Cameos That Movies Were Sorely Missing

Cameos have become a staple of the modern pop culture landscape, given that movies and TV shows from IP-based franchises have been dominating media more than ever over the past decade. When done well, a cameo appearance of a particular character or star, be it expected or not, can serve as a pleasant surprise and a sort of reward for devoted fans who are able to recognize the significance of the cameo after having followed a long-standing franchise for several years. No matter how fleeting an appearance may be, it goes a long way in boosting positive word-of-mouth from audiences, and by extension, the franchise's overall appeal and box-office numbers.

However, what began as a fun way for filmmakers to inject Easter eggs into a film has become something of a double-edged sword in recent years. With the flux of spin-offs, prequels, sequels, and crossover movies, it becomes increasingly difficult to satisfy every fan's ever-growing expectation to see their favorite characters crossing over into a franchise's newest entry. The absence of such seemingly perfect would-be cameos can leave a bitter taste for fans and even result in poor critical and commercial reception of a film. Here are 13 such cameos that movies were sorely missing.

The "Fast and Furious" franchise has become infamous for bringing back its characters, dead or alive, from previous movies with the most absurd and illogical reasonings. "F9" brought Han back from the dead, and "Fast X" brought back Gal Gadot's Gisele and Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs for short appearances, indicating the franchise's attempt at widening its roster of characters for the upcoming finale.

But despite how crowded the film can feel at times, there's no question that "Fast X" could have also featured Federal Air Marshal Dinkley (Kevin Hart) and CIA agent Victor Locke (Ryan Reynolds), who appeared in chucklesome cameos in the franchise's spin-off "Hobbs and Shaw." As with most celebrity cameos, Hart and Reynolds' appearance in the film would have perhaps felt a tad tacked on, but nonetheless justified by the hilarious chemistry the two shared with Johnson and Jason Statham.

A scene in "Fast X" presented the perfect opportunity for Hart's cameo, one which was filled in by Meadow Rain Walker, the daughter of late franchise star Paul Walker. Walker plays a flight attendant who helps out Jakob Toretto (John Cena) and Little B (Leo Abelo Perry) on a commercial flight, a role that very easily could also have accommodated Hart's return as Air Marshal Dinkley and evoked a few laughs.

Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan may well be the "Kate and Leo" of the 2010s, thanks to an electrifying chemistry on-screen that's fueled by the endearing friendship they share in real life. The two actors, who shared the screen in Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird" and "Little Women," were also in the mix for another Barbie and Ken pairing amidst the many that filled the world of Gerwig's "Barbie."

Gerwig told CinemaBlend about the planned cameos, saying ,"It was always going to have to be like a sort of smaller thing because [Ronan] was actually producing at the time ... But it was going to be a specialty cameo. I was also going to do a specialty cameo with Timmy, and both of them couldn't do it, and I was so annoyed. But I love them so much. But it felt like doing something without my children." 

Ronan echoed Gerwig's sentiments, telling People, "I was supposed to do a cameo because I live in London and they were [filming] there ... There was a whole character I was going to play — another Barbie ... I was gutted I couldn't do it."

The multiversal narrative of "The Flash" raised expectations for audiences in how the film would incorporate cameos not just from the DC Extended Universe, but also from the vast history of DC films and television shows that came before. After all, with Michael Keaton's Batman returning after three decades, the possibilities were exciting.

But along with the other aspects of "The Flash," fans were left underwhelmed by the cameos that were featured, most of which were dumped in the climax. Fans not only took umbrage with the uncanny CGI used in bringing back deceased actors like Christopher Reeve and Adam West as the iconic superheroes they played, but also that there was much more left for audiences to desire from the cameos that didn't happen.

Many took to Reddit to discuss characters they wished had appeared in the film. For example, r/LaneMcD commented, "A GIGANTIC missed opportunity was to not recreate the meeting between Gustin Flash and Miller Flash," referring to Ezra Miller's cameo in Arrowverse's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event, in which Miller's Flash met Grant Gustin's Flash from The CW series.

The rivalry between Shazam and Black Adam goes back a long way in DC history, not unlike the rivalry between Batman and the Joker or Superman and Lex Luthor. Yet, despite having three movies released between the two titans existing in a shared cinematic universe, neither of them appears in the other's movie, let alone their rivalry ever being hinted at or teased. This was a missed opportunity for fans who were eager to see the two face off on the big screen, and is indicative of the DCEU's failure to move past petty backdoor politics that prevented fans from getting what they want.

There were plans to incorporate Black Adam into 2019's "Shazam," but those plans were nixed by star Dwayne Johnson himself. He told Vanity Fair, "When the first draft of the movie came to us, it was a combination of Black Adam and Shazam: Two origin stories in one movie ... But when I read that, I just knew in my gut, 'We can't make this movie like this. We would be doing Black Adam an incredible disservice.' It would've been fine for Shazam having two origin stories converge in one movie, but not good for Black Adam."

