These Are The Only MCU Actors That Have Won An Oscar

The Marvel Cinematic Universe features a massive collection of some of the best actors working today. Many of these actors have achieved great success both before and after they joined the sprawling franchise, with some even being awarded that coveted golden statuette, the Academy Award, in various categories. 

Across 27 films and several different television shows on different streaming services, many of the biggest names in the MCU started out making relatively minor cameos in other films before becoming major characters on their own. With more MCU movies coming this year, including "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" and "Thor: Love and Thunder," the cast is only going to get bigger.

Here are the MCU actors who have won an Oscar recently or in the past, along with which characters they play, when they first appeared in the series and if they are still present in the franchise today.

Jeff Bridges' Obadiah Stane may have been a one-and-done villain, but Gwyneth Paltrow stuck with the franchise for over a decade playing Tony Stark's assistant and love interest, Pepper Potts. Paltrow played the character in all three entries in the "Iron Man" films and three out of the four "Avengers" films, along with making a brief appearance in "Spider-Man: Homecoming." Her final appearance to date in the MCU was in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame," where she fought alongside several other female superheroes in the film's climactic battle.

Nearly 10 years prior to Paltrow joining the MCU, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing Viola de Lesseps in "Shakespeare in Love," which would also win Best Picture and several other Oscars. Paltrow hasn't been nominated for the award since, but she has still been actively working in films and television while promoting and expanding her lifestyle brand, Goop.

2010's "Iron Man 2" might not be the most well-received film in the MCU, but it did introduce audiences to Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansen), while rebooting James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle, replacing Terrence Howard from the first film), two characters and actors who would become key players in future MCU films. In this installment of the "Iron Man" series, Tony Stark faces off against two supervillains. The first is Whiplash/Ivan Vanko, played by Mickey Rourke, while the second is weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer, played by Sam Rockwell.

Rockwell has received acclaim for several of his roles, but he received his first Academy Award in 2018, for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jason Dixon in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." Rockwell would later earn another Academy Award nomination the next year for his portrayal of George W. Bush in "Vice." The actor has also said he'd be willing to return to the MCU, where Hammer currently sits in prison. 

The main reason that Thor comes to Earth and meets Jane in "Thor" is because Thor's father Odin banishes him and strips him of his powers after he almost starts a war between two different realms. Odin, the ruler of Asgard for all three entries in the original "Thor" trilogy, was played by Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins has been acting since the 1960s, and across that long career has won two Academy Awards and received six nominations.

His first win came for his iconic performance as Hannibal Lecter in the horror movie "The Silence of the Lambs." His second win came for his performance as a man suffering from dementia in "The Father." The latter win was a controversial one, due to the fact that the Best Actor category was announced at the end of the ceremony because the producers were allegedly banking that the late Chadwick Boseman would win. Hopkins actually winning the award instead denied the show the emotional finale that the producers were hoping for.

The final installment in the "Iron Man" trilogy, "Iron Man 3," featured a very controversial twist to what many people initially perceived to be the film's main villain. In the opening moments of the film, the Mandarin is set up to be the most intense villain that Tony Stark has ever faced. Instead, the man turns out to be Trevor Slattery, an actor hired to play the Mandarin to distract from the real villain. It wouldn't be until 2021's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" that MCU fans would finally get to see another alternate version of the Mandarin character, played by Tony Leung.

Regardless of whether or not you think that the Mandarin twist worked, Ben Kingsley's performance was still a highlight of "Iron Man 3." Kingsley's acting career includes four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Actor for playing Mahatma Gandhi in the biopic of the same name. He would later get nominated for "Bugsy," "Sexy Beast," and "House of Sand and Fog."

2014's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" was one of the biggest films of the MCU's Phase 2 lineup. It was the first MCU film directed by the Russo brothers, who would go on to direct "Captain America: Civil War" and the next two "Avengers" films. It was also the first film to introduce the Winter Soldier and the Falcon, who would become fan favorite characters within the franchise and the stars of their own Disney+ show. The film saw S.H.I.E.L.D. being infiltrated by the enemy organization Hydra, led by the double agent Alexander Pierce.

