Over the past decade or so, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has recruited some of Hollywood's most attractive and most talented actors to bring popular comic book characters to life, including both powerful superheroes and the complicated villains who challenge them. Almost two dozen films and crossovers later, the MCU reigns supreme in theatres and on streaming services.
Now that Halloween season is officially here, it's time to lose the capes and enter the world of horror. It turns out many of the MCU's favorite stars have tried their luck (and succeeded) working on spooky flicks. From Chris Hemsworth to Mark Ruffalo to Scarlet Johansson, these performers know how to amplify scares.
10 The Cabin In The Woods (2012)
Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon join forces for this meta-horror masterpiece that stars a pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth as a college student wrapped up in a bizarre annual ritual that plays out like the plot of a scary movie. Hemsworth's character Curt Vaughan and his friends venture to a cabin in the woods for spring break, but their quaint vacation turns out to be anything but.
The Cabin in the Woods takes viewers on a darkly comedic, yet intellectually stimulating, journey that comes to an over-the-top conclusion. Horror fans will love how the film plays with genre tropes.
9 Synchronic (2020)
This highly-anticipated sci-fi horror film from low-budget masters Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead co-stars Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie as New Orleans paramedics who witness first-hand the effects of a new manmade drug on people. While Dornan is known for 50 Shades of Grey, Mackie is an MCU-alum who plays Falcon (aka Sam Wilson) in a handful of movies.
Set for release on October 23, 2020, Synchronic brings Mackle back to his indie roots. That being said, Mackie is jumping back into the MCU with the forthcoming Disney+ limited series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
8 Crimson Peak (2015)
In the middle of playing the beloved trickster Loki alongside Chris Hemsworth in Thor, British actor Tom Hiddleston filmed Guillermo del Toro's gothic love story Crimson Peak. Hiddleston plays Sir Thomas Sharpe, the new husband of the film's protagonist, Mia Wasikowska's character Edith Cushing.
Cushing, a young author, moves with her husband to his family's Victorian estate – anchored by a creepy old mansion full of ghosts. Crimson Peak is an homage to Victorian ghost stories, more of an exercise in eerie atmospherics than jump scares.
7 Office Uprising (2018)
Zachary Levi, aka Fandral from the Thor films, adds to the dark comedic laughs in Office Uprising, an indie horror flick about an office whose workers turn homicidal after trying an experimental energy drink. The characters in the film work for Ammotech, a weapons manufacturer whose military connections give them access to the murderous beverage.
Levi stars alongside funny actors like Jane Levy and Karan Soni from the Deadpool movies. What Office Uprising lacks in originality it makes for with its cast's performances, and Levi steals the show.
6 Under The Skin (2013)
Scarlett Johannson may portray the Natasha Romanoff Black Widow in the MCU, but she plays an extraterrestrial black widow in Under the Skin, a slow-moving film told from the perspective of a seductive alien who preys upon men for food. Under the Skin is no typical horror film, and it's a departure from the razzle and dazzle that emanates from MCU films.
However, this Scottish feature is a testament to Johannson's diverse acting skills. It also contains some of the most visually insane imagery in recent genre history.
5 The Thing (1982)
Kurt Russell has been on the scene for decades, but MCU fans know him best as Ego the Living Planet in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. While his name is often associated with action movies, Russell has serious horror street cred, most notably in John Carpenter's terrifying monster movie The Thing.
In The Thing, Russell plays R.J. MacReady, a member of an Antarctic research team infected by a shapeshifting parasitic alien that moves from host to host. The Thing bombed when it was released, but it has since been reframed as one of the most important sci-fi horror films of the 20th Century.
4 28 Weeks Later (2007)
This zombie-filled sequel to Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later stars a few MCU actors: Jeremy Renner and Idris Elba. Renner plays Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while Elba plays the Norse god Heimdall.
These talented actors play US Army personnel in 28 Weeks Later, which takes a more action-heavy approach to following characters 28 weeks after the initial outbreak depicted in the first film. While not as good as its predecessor, the film packs plenty of terror into its 99 minutes.
3 The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
Who better to play Thor's dad, Odin, in the MCU than famed British actor Anthony Hopkins? Long before Hopkins ruled over his fictional Norse kingdom, he scared the pants off innumerable people with his performance of the deranged serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.
Hannibal the Cannibal is recruited by an FBI agent-in-training, Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling, to help her find a new serial killer. The Silence of the Lambs broke barriers for horror movies by winning multiple Oscars, and it remains one of the most frightening entries to date.
2 1408 (2007)
What hasn't Samuel L. Jackson, who breathes life into Nick Fury for the MCU, acted in? From Star Wars to Django Unchained, Jackson moves effortlessly between blockbusters, gritty dramas, and dark comedies.
Jackson is no stranger to horror movies, and one of his best is 1408, a Stephen King-inspired psychological drama co-starring John Cusack. Cusack plays a paranormal author investigating a haunted hotel managed by Jackson's character; when Cusack's character Mike Enslin checks in, a series of bizarre events cause him to lose his grasp on reality.
1 Zodiac (2007)
David Fincher's Zodiac stars two of the MCU's most popular actors: Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. Ruffalo doesn't Hulk out, and Downey Jr. doesn't transform into Iron Man; instead, they play a police officer and journalist (respectively) investigating the Zodiac Killer.
During the late '60s and early '70s, the San Francisco bay area was menaced by a madman through heinous murders and cryptic letters to the media. Police never apprehended the Zodiac, and the assassination-style murders associated with him remain unsolved to this day.
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