Every Real Martial Artist Who Appears In The MCU

Aliens. Superpowers. Groot. The MCU is bursting with infinite possibilities and a colorful cast of characters, each with its own distinctive look and abilities. While most of the outlandish parts of this wild and wacky universe are brought to life due to the talented visual effects team and the lean, mean, green screen, there are actors with their own unique set of "super" skills. These individuals don't need to be bitten by radioactive spiders or to wear Infinity Gauntlets because their fists and feet are the only weapons of mass destruction they need. Make no mistake about it, the MCU possesses real martial artists who could give the "John Wick" fighters a serious run for their money.

In some instances, these actors have had the opportunity to showcase their natural abilities on screen, while there are others who haven't had the chance to shine in their purest form. Still, that doesn't take away from the fact they are talented fighters and could probably knock a sturdy mailbox off a pole in a heartbeat. With that being said, let's take a look at the real martial artists who appear in the MCU.

The "Iron Fist" series wasn't exactly the roaring success fans might have expected. As one of the top fighters in the Marvel Universe, it was expected that the actor portraying Danny Rand would have the martial arts chops necessary to convince as the character, but unfortunately, it was clear Finn Jones had limited fighting prowess and training. It might have been different had Lewis Tan been cast for the title role he originally auditioned for. Nonetheless, Tan delivers arguably the best fight scene of the entire first season as Zhou Cheng, who battles Danny in Episode 8 ("The Blessing of Many Fractures").

Tan has also had the opportunity to continue to show off his talents since then in 2021's "Mortal Kombat" film and Netflix's "Wu Assassins." The actor is a legitimate martial artist, having started his training under his father, Philip, who was a renowned stunt and fight choreographer in Hollywood. Tan is well-versed in several martial arts, including Taekwondo and Muay Thai.

Speaking to Rolling Stone India about how the different styles complement each other on screen, Tan said, "Muay Thai is the best striking style for everyday use while Taekwondo is the best to learn if you want to do martial arts in movies. It's beautiful and you have really long kicks and punches. You learn footwork and rhythm. Muay Thai, however, is quite aggressive, but it's also very useful and looks beautiful too."

When "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" dropped in 2014, there was one scene that everyone was talking about. It's right at the beginning of the film as Captain America goes toe-to-toe with the mercenary, Georges Batroc. It's a fast, hard-hitting sequence that culminates in Steve Rogers taking off his helmet and dropping the shield to prove he can take Batroc without his armor. Batroc is KOed by Steve here, but he does make his return in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier."

While Chris Evans' Cap looks good in the fight, he is aided by the fact there's a proper MMA fighter on the other side: Georges St-Pierre. As a former professional fighter, St-Pierre holds a 26-2 record in the UFC, with many pundits regarding him as one of the best MMA fighters in the history of the sport.

Talking to ET Canada about working with St-Pierre in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Evans said, "We had fantastic stuntmen. Anything they threw at him, not only is he able to do it but he's able to elaborate on it." The actor praised the former fighter for being a total pro and demonstrating uncanny accuracy in everything he did in their scene.

Out of all the MCU films, none has as many martial arts on display as "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." The fight choreography has a Hong Kong action style to it, and the lead star, Simu Liu, looks more than competent when he's dishing out a fury of kicks and punches. However, this isn't simply a case of magical editing and the stunt performers doing all the heavy lifting for Liu.

Appearing on Kevin Hart's "Hart to Heart" show in 2022, Liu was asked about the rumors that he had no martial arts experience but learned enough to do most of the stunts in the film. "I purposefully downplay how much martial arts I knew," he said, "because I am afraid of that narrative, of like, 'The martial-arts guy, they cast the martial-arts guy to do the martial arts. He's Asian, of course!' "I want to challenge people to see me as an artist." Liu added that he also did gymnastics classes and parkour to help him prepare for the film. In addition, the filmmakers ensured the actors were trained in other martial arts such as Tai Chi and Wing Chun.

Frank Grillo has carved out a niche for himself in the action movie genre. So much so that even Scott Adkins has joked to Men's Health that he only gets his roles if Grillo turns them down. While most fans expected Grillo would be a shoo-in to become the new Frank Castle and Punisher — a role that even he admitted was interesting to him — he was cast as the villainous Brock Rumlow and Crossbones in the MCU. Grillo made a few appearances as the Marvel character, even wearing the comic book-accurate costume, but he was never the main antagonist of any of the films.

It's a shame, really, since a full-blown action film focusing solely on Captain America and Crossbones could have been epic — especially considering Grillo's martial arts background. He started out by dabbling in wrestling in high school, then moved on to boxing as an adult. He still keeps up with his boxing regime too, training daily and sparring with professional fighters to keep his mind and reflexes sharp.

That isn't all, though. For over three decades, Grillo has practiced Brazilian jiu-jitsu, where he learned from one of the masters, Rickson Gracie. Grillo is no slouch in this martial art either, holding a prestigious brown belt that more than proves he can hang with the best of them.

Welsh actor Spencer Wilding's face isn't instantly recognizable to the average moviegoer; however, this actor has had many memorable roles — usually under a ton of prosthetics or makeup. Wilding is the actual Wolf Man in 2010's "The Wolf Man," a White Walker in "Game of Thrones," and the Darth Vader actor in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." He also had a small part as the guard who takes Peter Quill's Walkman in the first "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie.

Before Wilding was playing aliens, monsters, and mean guards, he had a different career. He was a boxing and kickboxing champion in the United Kingdom, holding an astounding record of 17 wins in 18 fights, with 14 victories coming from knockouts.

Speaking to The Film Magazine, Wilding explained how a chance encounter with a photoshop owner changed his life's trajectory. "The owner was a man called Tony Scott-Lee, father of Lisa Scott-Lee from [British pop band] Steps," he said. "He rang me to say the photos were ready, and told me I looked good in the photos, and asked if I'd ever thought about being in films because he knew people who knew people who put sports stars in films."

After having dominated the competitive Wushu circuit, and becoming a world champion in the process, Jade Xu is ready for the next phase of her life as an actor in Hollywood. She has already secured two big movies in the form of "Black Widow" and "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," where she plays a dangerous and highly skilled Widow known as Helen. While the role is small in both films, Xu does more than enough to convince she should get more screen time in the MCU, or any other film that requires serious action stars.

Speaking to Asian Movie Pulse, Xu revealed more about her martial arts background, explaining how she started training at an early age. "I was six years old when I was introduced to the Chinese martial arts," she said. "My mother Xu Guanguan, a professional athlete and coach herself, brought me into it and coached me until I retired from competition in 2009." Xu is still particularly grateful to her mother, whom she says never pushed her into competition, and warmly refers to her as one of her biggest inspirations.