Pierce was played by Robert Redford, who has been nominated for the Academy Award four times in his career. He was nominated for Best Actor for "The Sting" and won Best Director for his drama "Ordinary People," which also won Best Picture. He would later get nominated twice again in the Best Director and Best Picture categories for "Quiz Show" and received an Honorary Oscar in 2002 for his career achievements.

In 1992, a comedy called "My Cousin Vinny" was released. It follows two New Yorkers who get arrested and put on trial in Alabama, and the only lawyer that the two can rely on is one of the New Yorker's cousins, who only recently passed the bar and has no experience working on a trial. Marisa Tomei plays the fiancée of the lawyer helping the friends, Mona Lisa Vito. Her performance is a standout in the film, even winning her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Two more nominations, for her roles in "In The Bedroom" and "The Wrestler," followed.

Several years later, Tomei would play Aunt May in the MCU's "Spider-Man" series starring Tom Holland, making her first appearance in "Captain America: Civil War" when Iron Man recruits Spider-Man for his fight against Captain America. Tomei is the third person to play Aunt May in live action, after Rosemary Harris in the Tobey Maguire trilogy and Sally Field in the Andrew Garfield duology.

After Tom Holland's version of Peter Parker debuted in "Captain America: Civil War," he got his own solo movie in "Spider-Man: Homecoming." In addition to featuring Academy Award winners like Gwyneth Paltrow and Marisa Tomei, another Oscar-winning actress made it into the film and some might not have even realized it. When Peter experiments with the upgraded technology in his new Spider suit, it comes equipped with an A.I. that Parker names Karen.

Karen is voiced by Jennifer Connelly, who was already in a Marvel movie prior to "Spider-Man: Homecoming." Long before the MCU was even a thing, Connelly played Betty Ross in Ang Lee's "Hulk" movie, a role that was taken over by Liv Tyler in the MCU's "The Incredible Hulk." Outside of her superhero films, Connelly won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for playing Alicia Nash in the biopic "A Beautiful Mind."

Each of the first three "Thor" movies was directed by a different person. The original "Thor" was directed by Kenneth Branagh, known for directing films like "Cinderella" and "Death of the Nile." The sequel, "Thor: The Dark World," was helmed by Alan Taylor, who directed several episodes of "The Sopranos" and "Game of Thrones." Taika Waititi directed "Thor: Ragnarok," as well as voicing the alien Korg, injecting some of his signature humor into the fantasy film series. Waititi returns to the franchise in "Thor: Love and Thunder," both as director and Korg.

After Waititi directed the MCU film, he would write, direct and star in the historical comedy film "Jojo Rabbit," playing an imaginary version of Adolf Hitler who tries to influence a 10-year-old boy after he discovers a Jewish girl hiding in his house from the Nazis. The film was nominated for several Oscars, and Waititi won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

2018's "Black Panther" represented several firsts for the MCU. It was the first film in the series with a predominantly Black cast and the first MCU film to be nominated for Best Picture (it was also the first superhero movie overall to receive a nomination in that category). The film also features several Black actors who have both won Academy Awards prior to the film and after. One of those actors was Lupita Nyong'o, who played Black Panther's partner and spy Nakia.

Nyong'o was fortunate enough to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the first theatrical film she starred in: she won for her portrayal of Patsy in the historical drama "12 Years A Slave," which also won Best Picture. Nyong'o hasn't been nominated since, but has also been busy starring as Maz Kanata in the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy and voicing Raksha in the remake of "The Jungle Book."

Unlike Lupita Nyong'o and Forest Whitaker, British actor Daniel Kaluuya won an Oscar after he made his MCU debut. His performance as Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton, the subject of the film "Judas and the Black Messiah," won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. It was the second time Kaluuya was nominated for an Academy Award, after previously being nominated for Best Actor for his performance as Chris Washington in Jordan Peele's debut horror film, "Get Out."

In "Black Panther," Kaluuya plays W'Kabi, the man charged with defending the borders of the fictional kingdom of Wakanda. Despite initially pledging loyalty to T'Challa, and being married to Dora Milaje head Okoye, W'Kabi betrays both of them and joins forces with Killmonger after he takes control of Wakanda. W'Kabi is eventually defeated by the end of the movie.

2019's "Captain Marvel" was the last film before the Avengers team reunited in "Avengers: Endgame." Brie Larson portrayed the titular superhero, aka Carol Danvers, a pilot infused with special powers who uses them to save the alien race known as the Skrulls from the Kree forces that Carol was originally a member of. The film established Captain Marvel as one of the most powerful characters in the MCU, and someone who would play a key role in future Marvel films.

