Bridget Reganis joiningBatwomanSeason 3 asthe villain Poison Ivy, making her the latest actor to appear in both a Marvel property and a show in the CWverse. Regan starred in the first season ofAgent Carteras the duplicitous season villain, Dottie Underwood, and will now bring her talents to Gotham City.
Regan joins the likes ofDavid Dastmalchian, who hasplayed multiple comic book characters, including a villain onThe Flashand a supporting role in theAnt-Manfilms.Josh Segarra, who was also a villain onArrow, has been cast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe spin-offShe-Hulk.
But there are several more actors who’ve starred in both universes. Let’s take a look at nine actors who you may have forgotten had multi-episode roles in the CWverse alongside memorable performances in Marvel properties.
Kirk Acevedo
OnArrowSeason 7,Kirk Acevedoplayed criminal mastermind Ricardo Diaz, who was a nightmare for Star City and Team Arrow. Ten steps ahead at all times, Diaz got John Diggle/ Spartan (David Ramsey) addicted to steroids, had Black Siren (Katie Cassidy) by his side, and even lured old Team Arrow friends into his villainous schemes. On the other hand, Acevedo’s role onMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.was much smaller and lasted two episodes. Acevedo played Agent Tomas Calderon, an emerging leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. once the Hydra conspiracy had been revealed. Calderon went up against Phil Coulson’s (Clark Gregg) faction of S.H.I.E.L.D. and we all know how that ended.
Christine Adams
Appearing alongside Acevedo onMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.wasChristine Adams. Her role as Agent Anne Weaver was a bit larger, though. Weaver initially supported the attack on Coulson and his S.H.I.E.L.D. unit, but she was eventually won over by his team.Adamsis now synonymous with her role onBlack Lightning. As the Pierce family matriarch, her character Lynn Stewart faced plenty of challenges, including divorce, substance abuse, blackmail and dealing with a family of meta-humans. In the show, she was a veteran scientist who fought to save as many people as she could with her work. Despite being one of the rare main characters without superpowers, she was a powerful and pioneering character on the show.
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Dichen Lachman
Dichen Lachmanhad a small but unforgettable role onSupergirl. She appeared in two episodes of Season 2 as Veronica Sinclair/Roulette, a snake-tattooed socialite and secret ringmaster of an alien fight club. She cut a formidable figure despite her short stint in the CWverse. Her character Jiaying onMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.was also a villain. An Inhuman with immortality, Jiaying was disillusioned by humanity after being experimented on. She created her own sanctuary, where she eventually met her daughter, S.H.I.E.L.D. hero Daisy Johnson/Quake (Chloe Bennet). But Jiaying was not a person to be trifled with—you were either with her or against her, and characters who fell into the latter category usually didn’t fare too well.
Floriana Lima
I’m unsure if it was intentional, butFloriana Limawas cast as a love interest in bothSupergirlandThe Punisher. That’s where the similarities end though. Lima played beloved comic book character Maggie Sawyer in the CWverse, an out and proud cop who befriended Supergirl’s sister, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) and eventually helped Alex come to terms with her sexuality. Sawyer should have had a longer run on the show, but Lima stepped down as a series regular after just one season, before leaving the show. Her turn as Dr. Krista Dumont onThe Punisherlasted one season. She was a tortured psychologist who was mistakenly convinced she could turn resident bad boy Billy Russo (Ben Barnes) good again. Whether Dumont learned anything from her experience with Russo is left to the imagination.The Punisherwas cancelled after its second season.
Carl Lumbly
Carl Lumbly’s turn as Isaiah Bradley onThe Falcon and the Winter Soldierwas heartbreaking. He brought the pathos and pain of a man forgotten by history, as well as one with simmering rage for never having been recompensed for all that he had suffered. Lumbly brought a similar sense of resilient resignation to his role as M’yrnn J’onzz inSupergirl. M’yrnn had been trapped and tricked by White Martians for decades before being rescued, and once he was, the great leader was but a shadow of his former self. Lumbly played a mentor/father figure in both roles, yet they were distinctive in their own way.
Neal McDonough
While Dum Dum Dugan was a burly, friendly good guy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Damien Darhk was an (almost) irredeemable and unstoppable villain in the CWverse. AndNeal McDonoughmanaged to pull off both performances perfectly. McDonough was almost unrecognizable in his supporting role as Dum Dum inCaptain America: The First Avenger, a character he returned to inMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.andWhat If…?His take on Darhk was the exact opposite. Darhk was a snide, smarmy and deceptively vicious villain who became the arch-nemesis of Sara Lance/White Canary (Caity Lotz). The character appeared on multiple shows in the franchise, includingArrow, The FlashandDC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
Adrian Pasdar
Adrian Pasdarcould have been a formidable villain for Supergirl, but his turn as Morgan Edge was severely underwritten. The character appeared in Season 3 of the CWverse show and had hardly any screen time. Glenn Talbot onMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., on the other hand, was a very different story. He was a Brigadier General tasked with capturing S.H.I.E.L.D. after they were revealed to be fronts for Hydra. Talbot was a difficult egg to crack—his distaste and distrust of S.H.I.E.L.D. were understandable but equally frustrating. Talbot always felt like a bit of a joke, but Pasdar’s towering presence meant none of us actually laughed at him.
Wil Traval
Wil Travalwas one of the main characters onJessica Jones. He played Will Simpson, a former member of the military who was inducted into a medical program that messed with his mental and physical health. He became involved with Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor) which led to a disastrous end for him. Traval’s role inArrowwas felt more than seen. Christopher Chance/Human Target was a master of disguise who helped Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) out of a few sticky situations. Traval had limited screen time in the two episodes he starred in, but his character was an invaluable asset to Team Arrow.
Briana Venskus
WatchingBriana Venskusin bothSupergirlandMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.will give you a sense of déjà vu. Her characters, Agent Vasquez of the Department of Extranormal Operations and Agent Piper of S.H.I.E.L.D., were eerily similar. In all honesty, they were almost indistinguishable from each other. Both agents were able aids decked in black and handy with a gun. They would appear on screen infrequently whenever the script called for it. But Agent Piper’s role was eventually expanded in the final seasons ofMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.and Venskus gave her a snarky personality that made the character a memorable part of the team.
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