Despite Disney’s domination of both franchises, the Mouse House has managed to resist the tempting if canon-trashing urge to combine the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the Star Wars saga. Well, so far, anyway — Ahsoka has just hopped over into another galaxy and the multiverse is about to be torn asunder in Avengers: Secret Wars, so never say never. For now, however, the only way for us to get our crossover fix is to entertain ourselves by pointing out all the actors to appear in both universes.
Since the Disney era began, in particular, there have been numerous cases of MCU actors appearing in Star Wars or Star Wars actors going onto appear in the MCU, so audience members have no doubt found themselves recreating the “Leonardo Di Caprio pointing” meme many a time on their own sofas. In total, there are a whopping 34 actors to have ticked both franchises off their bucket lists, with the number growing all the time. Let’s take a look at them all.
Original Trilogy
Given that the Original Trilogy is so long ago, it’s perhaps not surprising that only one member of its cast has made the jump to the MCU — or, rather, will do in the near future. Harrison Ford is set to take over from the late William Hurt as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in 2024’s Captain America: Brave New World. Who would’ve thought we’d ever see Han Solo transform into the Red Hulk on the big screen?
Prequel Trilogy
Two Star Wars Prequel Trilogy stars have gone on to have a huge impact on the MCU — Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu and Nick Fury and Natalie Portman as Padme Amidala and Jane Foster/the Mighty Thor. Meanwhile, original Darth Maul voice actor Peter Serafinowicz appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy and minor Captain America: The First Avenger villain Richard Armitage cameod as a Naboo pilot in The Phantom Menace.
- Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu/Nick Fury)
- Natalie Portman (Padme Amidala/Jane Foster)
- Peter Serafinowicz (Darth Maul/Denarian Saal)
- Richard Armitage (Fighter Pilot/Heinz Kruger)
Sequel Trilogy
Naturally, given Star Wars became a fellow Disney franchise by that time, the Sequel Trilogy features a lot of crossover with the MCU. Apart from obvious names like Oscar Isaac, Benicio del Toro, and Lupita Nyong’o, Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s Hannah John-Kamen cameod in The Force Awakens, as did Iron Fist‘s Jessica Henwick. Ken Leung was a New Republic admiral in the ST as well as Karnak in Inhumans. And don’t forget The Walking Dead‘s Cailey Fleming was both Young Rey and Loki‘s Young Sylvie.
- Richard E Grant (General Pryde/Classic Loki)
- Cailey Fleming (Young Rey/Young Sylvie)
- Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron/Moon Knight)
- Hannah John-Kamen (First Order Officer/Ghost)
- Jessica Henwick (Jessika Pava/Colleen Wing)
- Andy Serkis (Snoke/Kino Loy/Ulysses Klaue)
- Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata/Nakia)
- Benicio del Toro (DJ/Collector)
- Ken Leung (Admiral Statura/Karnak)
Star Wars Anthology films
Interestingly, the two A Star Wars Story films feature the highest concentration of MCU actors, with Rogue One containing five and Solo having four. Fans of both franchises will recognize most of these names, but we also have stunt performer Spencer Wilding (Rogue One‘s Vader and the Kiln guard who steals Quill’s Walkman in Guardians), Erin Kellyman (Solo space pirate Enfys Nest and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier villain Kari), and The Mandalorian EP and serial Star Wars cameo-er Jon Favreau aka Happy Hogan.
- Ben Mendelsohn (Director Krennic/Talos)
- Emilia Clarke (Qi’ra/G’iah)
- Mads Mikkelsen (Galen Erso/Kaecilius)
- Forest Whitaker (Saw Gerrera/Zuri)
- Spencer Wilding (Darth Vader/Mean Guard)
- Paul Bettany (Dryden Vos/Vision)
- Donald Glover (Lando Calrissian/Aaron Davis)
- Jon Favreau (Paz Vizsla/Rio Durant/Happy Hogan)
- Erin Kellyman (Enfys Nest/Kari Morgenthau)
Disney Plus shows
Last but not least, the ever-expanding crop of Star Wars streaming series has likewise borrowed from the MCU to fill out its ensemble casts. Obviously, we have Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, after appearing in the Defenders Saga, with others you might’ve forgotten about include Ming-Na Wen (The Book of Boba Fett/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Kumail Nanjiani (Obi-Wan Kenobi/Eternals), and Ariana Greenblatt (Avengers: Infinity War/Ahsoka). Not to mention the much-missed Ray Stevenson (Ahsoka/the Thor trilogy). The most obscure, though, has to be Simu Liu, with the Shang-Chi star lending his voice to animated anthology series Star Wars: Visions.
- Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka Tano/Claire Temple)
- Ariana Greenblatt (Young Ahsoka/Young Gamora)
- Stellan Skarsgard (Luthen Rael/Erik Selvig)
- Ming-Na Wen (Fennic Shand/Melinda May)
- David Tennant (Huyang/Kilgrave)
- Taika Waititi (IG-11/Korg)
- Ray Stevenson (Baylan Skoll/Volstagg)
- Simu Liu (Lah Zhima/Shang-Chi)
- Kumail Nanjiani (Haja Elstree/Kingo)
- Carrie-Anne Moss (Unknown/Jeri Hogarth)
- Margarita Levieva (Unknown/Heather Glenn)
Last but not least, upcoming Disney Plus series The Acolyte, from Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland, stars two more MCU veterans — the Defenders Saga’s Carrie-Anne Moss and Margarita Leviveva, set to appear in Daredevil: Born Again.
