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The superhero genre has been the biggest and most popular in the film industry for some years now. There’s no rock on Earth big enough to live under that would sufficiently shield a person from that fact. While the MCU kicking off in 2008 has been largely responsible for the genre’s dominance, superhero movies had been picking up in popularity and critical acclaim for some years before that, so arguably, the genre has been a pretty big deal for the better part of two decades now.
That length of time has made it possible for certain actors to portray the same superhero role many times over. The following 10 stars have made the most appearances as one character throughout their respective series’, with both live-action and animated films considered (no TV shows or episodes, though). Naturally, the list is pretty Marvel-heavy, but doesn’t exclusively feature actors who’ve appeared in the MCU.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange – 6 films
Benedict Cumberbatch is relatively new to the MCU, all things considered. His first appearance was at the tail end of 2016, in the first Doctor Strange, and he’s since gone on to be a key part of Avengers: Infinity War, feature heavily in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and recently got his own sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Add to that his brief appearances in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Endgame, and Strange has emerged as one of the key players in the MCU’s third and fourth phases. Six appearances within six years is a pretty solid streak so far, and as the ending of Multiverse of Madness promised, we definitely haven’t seen the last of Cumberbatch in the MCU.
Don Cheadle as War Machine – 7 films
Don Cheadle is yet to headline his own movie in the MCU, though the recently announced Armor Wars will give him a chance to finally be a leading man. Still, even without that film, he’s already appeared in more films than some of the series’ lead characters.
It speaks to War Machine’s role as a solid supporting player/side-kick to Tony Stark, who’ll now have the opportunity to get a little more to do, seeing as Robert Downey Jr. bowed out of the MCU with Endgame. And if Don Cheadle had portrayed James Rhodes/War Machine in the first Iron Man, he’d have eight appearances (Terrence Howard originally played the role, before the character was recast).
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier – 7 films
Featuring in all three Captain America movies, two Avengers films, and popping up in cameos for Ant-Man and Black Panther, Sebastian Stan has emerged as a staple of the MCU. Like War Machine, he played a sidekick role for much of phases 1 to 3 (to Captain America), but will likely become more of a leading character going forward.
Arguably, it’s already happened, given he was one of the title characters in The Falcon and the Winter Solider miniseries. However, that’s defined as a TV show, so it can’t be included for the purposes of ranking actors’ appearances by films. Still, seven film appearances as a supporting character isn’t too shabby.
Scarlett Johansson at Black Widow – 8 films
Most MCU fans will agree that it took way too long for Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow to get her own solo film. It eventually came out in 2021, and had to be a prequel, given what happened to her character in Endgame. While it was far from bad, it did feel unfortunately late, and as such lacked urgency. It may have served as an entertaining standalone adventure, but didn’t really fill in any gaps that needed filling in, as you’d kind of hope a prequel would.
But Johansson remained a staple of the first three phases of the MCU, even without a solo film, and had prominent roles in all four Avengersmovies, Iron Man 2, and two of the Captain America movies. Even though Johansson and Disney seem to be on good terms after a Black Widow-related dispute, it’s safe to assume Johansson’s role in the MCU has come to an end. If that’s the case, it ended up being a pretty solid run of films.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor – 9 films
Out of the six original Avengers, only three are still key players in the MCU. Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is one of them, beating out fellow survivors Hawkeye and The Hulk with a staggering nine appearances across four phases, with his first being Thor in 2011, and his most recent being 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder.
He’s been a lead player in all four Thor movies (it would be weird if he hadn’t been), and also had a good deal of screen time in all four Avengers movies. His other appearance was a cameo in one of Doctor Strange’s end credits scenes, which was admittedly fairly minor, but his prominence in the other eight movies makes up for it. And as the fourth Thor’s ending suggests, it’s likely we’ll see Hemsworth in more to come.
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine – 9 films
A rare non-MCU actor who ranks high in film appearances as the same superhero, Hugh Jackman played Wolverine across nine X-Men films between 2000 and 2017, easily emerging as the series’ lead character as a result.
However, he’s technically not going to stay a non-MCU character, given it’s been announced that Jackman will appear in Deadpool 3 (which is to be Deadpool’s MCU debut, too). Come that film’s release, he’ll have cracked double-digits for playing the character on-screen (and yes, the X-Men: First Class cameo still counts as an appearance, because it’s hilarious).
Chris Evans as Captain America – 9 films
Chris Evans has seemingly bowed out of the MCU, with no confirmed post-phase 3 appearances. However, Captain America himself isn’t dead, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now one where time travel and multiverses exist. The idea of Evans making some sort of appearance again may not be entirely out of the question.
Still, even if the First Avenger remains retired, Evans has an impressive nine appearances in the series to his name. Like Thor’s aforementioned nine appearances, Captain America had prominent roles in most of the films he appeared in – namely, the four Avengers movies and all three Captain America movies. Two brief but fun cameos in Thor: The Dark World and Spider-Man: Far From Home take the actor up to nine.
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man – 10 films
As the actor whose superhero’s first film kick-started the MCU, it’s no surprise that Robert Downey Jr. has been one of the series’ most prolific stars. Indeed, it’s hard to argue against the idea that Iron Man was the closest thing phases 1 to 3 had to a main character.
In addition, only one of his 10 appearances could be considered a cameo (his very brief appearance in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk). Otherwise, he’s been a lead character in the Iron Man trilogy and the four Avengers films, and on top of that, he arguably featured as a co-lead in Captain America: Civil War, and had an important supporting role in Spider-Man: Homecoming, too.
Kevin Conroy as Batman – 10 films
Few actors who’ve appeared in DC films have come close to having as many appearances as the most prolific actors from the Marvel side of the superhero world. This is doubly so for actors who appear in live-action, as recastings and different takes on familiar characters have been more common in DC films.
However, on the animated side of things, Kevin Conroy has played Batman/Bruce Wayne in 10 different animated movies, making him among the most prolific superhero actors (of the one character) in film history. If TV episodes and video games were counted, Conroy might well be the most prolific, as he has almost too many Caped Crusader appearances to count.
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury – 11 films
Sure, you could argue Nick Fury isn’t a true superhero, and he might not be a member of the Avengers as much as he’s their coach and/or manager. And yes, he doesn’t really have superpowers (but that doesn’t stop someone like Hawkeye, who’s more or less just super skilled with a bow and arrow).
However, if he’s counted as a superhero, then Samuel L. Jackson is the most prolific actor in the films of the MCU so far, with 11 appearances. And for present purposes, he gets to be included as a hero for several reasons: he’s played by Samuel L. Jackson, he’s cool, he can handle a rocket launcher, he helped bring the Avengers together, and he’s played by Samuel L. Jackson.
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