With a title like "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness," it's no surprise that fans expected an epic Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure filled with cameos from beloved MCU and non-MCU entries, especially since "Spider-Man: No Way Home" had brought previous live-action incarnations of Spider-Man to MCU canon just a few months earlier.

While we did get a few cameos among the Illuminati members, like the return of Patrick Stewart as Professor X and the fan-casting of John Krasinski as Mister Fantastic coming to life, fans were let down by the way the characters were immediately killed off, and felt that the multiverse setting of the film could have made for many more exciting cameos and worlds to be seen. Plus, it didn't help that most of these appearances, including Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) and Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch), were spoiled by the marketing of the movie before its release.

Rumors swirled of more heroes having cameos in the movie, like Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and the return of Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man. There was even buzz about an Iron Man variant played by Tom Cruise (who was almost cast as a goateed billionaire in the 1990s). All of these exclusions further deepened fans' disappointment.

Before the release of "Black Widow," rumors circulated of Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark/Iron Man making a short appearance in the film, given that the movie takes place before the events of "Avengers: Endgame." These rumors were propagated by a Deadline report in September 2019, which speculated that Downey would return to play the character "one more time" in the prequel. That was, of course, proven untrue when the film came out in 2021. Some fans were thankful that Stark's poignant death scene in "Endgame" was respected by not having the character return for a cameo, but those anticipating an appearance were surely disappointed.

Director Cate Shortland revealed to GamesRadar+ that there were conversations with Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige about bringing the character back. "Initially, there was discussions about everything, about all of the different characters," Shortland explained. "What we decided was, and I think Kevin was really great, he said, 'She doesn't need the boys.' We didn't want it to feel like she needs the support. We want her to stand alone. And she does."

When asked by Entertainment Tonight about the possible cameo, Downey responded, "Right. Great. I mean, it would be nice if they notified me. Forewarned is forearmed."

"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" finally brought the concept of the multiverse to the big-screen Spider-Man lore, rounding up a ragtag team of Spidey variants from different universes. Naturally, fans were hopeful that the film would feature at least one of the three live-action Spider-Men played by Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, but that never came to be.

During a quarantine watch party in May 2020, "Into the Spider-Verse" co-producer Christopher Miller revealed through a post on Twitter (now X) that he and his creative team pitched to Sony executives an "ambitious tag" consisting of Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) and the three aforementioned live-action Spider-Men, but were told that it was "too soon." This, of course, finally made sense to fans after seeing the trio united in "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

The introduction of the Spider-Society in the sequel, "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," allowed eagle-eyed fans to spot every iteration of the superhero that filled the Easter-egg-heavy world of the movie. While expectations of spotting the live-action Spider-Men mixing in with the other Spideys never materialized, the film does draw overt references to Maguire and Garfield's films when Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac) demonstrates to Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) the concept of "canon events," showing Maguire and Garfield's Spider-Men mourning the deaths of Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) and Captain Stacey (Dennis Leary), respectively.

The climactic battle between the heroes of the MCU and the gargantuan forces of Thanos in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" was a dream come true for fans who had followed the franchise since it began in 2008. Still, many yearned for the inclusion of the Marvel Netflix Defenders, consisting of Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter), Iron Fist (Finn Jones), and Punisher (Jon Bernthal). That understandably didn't happen given the already-large number of heroes featured in the "Endgame" climax, as that the street-level heroes would've been tonal misfits in the galactic battle.

Additionally, while the heroes were established to be a part of the MCU, Marvel Studios couldn't legally use the characters because of a then-existing deal with Netflix. "Endgame" writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely told The New York Times why the Netflix heroes never made it into the film. "We already are assuming people have seen a lot of the movies,"  McFeely explained. "Are we really going to assume they have bought a subscription to Netflix and watched those shows enough so that when they see them, they're going to go 'yay?'"

"Spider-Man: No Way Home" was a critical and commercial sensation, grossing a worldwide total of over $1.9 billion and earning a Certified Fresh 93% Tomatometer score. It received praise for incorporating the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men and their villains in a way that provided fan service while serving the story of Tom Holland's Spider-Man. If that wasn't enough, the film also featured Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange in a pivotal role and reintroduced Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock/Daredevil into the MCU with a short albeit well-fitted cameo.

