10 Veteran Superhero Actors Who Shared The Screen With Their Successors

It seems like every few years, a popular movie or TV series gets remade or restarted. For fans of comic book adaptations, the biggest wish is that the new lead actor honors the performances of those who played the role previously.

Honestly, for me, the opinions of the original actors who defined these roles are the most valuable. That’s why it’s always so great to see them give their blessing – and show up on screen – alongside the new generation taking over. It just feels right, and it’s genuinely heartwarming to watch.

Christopher Reeve Met Tom Welling’s Young Clark Kent On Smallville

Even decades after first appearing as Superman in Richard Donner’s iconic 1978 film, Christopher Reeve is still considered by many to be the best live-action portrayal of the character. It’s interesting to consider how Tom Welling felt about that legacy…

Christopher Reeve played Dr. Virgil Swann in two episodes of the popular series. As a mentor to young Clark Kent, his character revealed Clark’s Kryptonian origins and his birth name, Kal-El. The second episode, titled “Rosetta,” concluded with Reeve and co-star Tom Welling presenting a public service announcement for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about paralysis – a condition Reeve personally battled following an accident in 1995 until his passing in 2004.

Lou Ferrigno Cameos In Both Hulk Movies

Lou Ferrigno became famous for playing the Hulk in the popular 1970s and 80s TV series, alongside Bill Bixby as David Banner. Because of this, it made sense for him to appear in the first Incredible Hulk movie.

Lou Ferrigno actually appeared in two different Hulk movies – the 2003 version with Eric Bana and the 2008 film starring Edward Norton – playing a security guard in both. But his involvement with the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t end there; he also provided the voice of the Hulk in both Avengers movies, and continued to voice the character in The Incredible Hulk.

Adam West Is The Gray Ghost On Batman: The Animated Series

Adam West’s Batman was much more lighthearted and colorful than the serious, dark version we know today, but he played a key role in making the character popular with a wider audience in the 1960s. The creators of Batman: The Animated Series clearly recognize his impact.

That’s why West was brought in to voice a character in Season 1 – the man who inspired young Bruce Wayne (voiced by Kevin Conroy). The episode features a team-up between Batman and his childhood idol as they work together to defeat the “Mad Bomber.”

Helen Slater Plays Kara Danvers’ Earthly Mother Supergirl

Typically, when a comic book character gets a new movie or TV show, actors who previously played that character only make brief appearances. But that wasn’t the situation with Helen Slater, who originally played Supergirl in the 1984 film.

The actor appeared in 13 episodes of the popular Supergirl series, playing the adoptive mother of Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist). She’s also honored her role in DC Comics history by portraying Clark Kent’s biological mother on Smallville and providing the voice for Martha Kent in various animated shows.

The ’90s-Era Animated Spider-Man Would Return In Multiple Roles

For many kids in the 1990s, Christopher Daniel Barnes was Spider-Man, thanks to his voice work on the popular Fox Kids animated series. Though he also appeared in shows and movies like The Brady Bunch and The Little Mermaid, he’s best remembered as the voice of the webslinger, especially before Tobey Maguire played the role in the 2000s.

You know, looking back at his career, it’s cool to see how much Barnes loved his time as Spider-Man. He actually came back to the Spider-Verse a bunch of times on the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series, doing voice work for different characters. He was a fantastic Electro for six episodes, and get this – he also voiced Wolf Spider! It was wild seeing both characters show up, especially when he played Spyder-Knight in this big, multi-part story that jumped across different universes. It was a fun nod to his legacy, honestly.

Patrick Stewart And James McAvoy Both Meet As Charles Xavier

X-Men: Days of Future Past continued the story begun in 2011’s X-Men: First Class, acting as both a sequel and an earlier story in the overall X-Men film series. In the movie, Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman) goes back in time to the 1970s with the mission of stopping a disastrous future where mutants are hunted by robots called Sentinels.

One of the most powerful moments in the 2014 film features Wolverine allowing Charles Xavier (played by James McAvoy) to glimpse the future and talk to his older self, portrayed by Sir Patrick Stewart. This experience gives the younger Professor X the hope he needs to believe in humanity again and successfully finish their task.

The First-Ever Ant-Man Actor Cameos In Paul Rudd’s MCU Movie

While Paul Rudd is the second actor to play Ant-Man in a live-action Marvel movie, and Michael Douglas is only the second to portray Dr. Hank Pym, both were actually preceded by Garrett Morris, who played the roles first.

The comedic actor made a surprise appearance at a party hosted by Superman and Lois Lane, featuring heroes from both Marvel and DC. While many now recognize him from his role as Earl on 2 Broke Girls, Morris previously had a small part in a 2015 Marvel movie. In that scene, his character is puzzled by a noise on his car, not realizing it was actually the tiny Ant-Man causing the commotion.

Lynda Carter Ends Wonder Woman 1984 On A High Note

After first appearing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman, one of the most important and earliest female superheroes in comics, finally got her own big-screen movie in 2017. While Gal Gadot’s film as Diana Prince is considered one of the best in the DC Extended Universe, many fans felt something was missing: an appearance by the original Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter.

Fortunately, the actor who first played the character on television in a popular 1970s show made a cameo in director Patty Jenkins’ 2020 sequel. She appeared in a scene after the credits as Asteria, an ancient Amazonian warrior. While the sequel had its share of criticism, even those who weren’t fans were happy to see her return.

The Flash Has Three Batman Actors In The Cast

Fans were thrilled to hear Michael Keaton was returning as Batman after over thirty years, and even more surprised when Ben Affleck was also confirmed to appear in The Flash. But the biggest surprise of all was that these weren’t the only actors playing Batman in the movie, which explores the multiverse.

The movie The Flash concludes with Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) seemingly back in his own timeline, where he’s surprised by Bruce Wayne – played by George Clooney, who famously starred in Batman & Robin. It’s remarkable that three different actors have played Batman in the same film, even though they don’t share any scenes together.

Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland’s Spider-Men Join Forces

As a huge cinema fan, when I saw The Flash bring back those classic heroes, it immediately felt like DC was trying to recapture the magic of Spider-Man: No Way Home. But where No Way Home really shined – beyond all the praise and money it made – was how it genuinely connected three different Peter Parkers. They weren’t just briefly sharing a scene; the movie actually built something around all of them being together.

A spell intended to hide Peter Parker’s identity as Spider-Man goes wrong, pulling villains from different universes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It also brings in other versions of Spider-Man – including those played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield – from previous film series. These three Spider-Men realize they must team up to save the universe.

2026-01-11 23:39