16 Marvel Actors Who Hide Behind the Masks of Their Characters

The most famous heroes and villains depicted in Marvel comics became so popular that The Avengers franchise has beaten all possible box office records and conquered millions of hearts all over the world. Our favorite actors had to spend hours applying their makeup to change beyond recognition and turn into amazing movie characters.

Bright Side has watched almost all of the incredible Marvel films and found the social media profiles of the stars to figure out what our favorite actors look without makeup and visual effects.

16. Nebula — Karen Gillan

Nebula was played by Karen Gillan, an actress from Scotland. To become Thanos’ daughter, she had to say “goodbye” to her long hair, and her makeup was one of the most difficult. It took the crew around 4 hours to apply her makeup and 30 minutes to remove it.

15. Thanos — Josh Brolin

Initially, Thanos was played by stuntman Damion Poitier and appeared in The Avengers in 2012, but in the last 4 movies, Josh Brolin took on the role of the main Marvel villain. To make Thanos look realistic, a complicated computer technology that creates fictional characters based on the appearance of the actors was used.

14. Ronan the Accuser — Lee Pace

We can hardly recognize Lee Pace when he’s dressed up as Ronan from Guardians of the Galaxy. The blue face, the purple contact lenses, and the black hood completely changed the actor’s look.

13. Martinex — Michael Rosenbaum

The Smallville star played one of the Ravagers in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. His character was created with the help of computer technologies that allowed the crew to maintain the actor’s facial expressions.

12. Johann Schmidt, Red Skull — Hugo Weaving, Ross Marquand

Yes, Agent Smith from The Matrix played Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, but in other films — Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame — the character was played by Ross Marquand. The transformation to a monster without a nose took the actors more than 3 hours.

11. Gamora — Zoe Saldana

In Avatar, Zoe Saldana used to turn into her character with the help of computer technologies. But in Guardians of the Galaxy, professional makeup artists worked on her appearance. Each day, they spent around 5 hours creating the incredible image of Thanos’ daughter.

10. Drax the Destroyer — Dave Bautista

This actor, who used to be a wrestler, a bodybuilder, and an MMA fighter, played an intergalactic criminal in Guardians of the Galaxy. Dave’s body was covered with airbrush paint and then silicone red scars were glued on top of that. The whole transformation procedure took several hours.

9. Mantis — Pom Klementieff

This French actress first appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. She played Mantis, an insect-like creature. She had to wear black contact lenses and small prosthesis that were turned into antennae with the help of computer technologies.

8. Ayesha — Elizabeth Debicki

Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki portrays Ayesha, the Golden High Priestess of the Sovereign in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. She had to sit for hours while makeup artists covered her body with golden paint. Her contact lenses were also golden.

7. Taserface — Chris Sullivan

American actor and musician Chris Sullivan played cyborg Taserface in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. To turn into his character, Chris had to wear purple makeup, fake silver teeth, and bright contact lenses.

6. Yondu Udonta — Michael Rooker

Michael Rooker became famous thanks to his roles in The Walking Dead (Merle Dixon) and Guardians of the Galaxy (Yondu). To transform into a member of Zatoan tribe from the planet Centauri-IV, the actor had to apply 6 layers of makeup, wear uncomfortable fake teeth, and put in red contact lenses.

5. Korg — Taika Waititi

This actor, screenwriter, and comedian from New Zealand was both a director and a person who played the gladiator Korg in Thor: Ragnarok. He also played the 3rd (right) head of the alien, Surtur, and even replaced Hulk in several scenes. All these characters were created with the help of computer technologies.

4. Ultron — James Spader

The main villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron was played by James Spader. The character was created using computer-generated visual effects, but Spader, as well as many other Marvel actors, was involved in recording Ultron’s movements and facial expressions.

3. Vision — Paul Bettany

This actor appeared in The Avengers even before he played the robot Vision. He voiced the artificial intelligence JARVIS in Tony Stark’s mansion in the first films about Iron Man. Vision’s makeup consisting of a red mask and several silicone prosthesis took more than 3 hours to apply. Video effect experts also worked on Vision’s look.

2. Corvus Glaive — Michael James Shaw

Michael James Shaw, an actor and writer, took part in 2 of The Avengers movies and played Corvus Glaive, a member of the Black Order and Thanos’ supporter. Computer technology experts worked on creating this character.

1. Talos — Ben Mendelsohn

Australian actor Paul Benjamin Mendelsohn played Talos, the commander of an alien race in Captain Marvel. He had to wear an uncomfortable silicone prosthesis on his head, fake ears, and unusual contact lenses to become a 100% alien creature.

Bonus: The Marvel Universe voices

In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Mainframe was voiced by Miley Cyrus. Actor Vin Diesel, for the sake of his character Groot, uttered only one phrase, “I am Groot” in 15 languages. The voice of the charismatic raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy belongs to Bradley Cooper. And the Fire Demon Surtur, who appears in Thor: Ragnarok was voiced by Clancy Brown who, by the way, also voiced Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob SquarePants.

Who’s your favorite superhero actor?