Marvel Studios added another The Boys actor to its roster of actors (and he’s a great choice). The MCU is filled with a plethora of actors from different franchises. Several Star Wars actors have already left their mark on the MCU, such as Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, and Oscar Isaac. On the flip side, some actors have played both Marvel and DC characters, also made an impact, most notably Ryan Reynolds (who portrayed Green Lantern and jumped ship to bring Deadpool to life), Idris Elba, who did double duty as Heimdall and Bloodsport, and Michelle Pfeiffer, who started her superhero career as Catwoman before returning as Janet van Dyne in the Ant-Man movies. The Lord of the Rings veterans also showed up in Marvel’s superhero world, such as Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, and Andy Serkis.
The Boys and its Gen V spin-off have quietly become a pipeline for MCU talent, filled with a perfect mix of veteran actors and up-and-coming actors. Gen V and The Boys alum Asa Germann has been cast as Warren Worthington/Angel in Marvel Studios’ X-Men reboot, which is set to premiere on May 5, 2028.
Germann previously portrayed Sam Riordan, a tragic yet powerful student with extreme superhuman strength and durability, in Prime Video’s Gen V before appearing in two episodes of The Boys’ fourth season. Sam was portrayed as an unstable figure in The Boys universe, often seeing puppets in hallucinations that impair his judgment and lead to extreme acts of violence.
In Marvel Comics, Angel is a rich kid with feathered wings who hides his mutation until he joins the X-Men. The character debuted in X-Men # 1 in 1963, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Cyclops and Iceman were the ones sent by Charles Xavier to recruit him, allowing him to join the original iteration of the X-Men alongside Jean Grey and Beast.
Germann becomes the 10th actor from The Boys to be part of the MCU, joining other franchise veterans in the expansive world of Marvel.
Every Major ‘The Boys’ Actor In The MCU
Karl Urban
In The Boys, Karl Urban is the face of the franchise as William “Billy” Butcher, an anti-hero who will use anything to defeat Homelander. While the early portrayal of Butcher still shows loyalty and a streak of heroism, later versions of Urban’s The Boys character reveal more of his ruthless, monstrous side, to the point of no redemption.
Urban’s MCU counterpart has an opposite narrative trajectory to Butcher’s. The actor brought Skurge to life in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok. Initially introduced as a nobody who sides with Hela, Skurge transitioned into the villain’s executioner before siding with Thor and the Asgardians by sacrificing himself to save the refugees from Hela’s undead army.
Skurge began his journey as a compromised character and ended it with one clean act, while Butcher started with a clean-enough motive and ended his stint with a twisted desire to burn the world to finish Homelander and the Supes.
Erin Moriarty
Before becoming one of the important cast members of The Boys, Erin Moriarty began her superhero world journey in Jessica Jones Season 1 as Hope Shlottman, an NYU student whom Kilgrave takes advantage of and orders her to kill her parents. Jessica “saved” her by agreeing to Hope’s request of shooting her rather than letting Kilgrave use her again.
The Boys pushed Moriarty to the forefront as Annie January (aka Starlight). Across five seasons, Moriarty turned Starlight from the girl who wants to believe in heroes into the person who builds a resistance against them. While Marvel gave Hope a tragic loss, Moriarty’s Starlight endured the long war and became a better hero than most of The Boys‘ hero lineup, culminating in her happy ending in the show.
Colby Minifie
Like Erin Moriarty, Colby Minifie is another former guest star on Jessica Jones who later played an integral role in The Boys. In Season 1 of the Marvel Netflix series, Minifie played Robyn, Jessica’s upstairs neighbor, who was hostile to the MCU heroine after she blamed her for her twin brother’s death (without knowing that Kilgrave was the one who did it).
The Boys gave Minifie a more significant role by assigning her the responsibility of bringing Ashley Barrett to life. Ashley was integral to the Seven’s operations, acting as the front-facing member of Vought while Homelander kept the authority behind the scenes. The Boys Season 5 gave Ashley horrifying powers: a sentient tumor that can read minds and say the things she will not.
Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Esposito might be best known for his roles in Star Wars and Breaking Bad, but his stint in The Boys is worth remembering for how integral he is to the grand narrative. Esposito played Stan Edgar, Vought’s CEO, who understands Compound V as a product and treats superheroes as inventory.
While Homelander managed to overthrow Edgar from Vought, he kept coming back like a cockroach, appearing in Gen V and the show’s final season to prove that he is a man who is not willing to go down without a fight. In the end, Edgar returned to the top of the Vought hierarchy, cementing his success.
Esposito made his MCU debut in the Multiverse Saga, playing Sidewinder in Captain America: Brave New World. While many are disappointed that Esposito was relegated to a small villain role, the looming reset after Avengers: Secret Wars could set things right by making Sidewinder a more integral part of the larger MCU.
Clancy Brown
Clancy Brown appeared in Gen V as Professor Richard “Brink” Brinkherhoff, a Godolkin professor of crime-fighting who served as the trainer for A-Train, Queen Maeave, and The Deep. While he was portrayed as a good mentor, The Boys spinoff confirmed that he was secretly one of the key leaders running The Woods, a clandestine underground laboratory beneath the school where young supes were tortured and experimented on.
Brown’s stint in the MCU might be small, but it aligned with his villainous bravado. The actor lent his voice to Surtur, the fire giant whose destiny is to burn Asgard. Clancy Brown’s performance as Surtur was a standout, solidifying the villain’s threat and making him inevitable.
Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton had a small but memorable role in The Boys as the voice of Ambrosius, The Deep’s octopus and romantic interest in Season 4, whose death became the aquatic Supe’s downfall. The Oscar winner made Ambrosius unique with her soft, intimate voice, which became recognizable to audiences.
In the MCU, Swinton portrayed the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, who recruited Stephen Strange and passed the torch to him after her death. Her performance in the MCU stood out because she portrayed the Ancient One as someone who has lived too long to be bothered by ordinary mortality, drawing power from the Dark Dimension, and presented that arrangement as necessary.
Kumail Nanjiani
Kumail Nanjiani is a unique entry in this list because he portrayed himself in the “Imagine” parody in The Boys Season 3 and was one of the celebrities featured in the poker massacre in Season 5. While those roles treated him as a gag, Nanjiani had a memorable debut in the MCU as Kingo in 2021’s Eternals.
Kingo was an immortal who spent centuries hiding in plain sight as a Bollywood star. While his ending is still uncertain due to being taken by Arishem at the end of Eternals, Kingo is bound to make waves in the MCU whenever Marvel Studios decides to grant him a comeback in the post-Multiverse Saga chapter of the franchise.
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson made a last-minute debut in The Boys as the voice of Xander, The Deep’s hammerhead shark frienemy in Season 5. Xander was relentless like Jackson, leading the revenge of the sea creatures after an oil pipeline disaster kills a swath of ocean life.
In the MCU, Jackson’s Nick Fury is front and center as the man who built the Avengers from the ground up. He has played the part for nearly two decades, with him still being an integral part of the vast MCU in the Multiverse Saga as an ally of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, ready to become part of the action whenever he is needed.
Charlize Teron
Charlize Theron made a quick cameo as Stormfront in the in-universe movie, Dawn of the Seven, in The Boys Season 3 premiere. She appeared as the film’s big bad, a role that needs her particular kind of bravado.
In the MCU, Theron also had a brief role in the MCU that has yet to expand. She debuted as Clea in the post-credits scene of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. As a sorceress from the Dark Dimension, she recruited Doctor Strange to prevent an incursion, and she hasn’t been seen on-screen since that crucial scene. Rumors point to her possible return in Avengers: Doomsday due to the fact that the incursions are a central part of the conflict.
