10 Surprising Cameos From Avengers: Infinity War That You Need To See

Avengers: Infinity War is finally here! The biggest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date and likely the biggest movie of the year as a whole, it sees practically everyone in the franchise unite to take on Thanos, the alien overlord who wants to wipe out all life in the universe. On top of all those superheroes, however, the film finds time to sneak in a few shocking cameos as well. As has been talked about a lot in the run-up to the movie's release, Infinity War marks the beginning of the end of the first ten years of the MCU, so it makes time to celebrate how far the franchise has come over the last decade by squeezing in some familiar characters you wouldn't expect to see - and that's exactly what we'll run through here. If you've already caught the film or wish to throw caution to wind and find out all its secrets beforehand, then read on for the most surprising cameos hidden in Infinity War. If you'd rather see it spoiler-free, however, just bookmark the page and come back later. We'll be waiting for you. Tobias Funke Let's start off with one person we really didn't expect to see in Avengers: Infinity War - Tobias Funke, David Cross' character from Arrested Development! When the Guardians enter the Collector's chambers on Knowhere, it's hard to spot, but if you look to the left of the screen you can make out a blue guy in a pair of shorts in one of the containers - which has to be a reference to the famous moment, for fans of the comedy, where Tobias painted himself blue. Or "blue himself," as he put it. Apparently, he's a rare enough commodity to be put in the Collector's collection. This isn't the first time that the Russos have referenced their TV sitcom past in one of their Marvel movies, either. Captain America: Civil War previously featured Jim Rash as a teacher at MIT, somewhat similar to his role on Community, which the brothers also worked on. At this point, we're pretty sure the directors are trying to fold their own shows into the MCU. Stan Lee OK, so obviously we knew Stan Lee was going to be in Avengers: Infinity War at some point, but the fun is in finding out exactly where the Marvel legend is going to pop up this time. Here, Stan's appearance comes pretty early on in the film. When Peter Parker's Spidey-sense goes off, he slips out of the school bus in order to investigate the giant wheel-ship that's just appeared over New York. His pal Ned causes a distraction by pointing out the spaceship to the rest of the kids. The bus driver is then revealed to be Stan the Man, who complains at all the students for getting off their seats. "Haven't you kids ever seen a spaceship before?" he asks. This is a great cameo for Lee on a few levels. For one, it references the fact that the Earth has had numerous alien encounters over the past few years - so many that people like Stan's bus driver don't even bat an eyelid at them anymore. On the other hand, thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we know that all of Stan's cameos see him playing the same character. So, he's not fazed by the spaceship because he works with the alien Watchers. The Collector The Collector looked like he was going to be a fairly important figure in the MCU back in Phase Two. He initially appeared in the post-credits scene of Thor: The Dark World when Lady Sif and Volstagg delivered the Reality Stone to him for safekeeping. He then got his proper debut in Guardians of the Galaxy, which saw him give us the first explanation of what the Infinity Stones were. As it happens, he then never turned up again... Until now. In Infinity War, the Collector makes his return when the Guardians come to Knowhere in order to prevent Thanos from getting his hands on the Reality Stone. It appears that they arrive just in time to stop him torturing the information out of the Collector. However, it's revealed that this is just a mirage created by the Mad Titan, with his new reality-warping powers. Because of this, we're not sure if the Collector is still alive - though, going by the flaming ruins of his collection, it doesn't look good. Still, it was nice to see the character, as Benicio Del Toro always gives a larger than life performance in the part. Chitauri There are many callbacks to The Avengers in Infinity War, which helps the feeling that things are coming full circle as the first ten years of the MCU begin to wrap up. This nostalgia for the first team-up movie in the franchise reaches its peak during a flashback which reintroduces Thanos' ugly alien army that previously invaded Earth. Midway through the film, we leave behind the present to peek into the past as a flashback reveals how Thanos came to adopt his favourite daughter Gamora. Almost 20 years ago, he encountered the future Guardian when he was leading an assault on her world. His foot soldiers in the attack were the Chitauri. Much like how he loaned them to Loki in The Avengers to subjugate Earth, the Chitauri had laid waste to Gamora's homeworld with their enormous serpentine ships. It's not that the Chitauri are a particularly well-loved part of the MCU, but it was a cool callback to have them feature in this scene. In fact, it kind of addresses a common criticism from The Avengers that the creatures were too easy to defeat. Here, we see them at their full might, as a whole planet falls to them. Peter Dinklage Though we've known that Game of Thrones' Peter Dinklage was set to have a role in Infinity War for a while now, Marvel surprisingly managed to keep a lid on who he'd be playing in the movie. It was generally assumed that he'd be providing the motion capture performance or voice over for one