15 Big Stars You Forgot Were In A Superhero Movie

While  would eventually see Ellen Pompeo falling for heartthrob of movies and TV, Patrick Dempsey, her role in Fox’s Daredevil saw her set-up with a ladies’ man of a different caliber. Playing Karen Page to Ben Affleck’s Matt Murdock, the would-be love interest may have had a shot at a tender moment with Affleck on screen in a possible sequel. But with the disastrous reception, and the film’s focus on the romance between Murdock and Jennifer Garner’s assassin Elektra Natchios, it just wasn’t meant to be. 

Show us a bigger comic fan in Hollywood than Kevin Smith, and we’ll show you either a liar. Smith has not only made his love for all things inked and traced well known, he’s taken on some roles in comic properties just for the hell of it. THe most obscure of those roles is, of course, as a coroner named "Jack Kirby" in Fox’sDaredevil. With his appearance being nothing more than a cameo, Smith takes his place next to Stan Lee and Frank Miller as a comic writer who’s made an appearance in the very comic that he’s written for. Also, as a slight side-bar, we may never have had a Daredevil starring Ben Affleck if it wasn’t for Smith convincing him to take the role, so take that as you may. 

Before he was cross-bowing zombies and playing The Walking Dead’s Daryl Dixon,Norman Reedus was hunting an entirely different set of beasts altogether: vampires. Guillermo del Toro cast the then unknown actor as Scud: the weapons maker /Powerpuff Girls fan who would later reveal himself as a familiar for the vampire royal family. It’s a shame he had to eventually die an explosive death, but at the very least it lead to a relationship that would have put Norman Reedus in Guillermo del Toro’sSilent Hills, which unfortunately was cancelled before it got very far. Still, this was one of those roles that paved the way to Reedus becoming the basic cable badass that he’s now primarily known for, and it’s made all the difference. 

Even an actor like Christopher Lee can manage to find himself in a film that’s incredibly below his talents. Yet being pigeon-holed as a B-movie star in the 1970s lead to his participation in some rather low-quality fare, one such film being Captain America 2: Death Too Soon. But just as he did with every role he’d ever taken, Lee played the role of General Miguel with the same intensity and respect that he gave even his most top-tier resume entries. It may not be a memorable performance, but at the very least it’s further proof that Lee could elevate any material he chose to become a part of. 

Kerry Washington is best known for being a Scandal maker on ABC’s TGIT line-up. But about a decade before she was raising hell in D.C., Washington was playing the role of Alicia in Fox’s Fantastic Four duology. A blind artist who inhabits the world of the first super family in Marvel history, Alicia eventually became the love interest of Ben Grimm, after his transformation into The Thing had left him abandoned by his previous fiancé. Kerry Washington finds herself as only the third alum on this list that was cast in a role that allowed them to appear in a sequel, as her character was also seen in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. 

Drew Barrymore – Batman Forever

When Joel Schumacher took over the Batman franchise, the public should have seen the signs that the series was about to go to a bright, neon-colored hell. Though, to be fair, Batman Forever was nowhere near the abomination that Batman and Robin would become. Still, the third film in the series and the only entry with Val Kilmer playing the Caped Crusader and his alter-ego cast some interesting actors in supporting roles. One such actor, Drew Barrymore, was cast as Sugar – one of Two Face’s two girlfriends, who would cater to his every need. You probably didn’t remember her, as she wasn’t really given much to do, but trust us – she’s in there for a couple key scenes with Tommy Lee-Jones and Jim Carrey. 

Some comic book movies don’t deserve the pall of anonymity that they’ve accrued over the years since their release. Russell Mulcahy’s The Shadow is definitely one of those films, as it stands with The Rocketeer and Dick Tracy as a retro-themed throwback that got buried at the box-office in the 1990’s. While the film boasted Alec Baldwin at the top of his game playing Lamont Cranston / The Shadow, the film also managed to snag Ian McKellen as the atomic scientist / father to Cranston’s love interest, Dr. Reinhardt Lane. Considering how early in the days of comic book movies The Shadow was, McKellen’s involvement is a keen reminder of how the well-respected, classically trained actor has always had a spot in the geek pantheon with his name on it.