• Home
  • Behind the Crate
  • Exclusives
  • Features
  • Lists & Things
  • Theme Reveal
  • Looter Love
The Daily Crate
  • <<< BACK TO LOOTCRATE.COM
The Daily Crate
  • Home
  • Behind the Crate
  • Exclusives
  • Features
  • Lists & Things
  • Theme Reveal
  • Looter Love
Friday Five: Hey, It’s That Person!: Spider-Man Edition
(Marvel / Sony Pictures Entertainment)
Home
Friday Five

Friday Five: Hey, It’s That Person!: Spider-Man Edition

June 21st, 2019 Nicole Campos Friday Five, Lists & Things

If you’re a real pop culture nerd, chances are you get as excited when you see a supporting character with a familiar face as you do when one of your faves is the star. Let’s celebrate these heroes!…

Back in the early World Wide Web days, defunct site Fametracker had an awesome column called “Hey, It’s That Guy!”, celebrating character actors and actresses from all your favorite things. So we’re showing our love for that idea every so often in our Friday Five by doing the same, and this week we’re celebrating some of your favorite friendly neighborhood faces from the various Spider-Man films over the years!

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 17 years since the first Sam Raimi-directed Spidey film hit screens, and in the time since we’ve had three different incarnations of Peter Parker in live-action, each different series simply crammed with fantastic actors. (Of course, the animated Into the Spider-Verse was itself packed to the gills with talent at the mic, too!)  For this Friday Five, we’re going to highlight five of our favorite character actors that span the Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland eras…

 

J.K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson, Spider-Man 1-3)

Look, he may have been the quintessential example of a character actor’s character actor for most of his career, but there’s no denying that J.K. Simmons is a bona-fide star now. He won a long-overdue Academy Award for playing the most nightmarish teacher of all time in Whiplash, and went on to starring as the lead in a television show in the deeply underrated Counterpart, a brainy sci-fi spy vehicle that sadly was cancelled after two seasons on STARZ. Despite dozens of roles in films, TV and especially in fan favorite voice over roles (including Tenzin in The Legend of Korra, Stanford Pines in Gravity Falls and many more), it is undeniably his flawless turn as the iconic, flat-topped bigmouth editor of the Daily Bugle in Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy that earns him the most geek love. You could argue he nailed it so perfectly, it’s possibly put off any of the subsequent Spidey films from bringing ol’ JJJ back if they can’t get Simmons to be the one to snarl “PARKERRRR!” (We’re still quietly hoping that the MCU has room at the table.)

 

Donna Murphy (Rosalie Octavius, Spider-Man 2)

Much as with Simmons, the great Alfred Molina has over the years amassed an incredible CV of character work (going all the way back to his first screen role, as the doomed Satipo in that first scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark). He was an established presence by the time he bagged the role of Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2 – arguably the most beloved of the villains in that trilogy – but it’s the luminous Donna Murphy as his doomed wife, Rosalie, who really stands out as a “Hey, I know her!” moment. You definitely should, particularly if you are a lover of the theatre; Murphy is one of the most celebrated stage actresses of her generation, particularly in musicals having been nominated five times and won two Tonys, for her starring roles in Passion and The King and I. Among fans of genre film and TV, she’s probably best known as Anij, Captain Picard’s love interest in Star Trek: Insurrection; she’s also appeared in The Bourne Legacy, The Fountain and The Nanny Diaries.

 

Dylan Baker (Dr. Curt Connors, Spider-Man 2 & 3)

The downside to methodically growing the universe of your comic-book adaptation over the course of several films is that, eventually, not all of your plans might come to fruition. Once Marc Webb’s Spider-Man films kicked off we got the full villain take on Dr. Curt Connors (played by Rhys Ifans), but in Raimi’s trilogy he never managed to get to his origin story as The Lizard; he was just one of Peter’s college professors. Nevertheless, he managed to make an impression anyway as he’s played here by Dylan Baker, another of the most beloved and prolific character actors of the 80’s and onward. Requiem For A Dream, The Cell, Road to Perdition, Trick R’ Treat, Selma – his movie CV is huge and varied, and that’s not even scratching the surface of his TV credits because he’s literally been in almost everything. He was particularly good as a tragic undercover Russian spy in The Americans, most recently. (Fun fact!: His screen debut is almost unrecognizable, as the pig farmer who gives Martin & Candy a lift in one of the funniest scenes in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.)

