20 Recent Movie Cameos NOBODY Saw Coming

Cameos will rarely make a movie in of themselves, but they can be a fun cherry on top of an already great film, or perhaps even be the single memorable bright spot in an otherwise totally forgettable one.

A punchy cameo can result in pure cinematic dynamite, whether it's a case of a beloved A-lister lending their dramatic acting prowess to a movie for a few minutes, or a performer subverting their popular persona to comedic ends.

That's just two two examples of how cameos can enrapture audiences, and over the past year-or-so in cinema, these are the 20 cameos which none of us saw coming.

From hilariously expectation-defying roles to mega-star cameos that were kept impressively quiet until the film's release, these cameos were so surprising they might've even distracted the audience from whatever else was happening in the movie, for better or worse.

Whatever the outcome, though, and whether you dug these movies or not, you likely couldn't shake these hugely unexpected cameos. Here's hoping that 2026 manages to somehow outdo it with even more surprise appearances to leave us all thoroughly shook...

James Gunn sure doesn't forget the actors he's enjoyed fruitful collaborations with in the past, but did anyone expect to see Bradley Cooper show up in his new Superman reboot?

Cooper appears in the opening minutes of the film where he portrays Clark's (David Corenswet) father Jor-El, alongside Angela Sarafyan who plays his mother Lara Lor-Van, in a holographic message watched by their son.

It's imminently jarring to see an actor of Cooper's stature playing such a small part totally out of nowhere, though of course, given Jor-El's iconic nature in his own right, it absolutely tracks that a major name actor would be sought out.

Beyond Cooper having worked with Gunn before as Rocket in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, Gunn said that he wanted an actor for Jor-El who "could walk in the footsteps of Marlon Brando," who of course played the role in the original 1978 Richard Donner-directed Superman.

Though rumours have swirled as of late that Cooper may reprise this role in the upcoming Supergirl, we'll just have to wait and see.