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With Tatiana Maslany's She-Hulk: Attorney at Law proving to be a hit with critics (earning 85% on Rotten Tomatoes), and Charlie Cox's Daredevil also getting his own MCU show in 2024, there's a possibility that the franchise may include more courtroom drama sequences in the near future.
If this is Feige's plan, then most of the MCU actors won't struggle to adapt too much since many of them have worked on similar projects in the past (like Law & Order and its various spinoffs). While they don't play superheroes there, some of the characters did have a lot in common with their MCU counterparts, so it would be interesting to hear whether their experience on the Law & Order franchise helped them with their performance.
Sebastian Stan - Law & Order
Season 13, Episode 22
Before becoming the MCU's The Winter Soldier, Sebastian Stan made his screen debut in a 2003 episode of Law & Order entitled "Sheltered." Stan plays Justin Lafferty, a teenage sniper arrested for murdering four people as a way to prevent his father figure, Henry Capshaw, from being fired. When prosecutors learn Justin was taken from his real parents and abused by Henry, complications in the case arise.
In a precocious performance from Stan that proved he was just as talented as the more experienced adult actors (including future fellow MCU actor Ty Burrell as Henry), the range he shows, from a crestfallen innocent to icy manipulator, foreshadows the beginning of his MCU arc when he is turned into the Winter Soldier.
Michael B. Jordan - Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Season 9, Episode 15
Prior to suiting up as Killmonger in Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan starred as boxer Danny Ford in Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The "Inhumane Society" episode follows Ford, who is fresh out of jail after partaking in an illegal dog-fighting ring and is coming to with his friend's murder.
In a physically taxing performance that surely helped him land the starring role in Creed as well, Jordan shows tremendous athleticism in the early TV role that would later pay dividends in his work in the MCU (especially during those epic showdowns with T'Challa).
Samuel L. Jackson - Law & Order
Season 1, Episode 14
Two decades before donning the eyepatch as Nick Fury, Samuel L. Jackson played Defense Attorney Louis Taggert in "The Violence of Summer" during season 1 of the hit legal drama. As the defense attorney of the primary suspect in the episode, Taggert must prove that the alleged perpetrator is not responsible for raping a news reporter.
Given his long and extensive filmography, some MCU fans may not have realized Jackson's was in Law & Order since he appeared in only 1 episode (and happened early on in his career). However, it is interesting to see how vastly different his performance as Taggert and Fury are - especially in of mannerisms and attitude.
Sam Rockwell - Law & Order
Season 2, Episode 20, Season 3, Episode 21
Prior to playing Justin Hammer in Sam Rockwell played two forgotten roles on Law & Order in 1991 and 1992. In the latter episode "Manhood," Rockwell provides a difficult turn as Officer Weddeker, a homophobic police officer who failed to provide his partner the proper backup.
While Weddeker shares little in common with Hammer outside their wrongheaded villainy, Rockwell's diverse talent and fearlessness to play a wide range of unpredictable characters, both good and bad, are what makes him such a beloved actor. Hopefully, he returns to the MCU sometime in his career.
Emily VanCamp - Law & Order: SVU
Season 8, Episode 14
Seven years before depicting Sharon Carter in the MCU, movie and TV actor Emily VanCamp played a teenage suspect on the Law & Order: SVU season 8 episode "Dependent." VanCamp plays Charlotte Truex, a young teen who can't where she was the night someone broke into her house, killed her mother, and attacked her father.
A far cry from the Power Broker (aka Agent 13) in the Captain America movies, VanCamp's performance on SVU is just as commanding, convincing, and unpredictable as her work as Sharon Carter. VanCamp manages to keep viewers guessing about Charlotte's innocence/guilt right up to the final riveting moments, which is a testament to her talent.
Zoe Saldaña - Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU
Season 5, Episode 21 & Season 9, Episode 24
Law & Order SVU's season 5 episode "Criminal."
As Gabrielle, Saldana gives a heartfelt turn as the daughter of a man framed for the murder of a woman. When her father writes a suicide note, she returns to the SVU and gives an emotional plea to prevent something bad from happening. Just as Gamora tends to add to the pathos of the Guardians, Saldaña showed great emotional range in her early TV stint.
Chadwick Boseman - Law & Order
Season 14, Episode 16
A transcendent generational talent, it was easy to see how skilled Chadwick Boseman was after appearing on the Law & Order episode "Can I Get A Witness?", just the third screen credit of his brilliant career.
Unlike the heroic and benevolent King of Wakanda, Boseman played a terrifying drug dealer named Foster Keyes on Law & Order, a ruthless criminal who murders a boy in a park before targeting a pair of witnesses. The menacing performance proves the vast acting range Boseman had in his 20s before becoming a bona fide movie star a few short years later.
Mahershala Ali - Law & Order: SVU
Season 11, Episode 1
Prior to playing Eric Brooks (aka Blade in MCU's Eternals), the two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali starred in one of the most devastating episodes in Law & Order history. As Mark Foster in "Unstable," Ali plays a serial sex offender, who is responsible for crimes another man took the fall for and was imprisoned 25 years earlier.
Coldblooded, calculating, and more evil than ever before, Ali's unforgettable turn as Foster eclipses even Cottonmouth's brutality. But to make such a vile character truly loathsome requires excellent acting, and Ali shows in an early role why he has the onscreen command to play a character like Blade in the standalone MCU movie.
Bradley Cooper - Law & Order SVU & Trial By Jury
Season 1, Episode 11 & Season 6, Episode 20
Although he only voices Rocket, Bradley Cooper's comedic presence is felt all throughout the MCU. However, Cooper's 2005 Law & Order crossover appearance as Jason Whitaker in "Day" and "Night" is nowhere near as amusing, as he plays the attorney for a wealthy family accused of exploiting undocumented immigrants. Cooper costarred along with fellow MCU actor Alfred Molina in the two-part episode.
Considered one of the most talented actors and directors working in Hollywood, Cooper is set to return to the MCU alongside Zoe Saldaña for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on May 5, 2023, marking almost 18 years to the day since appearing on Law & Order. The mark of a great actor, both Jason and Rocket couldn't be further from each other yet are no less credible.
Idris Elba - Law & Order
Season 12, Episode 9
Way before he suited up as Heimdall in the Thor movies, Idris Elba stood out as Lonnie Liston in Law & Order's "3 Dawg Night" episode. As a nightclub owner who may or may not have witnessed a murder in his place, Liston keeps his cards close to the vest until the shocking finale.
Even in an early TV role, Elba is thoroughly believable in a managerial role of authority, something Heimdall demonstrates as well as the Asgardian gatekeeper who watches over the nine realms. Elba's other well-known character, The Wire's Stringer Bell, had those leadership qualities as well, which speak to the actor's onscreen gravitas and charisma that has only gotten stronger and more refined over time.