If you think about it, Marvel and Doctor Who have a lot in common. Marvel as we know it today was launched in 1961, just two years before the Doctor first emerged from his TARDIS. Over the past 60 years, the two franchises have grown to take over the world.
And both, as it happens, help keep generations of British actors in gainful employment. Thanks to Marvel Studios’ tendency to either raid the English population of Hollywood for those who can do the best U.S. accents or shooting their movies across the pond to save some pennies on taxes, the MCU is full of the cream of British talent – and many of them guest-starred in Doctor Who before their big breaks.
You’ll probably be aware of the most notable Marvel/Doctor Who actor crossovers, like Nebula actress Karen Gillan or Jessica Jones‘ David Tennant, but anyone who embarks on a rewatch of the revival series may be surprised to find the following familiar faces from Earth-616 turn up to either aid of antagonize the Doctor.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
To be fair, anyone intimately acquainted with Doctor Who‘s third season will probably recall that Loki‘s own Gugu Mbatha-Raw was in the show, but for many the fact that Ravonna Renslayer herself has a recurring presence may come as a surprise. Mbatha-Raw played Tish Jones, the sister of companion Martha Jones. Ironically, much like Renslayer has a thing with Kang, Tish caught the amorous eye of two villains on Doctor Who — first, Professor Lazarus and then the Master.
Richard E. Grant
Loki is practically Marvel’s answer to Doctor Who, so it’s probably no surprise that there are multiple cast crossovers. Richard E. Grant was perhaps the most memorable guest star of Loki‘s first season as the brave yet doomed Classic Loki. As for his Who career, Grant appeared as the villain, the Great Intelligence, in several episodes of season 7, which coincided with the series’ 50th anniversary in 2013. He also happened to unofficially play the Doctor twice over in 1999 and 2003.
Josh Dallas
Do you know why I love Doctor Who? Where else would you be able to watch a show and go “Oh, look, it’s Prince Charming from Once Upon a Time as a spoon with a face.” It’s true, before his breakout role in the ABC fairy tale drama, Josh Dallas played a cutlery-shaped robot with a human head called a Node in 2008 two-parter “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead,” memorable for introducing the Doctor’s future wife, River Song. He later played Fandral in Thor… before he was replaced by Zachary Levi for The Dark World and Ragnarok. Should’ve stuck to being a spoon.
O-T Fagbenle
You remember Rick Mason, right? Come on, he was that guy we were convinced was Taskmaster in Black Widow, but turned out to be a cut-price version of Q before he randomly turned up for one scene in Secret Invasion. Yeah, OK, so O-T Fagbenle has the misfortune of starring in two of the most forgettable Marvel productions, but at least he made up for that by joining Dallas in the aforementioned all-time classic Doctor Who story, “Silence in the Library.” He played the role of the ill-fated Other Dave.
Finn Jones
Just as Finn Jones’ Iron Fist is technically in the MCU but also kind of isn’t, Finn Jones was also technically in Doctor Who but also kind of wasn’t. A fresh-faced Finn actually appeared in a 2011 episode of spinoff The Sarah Janes Adventures, but it happened to be a Doctor Who crossover that saw him get to act with Matt Smith’s Doctor. Jones played his namesake, Santiago Jones, the grandson of Jo Jones, a classic companion who returned for this very special treat of an SJA story, titled “The Death of the Doctor” (don’t worry, he got better).
Toby Jones
From one Jones to another. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that Toby Jones has appeared in both Marvel and Doctor Who as the guy likes to hoover up franchises like they’re skittles. Indiana Jones, The Hunger Games… Don’t forget he’s Dobby the House-Elf too. A year before he debuted as Dr Armin Zola in Captain America: The First Avenger, however, Jones played the fascinating one-off character of the Dream Lord in 2010 Matt Smith Who episode “Amy’s Choice.” I won’t spoil the big twist here, but suffice it to say, he’s a bad guy who hits very close to home for the Time Lord.
Daniel Kaluuya
Daniel Kaluuya might have been well used by Hollywood, thanks to his rightly acclaimed performances in things like Get Out and Nope, but both Marvel and Doctor Who really sold him short. We all know he failed to return in Wakanda Forever, after playing W’Kabi in the first Black Panther, and in 2009’s “Planet of the Dead” he played a Londoner called Barclay that the Doctor sets up with a job at UNIT — basically the Whoniverse’s version of S.H.I.E.L.D. — at the end of the episode. This indicated he’d show up again, but nope, he never did. Too late now, BBC, he’d probably be out of your budget range.
Letitia Wright
Shuri would probably love to get her hands on the TARDIS, but long before she became Marvel’s second Black Panther, Letitia Wright had a minor role in Doctor Who that even the most ardent of Whovians would be forgiven for having forgotten. Wright played Anahson, an alien refugee with two faces who was living on Earth, in 2015 episode “Face the Raven,” starring Peter Capaldi. The reason you might not recognize Wright in her role is that her character is disguised as a boy for much of the episode.
Gemma Chan
Marvel sure loves Gemma Chan. After being covered in blue paint for her turn as Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel, Chan returned in the leading role of Sersi in Eternals, which could still turn out to be a franchise if Marvel gets on with it. 10 years prior to her first MCU appearance, though, Chan turned up in an all-important Doctor Who episode, 2009’s “Waters of Mars,” as Martian colonist Mia. The penultimate episode to feature David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, it’s one of the scariest and darkest of the revived series.
Andrew Garfield
Arguably the biggest Marvel star to show up in Doctor Who before they were famous is Andrew “the Amazing Spider-Man” Garfield. Five years before he started swinging around NYC as Spidey, Garfield played another New Yorker called Frank in 2007 two-parter “Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks,” opposite Tennant. Sadly, Garfield is about the fourth most important supporting character of the story and seems to have been cast purely on his gift for an American accent. How about a Frank vs. the Daleks spinoff, huh, Disney Plus?