of the Black Order, but that wasn't the case. As it happens, Dinklage got to show his own face in the film and fans should have no problem recognizing him. He plays Eitri, the last dwarf left alive on Nidavellir after Thanos previously wiped them out once they made his Infinity Gauntlet. The despondent dwarf - who's actually as tall as a giant - helps Thor restart the mighty forges of the realm that once made the strongest weapons in the galaxy in order to create a new axe for the God of Thunder to use in the fight against Thanos. It's a fun supporting part for Dinklage and the fantasy-esque trappings of the part call back to his most famous role in the HBO drama. The cod-English accent he uses for Eitri even recalls the voice he employs for Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones. General Ross After his debut in 2010's The Incredible Hulk, General Thaddeus Ross disappeared from the MCU for six years before he finally returned in Captain America: Civil War. This appearance slightly revamped the character so that he was the voice of the government rather than a military man, having been promoted to Secretary of State. It was a big surprise that he turned up in that movie and it was even more of a shock that he got a cameo in Infinity War, too. His role here is very much an extension of his part in Civil War. He attempts to order Rhodey to arrest Steve Rogers and his team for going against the Sokovia Accords for the past two years. However, Rhodey does what he should have done back in Civil War and ignores the man. It's always been a point of annoyance with fans that Hulk has been practically wiped from continuity, so it's good to see that William Hurt is a recurring player in the MCU now. Even though he doesn't get too much to do here - and only appears via hologram - Ross serves as an interesting foil to the Avengers. Red Skull For years, fans have been wondering if and when Red Skull would make a return to the MCU. At the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, Hugo Weaving's HYDRA leader vanished when he held the Space Stone (or Tesseract, as we knew it then). Given its power set, though, it was theorized that Red Skull didn't die but was merely transported across the galaxy. In Infinity War, this long-held theory has finally been confirmed. When Thanos and Gamora travel to Volmir in search of the Soul Stone, they meet a mysterious cloaked figure. It turns out to be Johann Schmidt, who reveals that he was transported here after he attempted to harness the power of the Tesseract. He believes that he was cursed into service of a greater power that he was doomed never to wield. This is probably one of the biggest fan-pleasing moments in the film. Casual viewers might be left stumped by this weird red-faced guy, but MCU diehards will be thrilled by the genuinely surprising cameo. We'd heard rumours about it in the past, but it seemed like Infinity War had too much to do without adding in a return for this long-forgotten foe. In all the excitement, you also might not have noticed that Red Skull sounded or looked a little different (underneath the prosthetics). That's because it's not Hugo Weaving who portrayed the character this time. Ross Marquand - most well known as Aaron on The Walking Dead - took over the role for this movie. He did a great job, too, so we'd love to see him return at some point. Nick Fury & Maria Hill In respect of the huge losses that the Avengers face at the climax of Infinity War, there's no extra scene after the initial load of credits, as Alan Silvestri's more sombre rearrangement of the theme leaves us sobbing into our popcorn boxes. At the very end of the very long credits, though, we finally get a tease for Avengers 4. Which features two more familiar faces. Set within the finale of the movie, we join Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury and Cobie Smulder's Maria Hill as they drive through New York while the Avengers battle Thanos in Wakanda. Suddenly, people start disappearing, the result of Thanos wiping out half of all life in the universe. Sadly, the former S.H.I.E.L.D. director and his right-hand woman are also affected and they soon crumble into dust. Just when we were getting a lift from seeing two familiar faces back in the MCU for the first time since 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, not one but both of them are killed off. That's mean, Marvel. Still, kudos for Fury's final line, though. In classic Samuel L. Jackson style, he goes out saying "Motherfu-," stopping just before things would've got very un-Disney. We wonder if that was a bit of improv on Jackson's part. Captain Marvel (At Least Her Logo) The question of whether Brie Larson's Captain Marvel would make her MCU debut in Infinity War or not has long been a discussion for fans. Recently, it was confirmed that Marvel higher-ups had decided that it would be best to keep Carol Danvers' introduction for her own solo movie next year. However, that doesn't mean the character has nothing to do with this one. In the film's aforementioned solitary post-credits scene, just before he turns to dust, Fury manages to send an S.O.S. on his communicator device. And the icon on the screen of his device will be instantly familiar to fans of the comics. With the star symbol and the blue and red motif, it's clearly a nod to Captain Marvel. Upon reflection, Avengers: Infinity War is packed enough without adding Brie Larson into the mix as well, but we're pleased the character got a reference to some degree. It looks like the heroes will be getting some help when Avengers 4 rolls around next year and given the events of the end of the movie, they'll need all the assistance they can get.