 

Michael Papajohn (Dennis Carradine, Spider-Man; Limo Driver, The Amazing Spider-Man)

Now, there are lots of actors in the Andrew Garfield era Spidey flicks we could highlight (Irrfan Khan, Embeth Davidz and Michael Massee come to mind immediately)… but instead, we can’t help but pinpoint this nifty slight of hand that might make fans of both of the first two trilogies do a quadruple-take. If the guy driving Khan’s Oscorp exec Rajit Ratha around looked familiar in a very particular way, that’s because he had a small but crucial role in Raimi’s trilogy: Michael Papajohn was Dennis Carradine! Ugggh, THAT GUY… the guy who put a bullet in Uncle Ben’s chest. (In the original comics run, his name is never fully revealed, but he’s referred to as “The Burglar”; the name Dennis Carradine became canon in subsequent books and materials.)  Papajohn got his start as a college athlete, playing baseball with Louisiana State; instead, the turned to stunt work in films like Everybody’s All American and Starship Troopers, before becoming an actor. He’s also appeared in Predator 2, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

 

Kenneth Choi (Principal Morita, Spider-Man: Homecoming)

Peter’s first solo outing in the MCU boasts an incredible cast, from villainous Michael Keaton on down to the delightful cameos. (Hannibal Burress! Martin Starr!)  But no doubt, the most delightful from a Marvel nerd standpoint is the arrival of Kenneth Choi as the principal of Midtown School of Science and Technology, whose last name is Morita… and if you think you know why, you’re right.  Choi also appeared back in 2011 in Captain America: The First Avenger as Jim Morita, a member of the Howling Commandos who fought alongside Steve Rogers during WWII… and there’s a picture of him in that role in Principal Morita’s office, so it’s basically implied that Peter’s principal is the elder Morita’s grandson! (Fun fact!: This is the second descendant of a Howling Commando in Marvel filmed continuity; on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Antoine Triplett was mentioned as being the granchild of a team member, presumably Gabe Jones.) Choi has been a prolific character actor since the late 90’s, appearing in films like The Terminal, Wolf of Wall Street, Suicide Squad and Bright, as well as TV appearances including Roswell, 24, Sons of Anarchy, and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story in which he scored the plum role of one of the most recognizable judges in the world, Lance Ito.

 



We’re celebrating all things Spider-Man across our Core, DX and Wear lines this month, in addition to many more of your favorites in this month’s JOURNEY theme! Check it out!

  • Tags
  • donna murphy
  • dylan baker
  • friday five
  • hey it's that person
  • jk simmons
  • kenneth choi
  • loot crate
  • marvel
  • mike papajohn
  • movies
  • spider man
  • spiderman

SHARE THIS ARTICLE:

Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn
Next article Video Vault: Love Made in Second Life
Previous article Video Vault Special: Trailer for World of Warcraft's 8.2 Expansion, Rise of Azshara!

Nicole Campos

Nicole is the lead community manager at Loot Crate, and a member of the social media team since 2014. Her interests include (but are not limited to) science fiction, British comedy, ass-kicking female superheroes, mid century modern design, awesomely bad movies, 80's ska, Matt Murdock (♥), Battlestar Galactica '03 (The one true show!), all the tea in the world, and Sriracha on everything. (Except maybe ice cream. But if you can make a compelling argument, she'll listen...)

Related Posts

When We Were Young Festival: Our Dream Line-Up Features
January 21st, 2022

When We Were Young Festival: Our Dream Line-Up

5 Facts You Might Not Know About "Darkman" Features
December 10th, 2021

5 Facts You Might Not Know About "Darkman"

Five Non-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Movies Features
November 26th, 2021

Five Non-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Movies

Related Posts

Jan 21st, 2022

When We Were Young Festival: Our Dream Line-Up

Dec 10th, 2021

5 Facts You Might Not Know About “Darkman”

Nov 26th, 2021

Five Non-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Movies

Nov 19th, 2021

Supernatural’s Ten Best Minor Characters

Nov 12th, 2021

Top 5 Deleted Scenes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Recent Posts

EDUCRATED QUIZ: More Batman Trivia!

EDUCRATED QUIZ: More Batman Trivia!

Feb 15th, 2022
THEME REVEAL: Loot Gaming and Loot Anime

THEME REVEAL: Loot Gaming and Loot Anime

Jan 28th, 2022
Looter Recipe: Deadpool's Fireballs

Looter Recipe: Deadpool's Fireballs

Jan 27th, 2022
EDUCRATED QUIZ: Fruits Basket Trivia

EDUCRATED QUIZ: Fruits Basket Trivia

Jan 25th, 2022
5 Episodes of The X Files That Became Supernatural Episodes

5 Episodes of The X Files That Became Supernatural Episodes

Jan 24th, 2022
March 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Feb    
  • Home
  • Behind the Crate
  • Exclusives
  • Features
  • Lists & Things
  • Theme Reveal
  • Looter Love
  • Back to top
© Loot Crate. All rights reserved.
Brought to you by the illustrious TDC staff with all the love they can muster.