When it comes to
idolizing film stars, comic book movie fans rank right up there with the
screaming throngs of Twihards and Beliebers. This observation must not
be lost on the stars of some of Marvel's biggest properties, as they
often go out of their way to return the adoration. This doesn't just
mean showing up to Comic-Con, doing the panel, then signing autographs.
These on-screen heroes sometimes make a super-effort to surprise and
delight fans of all ages. Here's a list of the times Marvel stars
quietly earned their capes and tights.
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| Chris Pratt |
When Chris Pratt Surprised The Patients At Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Since becoming the star of Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World,
Chris Pratt seems determined to prove his mettle not only as an action
hero, but also as just a decent human being. He constantly surprises
fans, sometimes showing up in-character to visit infirmed kids who can't
make it to the theater to see his films—which is exactly what he did
for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dressed in his "Star-Lord" costume
from GotG, Pratt staged a special screening of the film, then
spent hours visiting patients and taking pictures. He later admitted to
stealing the costume from the wardrobe department to make this
happen...typical Star-Lord move. Pratt doesn't bring the press along and
he doesn't shamelessly self-promote the events. He just does a great
thing for the sake of doing it, like any real-life hero would.
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| Chris Evans |
When Chris Evans Went Out Of His Way To Thank A Young Fan
When a young fan knew he
wouldn't be able to visit Chris Evans on a location shoot, he sat down
and made a special card for his favorite Fantastic Four
character, which he then gave to someone who lived close to the set.
Fortunately, the card made its way to the right security guard, who got
it to Evans, who then returned the nice gesture with a photo of himself,
a thank you card, and signed Blu-Rays of his movies. That's such a
classy way to acknowledge a young fan, that it almost makes up for Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Almost.
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| Robert Downey Jr |
When Robert Downey Jr. Healed A Boo-Boo With A Tweet
When Aidan Ellis' mom
tweeted at Robert Downey Jr. to ask if he could cheer up her son who
bruised his face while horsing around with his brother, we're pretty
sure she never expected Tony Stark himself to respond with the perfect
remedy. But that's exactly what happened when RDJ tweeted back,
suggesting some ice and giving one young boy some serious bragging
rights. "Oh, how'd I get this bruise? I don't remember, but IRON MAN HELPED ME HEAL IT!" Also, this all went down about one week before the worldwide release of Avengers: Age of Ultron,
meaning RDJ took the time out of what surely was a maniacally busy
promotional schedule to reach out to a fan.
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| Mark Ruffalo |
When Mark Ruffalo Gave A Nervous Fan A First Impression Do-Over
This one's not such a secret, as it played out on The Graham Norton Show,
but it was the result of Mark Ruffalo being such a nice guy that he
agreed to have a phone call with a rabid fan when the fan's sister
spotted him at the airport—a gracious gesture that surely nobody knew
about. The fan, Jared, felt the call didn't go as well as he wanted, so
he scripted out his ideal vision for the conversation, which Ruffalo and
Norton acted out on live TV. Ruffalo fully committed to comically
self-flagellating bit, which included the line, "Bro, if you were gay,
I'd make out with you." So, not only did the Hulk have the patience in
real life—at the airport of all places—to make time for a phone call
with a fan, but was willing to give him a second chance, while
simultaneously showing off the guy's writing chops on live TV.
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| Anthony Mackie And Sebastian Stan |
When Anthony Mackie And Sebastian Stan Surprised A Theater Full Of Kids
When Marvel staged a screening of Captain America: The Winter Soldier
for the children of U.S. military members, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian
Stan, who play Falcon and Winter Soldier, respectively, decided to put
the experience over-the-top by sneaking in at the end and surprising the
unsuspecting crowd. They also took the time to pose for pictures and
record special video messages that would get sent to the kids' parents
who are all currently deployed all over the globe. That means not only
did the kids get the experience of meeting some of their biggest heroes,
but some very deserving servicemen and women got some peace of mind
knowing that even though they're away from home, their families are
being taken care of. That's a double whammy of awesome, especially
considering these guys are on-screen enemies.
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| Paul Rudd |
When Paul Rudd Also Crashed A Theater For Charity
Not to be outdone by his Captain America predecessors, Paul Rudd, who plays the lead in Ant-Man,
did a little theater-crashing of his own during a special screening for
300 participants from the Big Brothers Big Sisters and the SAY (The
Stuttering Association For The Young) programs. According to the New York Daily News,
Rudd has volunteered for SAY for over ten years, so he actually
recognized a lot of the kids in the audience. He even spent extra time
with one kid, calling him his "official sidekick" for the day, an
experience we're sure that kid won't soon forget. While Ant-Man's
super power may be his shrinking ability, there's nothing small about
the main star's real-life heart.
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| Tom Hiddleston |
When Tom Hiddleston Took His Off-Screen Kindness To Another Level
Ironically, the villain from the Thor movies and the first Avengers
flick is probably the nicest person in real life out of the entire
cast. Tom Hiddleston, who plays an evil demi-god, is such a class-act
there's actually a meme called "Nice Guy Tom Hiddleston," which is just a
close up picture of his smiling face with customizable texts describing
random acts of kindness. That meme is the result of countless stories
of Tom being amazingly nice and generous with fans by tweeting himself
singing songs of their choice, snapping endless selfies, and even
singing happy birthday to a fan at an autograph signing. And like most
celebrities, Tom also does charity work, but takes his involvement—in
this case with UNICEF—to a whole other level. After traveling to Guinea
to raise awareness for poverty, Tom decided to take the five-day "Live
Below the Line" challenge in which he lived off of less than £1 per day
for all of his food and water needs. He committed to the experiment,
with video and blog posts in which his genuine concern is apparent.
Signing autographs and making hospital visits is one thing, but actually
attempting to empathetically experience what some of your less
fortunate fans have to live through day in and day out takes an
exceptional level of dedication. Nice work, Loki.
Zerg
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