Jenna Ortega was in a Marvel movie (and if you blinked you missed her)

By Chris Morgan | Last updated Mar 16, 2025 5:18 PM ET

Actors used to get subsumed into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When the Marvel machine needed you, it was difficult to have a career outside of doing superhero stuff. When it came to younger actors, like Brie Larson or Tom Holland, that could feel particularly frustrating. While Marvel has lost some of its stranglehold on American cinema, the MCU isn't going anywhere for now. If you were worried that Jenna Ortega might someday cede her time and energy to Marvel, fret not. She was actually already in a Marvel movie...sort of.

Ortega and Paul Rudd were lending their celebrity to promoting their upcoming film "Death of a Unicorn" on "Entertainment Tonight" when the interviewer said, "I’m hoping that we can get Jenna Ortega into the Marvel Universe." Which, first of all, that's some high-level "be careful what you wish for" stuff. After all this time, why would anybody feel excitement about getting a young actor into the Marvel machine? Does the interviewer have a slice of Ortega's residuals or something?

However, Ortega is then quick to point out that she, in fact, was once in a Marvel movie. "It was one of the first jobs I ever did. They took all my lines out. I’m in 'Iron Man 3' for a quick second," she clarified. Ortega evidently "plays" the daughter of the vice president in the film.

Rudd then does some bizarre water-carrying for Marvel, talking about how they are "very good" at "laying those bread crumbs" and thus Ortega could "very well" return to the MCU. Mercifully, Ortega shuts the idea down, saying she's moved on from Marvel. Unless, of course, Disney offers her the kind of money that makes a respected actor like Paul Rudd pledge fealty to the Marvel machine's three-dimensional chess.

(h/t The Hollywood Reporter)

Chris Morgan

Chris Morgan is a Detroit-based culture writer who has somehow managed to justify getting his BA in Film Studies. He has written about sports and entertainment across various internet platforms for years and is also the author of three books about '90s television.

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