Every major Doctor Who actor in a Marvel production

There is a joke in the Doctor Who fanbase that, when the lead actor announces they’re leaving the show, that means they’re in the process of booking a role as a Marvel villain. And as weird as that might sound, it’s actually a surprisingly regular occurrence. Thus far, the only New Who Doctor to not play a comic book villain is Jodie Whittaker, and that might be just a matter of time.

Of course, there’s also a history of Doctor Who actors becoming part of superhero media that isn’t Marvel related. Peter Capaldi was a DC villain, and several of their companions have held supporting roles in superhero shows and movies from all different franchises. It’s just that actors tend to stay in their subgenre, and sci-fi and comic books go hand-in-hand.

Here, we look at the actors who have been in Doctor Who the most, from the Doctors and their companions to the Master and other aliens, in search of Marvel connections. This includes the MCU, some dubiously canonical television series, and the Sonyverse. Some held minor roles while others were main characters, but all showed their skill at playing complicated characters, often with an iron will and a flexible sense of morality.

Paul Kasey: Blood Bank Guard/ Reaper (Blade II)

The first major Doctor Who actor we'll discuss is one that many fans won't immediately recognize. Paul Kasey did not play a Doctor or companion, but he was in 37 episodes of Doctor Who, 13 episodes of Torchwood, and 18 episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures. He was the performer behind a variety of aliens and creatures, including Slitheens, Oods, Judoons, and Weevils, and is now a movement coordinator for the new series.

Of the 18 productions he has acted in, 7 are related to Doctor Who, and another 4 are connected to Star Wars. But he was actually in Blade II before he had any of those opportunities. That movie focused on Reapers, mutated vampires who had virtually uncontrollable blood lust. Kasey played a guard from a blood bank who was turned into a Reaper. Unable to get enough blood, he began dying and was dissected by the main characters to get a better understanding of how Reapers functioned.

David Bradley: Tower Keeper (Captain America: The First Avenger)

While David Bradley is probably best known for his roles as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter franchise and Walder Frey in Game of Thrones, he has a unique but important role in Doctor Who as the current version of the First Doctor. When the Classic Era character is wanted for a story (on-screen or off), Bradley steps in to fill William Hartnell’s shoes.

His most iconic roles made it hard for audiences to see him any other way, which partially explains why he took a relatively small role in Captain America: The First Avenger. There, he played a Tower Keeper who attempted to guard the Tesseract from Red Skull. While he gave a compelling performance, his character wasn’t even given a name and is thus rarely thought of when discussing the crossovers between Doctor Who and Marvel.

Jenna Louise Coleman: Connie (Captain America: The First Avenger)

Interestingly, there were actually a lot of crossovers between Doctor Who and Captain America: The First Avenger in particular. These include Toby Jones (The Dream Lord / Arnim Zola), Michael Brandon (General Sanchez / Senator Brandt), Martin T. Sherman (Man / Brandt's Aide), and more. But the most well-known Doctor Who actor in the Captain America cast is Jenna Louise Coleman.

Coleman played Clara Oswald in Doctor Who, the primary companion from Series 7 through 9. She began her time in the TARDIS alongside Matt Smith but stayed on when the Doctor regenerated, becoming the most prominent companion for Peter Capaldi’s version of the character. She is one of the most controversial characters in the modern run, with some fans finding her Time Lord-esque behavior engaging while others found it annoying.

Her role in Captain America: The First Avenger was smaller, as she portrayed Bucky’s date, Connie, at the World Expo. She and her friend (who was supposed to be Steve’s date) were in awe of Howard Stark’s presentation, and she later left with Bucky. While not a prominent character, Connie helped show what Bucky was like before the war took everything away from him.

Matt Smith: Milo (Morbius)

Matt Smith, like Paul Kasey, was a part of the Marvel universe through a vampiric connection. He had previously played the Eleventh Doctor on Doctor Who from Series 5 through 7, a seemingly carefree version of the character who held deep pain and anger inside. Ironically, both of his female companions are also on this list, and one of his episodes was about vampires. Technically, they were fish from space in disguise as vampires, but it’s close enough.

Smith acted alongside Jared Leto in Morbius as the titular character’s close friend and ‘brother,’ Lucien, who shared the same illness. After learning that Michael Morbius ‘cured’ his disease through vampirism, Lucien (now going by Milo) stole the cure and became a vampire himself. But while Morbius attempted to hold back his darker impulses, Milo gave in completely, willing to hurt others for the chance to survive.

