9 Times MCU Actors Supported Each Other In Public, And 7 Times They Put Their Costars On Blast

A lot of MCU actors have friendships as famous as their starring roles. They know that good friends stand up for each other — but they also call each other out when necessary.

Though the Marvel cast isn't always there for each other — *cough, cough* everyone who ignored the intense trolling Brie Larson faced — a lot of them are willing to take a stand.

NBC / Via giphy.com

Here are nine times Marvel actors stood up for each other:

1.Following an announcement regarding Captain America 4, the Hollywood Reporter tweeted, "It is unclear if Chris Evans would reprise his role as the first #CaptainAmerica (though if the question of who is entitled to carry the shield continues, all bets are off)."

Reminding them that Anthony Mackie took up the Captain America mantle in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Chris Evans replied, "Sam Wilson is Captain America."

The outlet corrected themselves, tweeting, "Anthony Mackie will star as #CaptainAmerica in Julius Onah's #CaptainAmerica4."

2.During a joint AsiaOne interview with Benedict Wong, Xóchitl Gómez said that she was "just so happy that Marvel has stuck to" keeping a scene regarding America Chavez's two moms as well as the character's own sexuality in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but "[her] name may be circled within hate and stuff but it's okay."

However, Benedict quickly responded, "It's not okay. It's not okay. We have to all collectively understand that...she auditioned aged 13 and she joined us aged 14, one of the youngest actors to join the MCU of a film of that magnitude...So there's a real level of shame for all those trolls that are cowards not to actually put their face on, and they should feel a deep shame of what they're doing."

He continued, "It's sad that fans in that country [that wanted to censor these scenes] won't get to see this as yet. But all we are doing is radiating representation, voicing the voiceless. And that's all that we can do — represent people so that they can be seen."

3.Body language expert Mandy O’Brien posted a video about Brie Larson, criticizing her body language in interviews. The criticism accused her of "trying to dominate" her male costars and giving Chris Hemsworth "bedroom eyes" so he would "validate her."

Don Cheadle was the only MCU actor to come to Brie's defense.

On Twitter, he called out O'Brien's horrible take and sarcastically described the video as "some of the funniest stuff I've ever heard."

He posted, "Brie was trying to keep her ponytail behind her because her hair stylist kept flying in and fixing it. She’s actually being OVER accommodating...amazing."

4.At first, Marvel told Iron Man director Jon Favreau that they wouldn't cast Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark under any circumstances or "for any price."

However, Robert told Jon that he was "going to hold out hope," so he advocated for him behind-the-scenes.

The director's efforts eventually landed Robert a screen test, which, in turn, landed him the role that shaped the future of the MCU.

Marvel Studios president, Feige, told CinemaBlend, "Everybody knew he was an amazing actor. But he hadn't been an action star. He wasn't a marquee star, necessarily. And we quickly realized the risk, I've said this before, was not casting him. And Jon Favreau really had that vision for that movie and for Robert in that role."

5.A Twitter user said that Benedict Cumberbatch was wasting his acting talents and Hollywood success by "flailing his arms in front of a green screen" as Doctor Strange.

Benedict doesn't have social media, but Vincent D'Onofrio — who plays Wilson Fisk/Kingpin — politely came to his defense. He replied, "With all due respect, I know you mean well. There are other ways to look at things in life. You seem like an intelligent person so know this: We must understand another person's experience in life before we can judge them."

He continued, "Keep an open mind my friend. My best to you always."

6.When Scarlett Johansson sued Disney for violating a contract in regards to the release of Black Widow, she faced criticism from fans as well as Benedict Cumberbatch, who called the lawsuit "a bit of a mess."

However, Elizabeth Olsen told Vanity Fair, "I think [Scarlett]’s so tough. Literally, when I read that, I was like, 'Good for you, Scarlett."

"When it comes to actors and their earnings, I mean, that’s just, that’s just all contracts. So it’s either in the contract, or it’s not," she said.

7.On an earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek called Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings an "interesting experiment" because the company planned to release the film exclusively in theaters, foregoing the simultaneous Disney+ release Black Widow received.

In defense of the movie and its cast, Simu Liu tweeted, "We are not an experiment. We are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will persevere after an embattled year. We are the surprise."

"I’m fired the f**k up to make history on September 3rd; JOIN US," he continued.

8.After Zendaya was cast as MJ Watson in Spider-Man: Homecoming, she was inundated with a lot of racist comments online.

When Global Grind asked Tom Holland about the backlash to her casting, he said, "I feel like our generation of people, are moving on past this whole idea you can’t cast someone who is not of the right race of a character and stuff and I really think we’re breaking through and changing all of that."

He continued, "Z is perfect for it, she’s so powerful and so strong willed and it’s not going to shake her at all."

9.And finally — whether or not it was something worth defending him against — the online discussion following a viral tweet that asked people to eliminate one of four actors named Chris branded Chris Pratt the "Worst Chris" in Hollywood.

