The release of the trailer for Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder sent the internet into a frenzy last week, trending at number 1 on YouTube its day of release. Marvel fans far and wide are eagerly anticipating the return of the hammer-wielding, Asgardian God of Thunder to our screens on July 8 – played by Australia’s very own Chris Hemsworth. First appearing in Thor (2011), Hemsworth went on to star in the sequels Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2013). Often lauded as our most beloved Australian superhero – a title well deserved – you may be surprised to learn that there are a handful of other Australian stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) worthy of an honourable mention.
Callan Mulvey
View this video on YouTube
First up, Callan Mulvey – a man with sickening range – who you might recognise from a few places. Born in Auckland, Mulvey grew up in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, and began his career as the undisputed heartthrob of the 90s hit series Heartbreak High, Drazic. Mulvey went on to feature in many other iconic Australian shows: Underbelly, Rush, Home and Away and outback drama McLeod’s Daughters. He made his US debut in the movie Zero Dark Thirty (2012), and went on to join the MCU in 2014, playing Jack Rollins in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Mulvey’s other notable roles include the erratic Serbian drug lord, Milan, in Courtney A. Kemp and 50 cent’s hit show Power, and Anatoli Knyazev in DC’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) – the man can do it all.
Cate Blanchett
Taika Waititi
Remy Hii
View this video on YouTube
Remy Hii joined the MCU in 2019, playing the role of Brad Davis in Spider-man: Far from Home. Like some of others on this list, Hii is part of the Australian-soap-opera-to-Hollywood pipeline, with his early career including a role on Neighbours from 2013-2014. In the same year as his Neighbours debut, Hii won the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Newcomer, for his role in the SBS tv series Better Man, based on the true story of a Vietnamese-Australian man who was convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore and sentenced to death. Hii’s other notable roles include Prince Jingim in the Netflix drama Marco Polo, and Alistair Cheng in Crazy Rich Asians (2018).
Angourie Rice
View this video on YouTube
Angourie Rice has been somewhat of a staple actress in the MCU for some time, first appearing in 2017 playing Betty Brant in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and returning to the screen in the 2019 and 2021 sequels Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-man: No Way Home. Rice’s portfolio outside the MCU spans wide, having starred in an episode of Black Mirror (2019), as well as the action comedy The Nice Guys (2016) alongside Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, to name only a few.
Ben Mendehlson
View this video on YouTube
Ben Mendelsohn joined the Universe in 2017, playing Talos in Captain Marvel, and later in a Spiderman: Far From Home post-credits scene in 2019 (alongside Remy Hii and Angourie Rice, we might add!). The seasoned actor has had roles in other major blockbusters, including The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and Ready Player One (2018).
Guy Pearce
View this video on YouTube
Geelong’s Guy Pearce made his MCU debut in Iron Man 3 (2013), playing the supervillain Aldrich Killian. In an interview with GQ, Pearce revealed that he filmed the fight scene with Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark) in Birkenstocks, referring to them as “my comfy acting shoes”. Pearce started his career on the shows Neighbours and Home & Away, and went on to star in the Australian cinema classic: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), earning him international acclaim. Pearce was also a co-star to the formerly mentioned Ben Mendelson in Animal Kingdom.