Christopher Eccleston: Malekith (Thor: The Dark World)

Christopher Eccleston is responsible for bringing Doctor Who back, and though he doesn’t get nearly as much attention as his successors (in part because his time on the show was so short), it’s no exaggeration to say that they wouldn’t have had the opportunity without him coming first. The Ninth Doctor was fresh out of the Time War, grieving his people and hating himself for what he had to do. But even so, he was kind and joyful, introducing Rose Tyler to all the universe had to offer.

A few years later, he played Malekith in Thor: The Dark World. The Thor sequel is not widely-liked, but Eccleston’s performance was still incredible. He played the main villain of the film, a Dark Elf intent on using the Reality Stone (then called the Aether) to destroy the universe. While Eccleston has spoken about how complex the character was and how much work he put into the role, enough of his backstory was cut that it fell flat for many viewers.

Maisie Williams: Rahne Sinclair (The New Mutants)

Like David Bradley, Maisie Williams is best known for some of her other roles, most notably Arya Stark in Game of Thrones. However, she played an important role in Doctor Who as a foil to the Doctor, showing the danger of living too long. Williams played Ashildr, a Viking girl who was given immortality. The Doctor and Clara ran into her several times in her future, where she had begun referring to herself simply as “Me” and acting more cruelly due to the limitations of her memory and the emotional rigidity she’d had to develop after outliving her loved ones.

In 2020, Williams became part of the Marvel universe by playing Rahne Sinclair in The New Mutants. The film was an X-Men spin-off, following five traumatized teenage mutants who are being held captive at a hospital. Williams held one of the leading roles, and while the film has been critically panned, most agree that her performance was one of its best parts.

David Tennant: Kilgrave (Jessica Jones) and Franklin (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur)

David Tennant is probably the most famous actor to portray the Doctor since its revival, as his version was many people’s first. Tennant played the Tenth Doctor in Series 2-4, returning for the 50th-anniversary special in 2013 and becoming the Fourteenth Doctor for the 60th-anniversary specials in 2023.

He joined Marvel through its Netflix TV series lineup in 2015 as the primary villain for Jessica Jones’s first season. Tennant's character, Kilgrave, was experimented on as a child, which gave him the ability to control other people. He used those powers selfishly, forcing Jessica to have sex with him and hurt others with her super-strength. When she broke his hold over her, he became obsessed with making her love him or destroying her altogether, an arc which makes it one of the most disturbing stories Marvel has ever shown on screen.

Somehow, the darkness of his previous Marvel role didn’t stop him from getting cast in the children’s series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Tennant played Franklin, an alien dog superhero, in the show’s second season. He was only in one episode, though, so his time on Jessica Jones is much more likely to be known by Marvel fans.

Sacha Dhawan: Davos (Iron Fist)

Sacha Dhawan plays the most recent version of the Master on Doctor Who, introduced in the Series 12 premiere. While he has actually only been in 5 episodes, these were critical moments for the show. His Master destroyed Gallifrey (once again), made a hybrid Cyberman-Time Lord species, and revealed the secret that the Doctor was the Timeless Child. While the arc might have been controversial, Dhawan stood out for how well he portrayed the Master’s cruelty, campy energy, and scheming nature.

Before becoming one of Doctor Who’s most notorious villains, he served as Davos on Iron Fist. This was another of the Netflix Marvel shows that was considered non-canon until Daredevil was brought into the MCU. Davos was an incredibly complex character, beginning as a friend and ally of Danny Rand’s before turning into one of his greatest enemies. 

Fun Fact: Sacha Dhawan also worked on Sherlock, which was run by Doctor Who writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. While filming that, he mentioned an upcoming audition for Iron Fist to co-star Benedict Cumberbatch, who reached out to his Marvel contacts to advocate for Dhawan’s talent. 

Karen Gillan: Nebula (MCU)

Of course, the single most significant actor to cross over from Doctor Who to Marvel is Karen Gillan. She’d only had a handful of credits under her belt before becoming a companion, so her time as Amy Pond was critical to her career. Gillan had previously appeared in Series 4 as a Soothsayer in “The Fires of Pompeii,” but she is best known as the Girl Who Waited, the Doctor’s best friend and mother-in-law.

Gillan quickly moved from Doctor Who (which she left in 2012) to Marvel, appearing as Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). She was Thanos’s adopted daughter, serving as his loyal assassin for most of her life. However, she eventually broke away from him, allying with her adopted sister Gamora and attempting to take him out. Through the events of Infinity War and Endgame, she bonded with other heroes and became a more honorable character.

This has been a captivating arc to see because she didn’t become a hero in one moment. Even when she turned away from Thanos, Nebula wasn’t acting out of kindness and decency. She was a survivor intent on punishing her abuser. Fans have gotten to see her develop as a character over seven installments (and What If...?), more than just about anybody who wasn’t an original Avenger.