However, fans' appetite can be as endless as that of Marvel's own Galactus. Despite the film featuring so many beloved characters, fans couldn't help pointing out the missed opportunities to include more characters from the MCU and the Sony films, such as the two Aunt Mays played by Rosemary Harris and Sally Field, two Harry Osbornes played by James Franco and Dane DeHaan, two Venoms played by Topher Grace and Tom Hardy (who did have a post-credits scene), Miles Morales from the "Spider-Verse" movies, or a slew of other MCU characters like Scorpion, Talos, and Soren who had appeared in previous MCU Spider-Man movies.

Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) is perhaps the non-Wakandan Avenger who has had the closest relationship with Wakanda and its inhabitants. This relationship started on the wrong foot, caused by a misunderstanding between Bucky and King T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) in "Captain America: Civil War." After that was resolved, T'Challa offered Bucky refuge in Wakanda, where the latter was treated for his Winter Soldier programming with the help of Ayo (Florence Kasumba), a general of Dora Milaje. After his recovery, Bucky shared a cordial relationship with the Wakandans and the nation became a second home for him, which is why his absence in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" didn't go unnoticed.

Fans wondered where Bucky was during T'Challa's death and why he wasn't around to help the Wakandans against the siege of Namor (Tenoch Huerta) and the Talokans. His absence in the film is explained in the 2021 Disney+ mini-series "Falcon and the Winter Soldier," in which Bucky and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) reluctantly team up with Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl) to fight a terrorist group of super soldiers known as the Flag Smashers. This puts Bucky at odds with Ayo and the Dora Milaje, since Zemo was responsible for King T'Chaka's death in "Civil War." While Bucky does hand Zemo back to the Dora Milaje, he faces an indefinite banishment from Wakanda.

"Deadpool" star-producer Ryan Reynolds has been gunning for the masked mercenary's reunion with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine ever since they briefly shared the screen in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." Unfortunately for Reynolds, Jackman hung up the mantle with 2017's "Logan," and the only way Reynolds could get a cameo out of Jackman in "Deadpool 2" was through archival footage from "Origins."

"Deadpool" co-writer Rhett Reese told Yahoo! Entertainment that Jackman was always supportive of the film. "The great thing about it is that Hugh was a little bit like a guardian angel for us," Reese said. "He was very supportive of the movie, he was very supportive of us poking fun at Wolverine."

While Jackman remained steadfast on "Logan" being his last Wolverine appearance, he did have his doubts after watching "Deadpool". He told Variety, "I went to a screening of 'Deadpool.' I was 20 minutes in, and I was like, 'Ah, damn it!' All I kept seeing in my head was '48 Hours' with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. So it's been brewing for a long time." Much to the delight of fans (and Reynolds), Jackman decided to don the claws one more time for "Deadpool 3," set for release in 2024.

One prominent hallmark of Marvel movies was a cameo appearance by comic book legend Stan Lee. His cameos, sprinkled at unexpected points in the movies, would always draw cheers from audiences. It seemed fitting that he got to interact with the live-action incarnations of iconic comic book characters he was involved in creating, like Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Thor, and so many more.

Lee died in 2018, his final cameo being a posthumous one in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame." Naturally, it's not the fault of the movies that he's no longer with us, but fans have felt his absence, missing the witty, unique energy that Lee brought with his blink-and-you'll-miss-them appearances.

One such fan, r/whatswrongwithme223, took to Reddit to say, "I grew up on Marvel movies and seeing his cameos always made me smile. Whenever a new movie came out I couldn't wait to see where he'd sneak in. Knowing that was over hit me really hard." Similarly, r/random_guyman posted, "Maybe it's just me but I really miss the Stan Lee cameos, it always reminded me what I'm watching and how everything is connected. The old man at the coffee shop in the Ant Man Quantamania trailer who called Ant Man 'Spider-Man' really reminded me of him. I just think the MCU hasn't felt the same since his passing."

Though Thor bid adieu to the Guardians of the Galaxy in "Thor: Love and Thunder," fans missed his presence in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," given that the God of Thunder shared an entertaining dynamic with each Guardian in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame." However, "Guardians" writer-director James Gunn never intended for Thor to be in "Vol. 3."

At the end of "Endgame," Thor joins the Guardians on their next quest — a creative decision that took Gunn by surprise. He told Rolling Stone, "They chose to have that ending in editing, and I didn't think it was gonna be in there. 'Endgame' came out right after I decided to do 'Guardians' again. So I didn't have much say in what was in 'Endgame,' and then it came out and then I was like, 'What the f*** am I gonna do?'"

Gunn further revealed how "Love and Thunder" director Taika Waititi helped him out. "That's when Kevin [Feige] told me Taika's gonna do Thor, and we'll have the Guardians in it," Gunn recalled. "I said, 'Thank God!' ... To be completely honest, Thor was never going to be in this movie. Taika took a bullet for me. Because I was not going to have him in. I was just gonna start up and there's no Thor."