People voted him the "Worst Chris" for many reasons, including an insensitive joke he made about voting, his involvement with a reportedly anti-LGBTQ+ church, and the "Don't Tread On Me" shirt he was once photographed wearing.

Several of his Marvel costars jumped to his defense. Mark Ruffalo tweeted, "You all, [Chris Pratt] is as solid a man there is. I know him personally, and instead of casting aspersions, look at how he lives his life."

He continued, "He is just not overtly political as a rule. This is a distraction. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize, friends. We are so close now."

Zoe Saldaña tweeted this quote from Tupac: "No matter how hard it gets, stick your chest out, keep your head up and handle it."

In her own words, she added, "You got this [Chris]. Your family, friends, colleagues & everyone who’s ever crossed paths with you knows your heart and your worth!"

On Instagram, Robert Downey Jr. wrote, "What a world...The 'sinless' are casting stones at my [brother], Chris Pratt...A real [Christian] who lives by [principle], has never demonstrated anything but [positivity] and [gratitude]...AND he just married into a family that makes space for civil discourse and (just plain fact) INSISTS on service as the highest value."

He continued, "If you take issue with Chris[...]I’ve got a novel idea. Delete your social media accounts, sit with your OWN defects of [character], work on THEM, then celebrate your humanness..."

However, a lot of Marvel fans called them out for defending Chris when they'd remained silent in the face of the harsh criticism and trolling many women and actors of color in the MCU faced.

And now, here are seven times Marvel actors called their costars out:

10.Letitia Wright received major backlash when she tweeted a link to an anti-vaccination video during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She deleted the tweet, but she also posted to defend herself, writing, "If you don’t conform to popular opinions, but ask questions and think for yourself....you get cancelled...My intention was not to hurt anyone, my ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies."

Alluding to her post, Don Cheadle tweeted, "Just scrolled through. Hot garbage. Every time I stopped and listened, [the speaker] and everything he said sounded crazy and fkkkd up."

However, rather than dismiss Letitia completely, he continued, "I would never defend anybody posting this. but I still won't throw her away over it. The rest I'll take off Twitter. Had no idea."

11.Similarly, Evangeline Lilly faced a lot of criticism for attending an anti-vaccination rally in Washington, DC, which she posted about on Instagram.

Seemingly in response, her Ant-Man costar, David Dastmalchian, tweeted, "It's so unfortunate when people with a large platform use that platform to share irresponsible things."

He continued, "Such a sad time when science, education and the well-being of others is held in less regard than personal privilege. Support our educators, medical community and scientists!"

Simu Liu also seemed to call her out through sharing his own experiences with COVID-19 on Twitter. He wrote, "I lost my grandparents to COVID last year. They were still waiting for their vaccines. I'm fortunate to have been double-vaccinated and boosted when I got COVID two weeks ago. Felt like a cold."

He continued, "The media needs to stop spotlighting opinions that are not rooted in facts or science."

Of course, while calling each other out on big things like spreading misinformation is good, not every Marvel costar call-out is over such an important issue. Some of the actors have called each other out in a lighter, more jokey manner.

12.In a joint Good Morning America interview, Mark Ruffalo revealed a huge spoiler for Avengers: Infinity War — "Everybody dies!"

Immediately, Don Cheadle yelled, "Dude!" and shook his head in disapproval.

13.On Late Night with Seth Meyers, Scarlett Johansson revealed that all of the original six Avengers have matching tattoos — except for Mark Ruffalo.

Calling him out, she said, "We tried to get him to do it. We said 'What if we do it with like white ink? What if we did it in water and we could have the experience of all doing it together?' He just shut it down, it was not a thing. He’s such a party pooper."

14.During Paris Fashion Week 2019, Gwyneth Paltrow and Sebastian Stan were both part of a group picture, but she evidently didn't remember who he was.

Sharing the picture on Instagram, he wrote, "Glad I got to reintroduce myself to [Gwyneth Paltrow] for the third time. We are in the same film."

15.Gwyneth had a similar conversation with Tom Holland, who told PopSugar, "I’ve only worked with Gwyneth one time ― on Spider-Man: Homecoming, which she doesn’t remember...Still to this day breaks my heart."

He added, "One time when we were shooting Avengers: Endgame...she was in her blue suit and I was in my Spider-Man suit, and she came up and she asked me for a photo with me and Robert [Downey Jr.] And then I think she posted it and she said, 'Robert Downey Jr., myself and this guy.' I was just 'the guy.' It was cute. It was cute."

16.And finally, while Iman Vellani was filming Ms. Marvel, she got a surprise visit from Tom Holland, who was filming Spider-Man: No Way Home. He showed her spoilery pictures from set.

She told Elite Daily, "He was like, 'What's your show even about?' I was like, 'What's Spider-Man about?' He fully shows me a photo of him with Tobey Maguire!"

"I get we're both in Marvel, but I didn't need to know that before it happened," she said.