Every The Marvels cameo listed and explained
Did you spot them all?
Like any MCU title, The Marvels cameos range from fun to hugely significant. Several familiar faces show up in the long-awaited Captain Marvel sequel, which is now streaming on Disney Plus after a theatrical run last November, and there are a few surprises to contend with, too.
This time around, Carol Danvers teams up with Kamala Khan (AKA Ms. Marvel) and Monica Rambeau to take on Kree warrior villain Dar-Benn, who's on a path of vengeance to salvage her home planet after a destructive civil war. There's one crucial snag, though: every time our heroes use their powers, they swap places with each other. Kind of inconvenient when you're trying to save the universe.
So, if you're looking for all the major The Marvels cameos in one place, you'll find them right here. But, before we proceed, here's your obligatory spoiler warning, so proceed with caution if you haven't seen the movie and don't want to know what happens.
Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop (with bonus Lucky the Pizza Dog)
During the final moment of The Marvels, we see Kamala do her best impression of Nick Fury, as she makes moves to put together her own super-team. It's a clever nod to the post-credits scene of the very first Iron Man movie, which saw the spy-master start to form the Avengers. Let's be honest, wanting to create her very own Young Avengers-style team is the most Kamala Khan move ever...
Turns out, Kamala's first recruit is Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), the mentee of Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye from his hit Disney Plus TV show. Kate's loyal companion Lucky the Pizza Dog features in the scene, too – and fortunately for Ms. Marvel, he doesn't seem to mind the unexpected visit.
Our young hero asks Kate if she would be interested in joining her squad, and name-dropping "Ant-Man's daughter" Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton). In Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, we saw Cassie become a superhero herself, so there's no doubt that she will want to be part of this super-group, too.
Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie
The Marvels' final trailer actually revealed Tessa Thompson's appearance as Valkyrie in the Nia DaCosta-directed flick pre-release - but if you were lucky enough to avoid that footage, this definitely would have been a lovely surprise.
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter
Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox
After not being able to save all the Skrull refugees from Dar-Benn's attack on Tarnax in the movie, Carol decides to call a friend to help relocate the survivors. It turns out that pal is none other than the Asgardian King Valkyrie, who we last saw in sequel Thor: Love and Thunder. She comes on board the ship, gives a troubled Captain Marvel some words of comfort, and then heads off with the Skrulls.
It's a sweet moment and one made even more so knowing that it's reuniting the star with DaCosta - Thompson appeared in the filmmaker's debut feature Little Woods in 2018.
Kelsey Grammer as Beast
Arguably the biggest cameo in the film comes in The Marvels post-credits scene, which sees the return of actor Kelsey Grammer as popular X-Men character Beast.
After Monica Rambeau wakes up in a hospital bed in the different reality she's now stuck in, Dr. Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast, comes in to check on his patient. Rather excitingly he then namedrops another beloved X-Men character, Professor Xavier, saying that "Charles" will definitely want an update on her wellbeing.
Grammer has portrayed Beast on screen before, appearing in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand and 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past. Nicholas Hoult played a younger version of the character in the likes of X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix, so it's interesting that the MCU have chosen the older version here.
What could it possibly mean? I guess we will have to wait to find out...
Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau AKA Binary
If you thought Beast wasn't exciting enough, The Marvels post-credits scene had one more surprise in store.
Earlier on in the movie, we see Lashana Lynch return as Captain Marvel's Maria Rambeau via flashback, as the latter explains to her bestie that she's dying and asks her to look after Goose "until Monica gets back". Having never been able to say goodbye to her mother since she was blipped when she passed away from cancer, Monica gets expectedly emotional when she wakes up in a different reality, and realizes she's being watched over by a very-much-alive Maria.
Not that Maria recognizes her at all, being shocked by Monica's reaction and asking who she is. This is an alternate reality version of the character, after all.
The most interesting part though comes at the end, where this Maria swaps into her superhero suit, which looks intriguingly like the one superhero Binary wears in the comic books. There are several versions of Binary in the comics, who at one point is Carol Danvers' alter-ego and a clone. We can probably safely assume that here in the MCU, Maria is simply this reality's version of Captain Marvel, but stranger things could be happening...
The Marvels is in theaters now. For much more on the movie, check out our deep dives on:
- When does The Marvels take place on the Marvel timeline?
- The Marvels ending explained
- All of The Marvels Easter eggs and MCU references
- All of The Marvels cameos - listed and explained
- What team is Kamala Khan recruiting for at the end of The Marvels?
- How does The Marvels ending set up Deadpool 3?
- The comics that influenced The Marvels, according to director Nia DaCosta
- Nia DaCosta explaining The Marvels' "lighter, softer" Fury
- The Marvels director weighing in on whether or not you need to have watched the TV shows beforehand
- The MCU movies and shows to watch before The Marvels
As Entertainment Editor at GamesRadar, I oversee all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Previously I've worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more.