Man: Homecoming. However, that was not a Russo Brothers wink and nudge.
21. Doctor Strange in Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Significant cameos from major players in the MCU have been the bread and butter of the franchise since the beginning. Marvel has loved peppering brief appearances of its flagship heroes throughout the series run, cementing its trademark interconnectivity between each film. Doctor Strange’s scene in Thor: Ragnarok is a perfect example of this.
When he took over the dwindling Thor franchise in 2017, Taika Waititi injected some much-needed life into it. The sequence featuring Stephen Strange and the God of Thunder is emblematic of the style Waititi brought to the MCU. While mostly fueled by gags, watching these two larger-than-life characters interact on screen was a treat for fans. The scene ends with a hilarious bit of Loki, the God of Mischief, exclaiming, “I have been falling for 30 minutes!” between two of Doctor Strange’s magic portals.
20. The Original Marvel Comics Guardians of the Galaxy in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
The Guardians of the Galaxy, who we’ve come to know and love in the MCU, weren’t the original team from Marvel Comics. Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and company were introduced as the modern-day Guardians in the 2008 comic Annihilation: Conquest #6. The OG team, introduced on the page in 1969, featured characters such as Stakar Ogord, Aleta Ogord, Charlie-27, Martinex, and Yondu–the latter of which is the only character to officially make the roster in the MCU.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, director James Gunn was able to sneak in a half-dozen cameos for the original comics team with a star-studded cast. This featured two of Gunn’s longtime collaborators, Sylvester Stallone and Michael Rosenbaum, as Stakar Ogord and Martinex, respectively. Pulp Fiction and Mission: Impossible star Ving Rhames brought his resonating voice and presence to Charlie-27, while pop star Miley Cyrus voiced Mainframe in an uncredited role. Finally, future Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh joined the squad as Aleta Ogord. While Yeoh’s GOTG character never returned, she later got a part in a different Marvel movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). Despite not being the most recognizable Guardians to the casual viewer, seeing live-action interpretations of these characters was a delight to hardcore comics readers.
19. Matt Murdock/Daredevil in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
If there is one thing Marvel fans can agree on, it’s that Charlie Cox as the Man Without Fear was perfect casting. The original Daredevil series, which ran on Netflix for three seasons, was embraced by viewers and critics alike. Sadly, the streaming series met an unceremonious end when Marvel announced their intentions to move their TV programming to Disney+. There is still even a cloud of uncertainty about whether or not the show is canon to the MCU at large, leading fans to give up hope we’d ever see this interpretation of Daredevil again.