Larson has been a cast member in several acclaimed movies, but her best work comes in the film "Room." The picture tells the story of Ma, a woman who escapes seven years of captivity with her young son and must adjust to life back in the real world. Larson's performance was lauded by critics, and it won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, among several other nominations and wins.

After she played a supporting role in several different MCU films, 2021's "Black Widow" finally gave Natasha Romanoff the solo movie that she deserved. Not only do we get to learn more about the character's past, but we also get to meet the other members of the "family" that she had before she was trained as an assassin and later joined the Avengers. Natasha's fake "mother," Melina Vostokoff, is played by English actress Rachel Weisz.

Weisz has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress twice. Her first nomination, which resulted in a win, was for playing Tessa Abbot-Quayle in "The Constant Gardener," whose murder is what main protagonist Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) is trying to solve. Her second nomination was for "The Favourite," playing Queen Anne's advisor and manipulative love Sarah Churchill, who battles Emma Stone's Abigail Masham for the queen's approval and affection.

There are two post-credits scenes in "Eternals" that introduce several new characters. The first is the introduction of Harry Styles' Eros, known as Starfox in the comics. The second gives us a hint of Kit Harrington's Black Knight. But before fans are able to see more of the character, a voice from someone offscreen interrupts him before the screen cuts to black. That voice is our first tease of Mahershala Ali's portrayal of Blade, a vampire hunter previously portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the original "Blade" trilogy.

Ali has already been in the MCU before, playing the villain Cottonmouth in the "Luke Cage" series (this is similar to actress Gemma Chan, who played two different characters in "Captain Marvel" and "Eternals"). Outside of his Marvel projects, Ali has been nominated for and won Best Supporting Actor twice. The first was for playing drug dealer Juan in "Moonlight," and the second was for playing Don Shirley in "Green Book." His first win made Ali the first Muslim to ever win an acting Oscar.

On March 13^th, 2022, acclaimed actor William Hurt died at the age of 71 due to complications with prostate cancer. Hurt was nominated for the Academy Award four times, the first three of which were consecutive and all being for Best Actor in a Leading Role. These films were "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (which he won), "Children of a Lesser God" and "Broadcast News." His fourth and final nomination came for his supporting role in "A History of Violence."

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hurt played Thaddeus Ross. Originally debuting in "The Incredible Hulk," back when Edward Norton played The Hulk instead of Mark Ruffalo, Ross went from U.S. General to Secretary of State and was one of the driving forces behind the Sokovia Accords that divided the Avengers in "Captain America: Civil War." You can also find him in "Avengers: Infinity War," "Avengers: Endgame" and "Black Widow."

The MCU television shows on Disney+ have taken fans to many different places. "WandaVision" turned the Marvel universe into a classic sitcom while "Loki" introduced several different versions of the fan favorite character. "Moon Knight" offers an even wilder tale, with the story of the title character, as well as multiple others. Whether it's the mercenary Marc Spector or museum employee Steven Grant, both are heavily influenced by the Egyptian god Khonshu. Karim El Hakim provided the on-set performance for Khonshu, while F. Murray Abraham voiced the character.

You might know Abraham from "Homeland" or "The Grand Budapest Hotel," but his most revered work happened several years prior. The 1984 film "Amadeus" told the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his rivalry with composer Antonio Salieri. The latter was played by Abraham, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. The film would eventually go on to win an additional seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

You can always count on English actor Christian Bale to turn in a stellar acting performance, especially considering the controversial physical transformations he goes through for some of these roles. From the weight he gained for his roles as Irving Rosenfeld in "American Hustle" and Dick Cheney in "Vice" to the weight he lost for "The Machinist" and "Rescue Dawn," he's never been afraid to embrace a full body makeover. The transformations worked, as he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor the first two. Bale was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for playing Michael Burry in "The Big Short" and "Dicky" Eklund in "The Fighter," winning for the latter.

Bale is one of the many actors to portray Batman, doing so in Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight Trilogy." A decade after the final film in the trilogy released, Bale is returning to the world of superheroes as Gorr the God Butcher in Taika Waititi's "Thor: Love and Thunder."