These Are The Stars Behind Your Favourite Marvel Creatures

While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is home to a whole roster of actors easily recognizable for the superheroes and villains they play, others involved are a little less known. Underneath heavy makeup, prosthetics, and motion capture, many talented key players in the Marvel world are totally unrecognizable on-screen.

Characters such as tree-like alien "Groot" and anthropomorphic raccoon "Rocket" from Guardians of the Galaxy are brought to life by some of today's biggest stars. Thor: Ragnarok's "Korg" is even played by the Academy Award-winning director who helmed the film. Click through the slides to find out about the actors behind some of the MCU's most popular creatures!

"Groot," the fan-favourite tree alien first introduced into the MCU in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, is voiced by none other than Vin Diesel! But while the Fast & Furious star shares "Groot's" towering height, he has a more complex vocabulary than his character, who only communicates using the phrase "I am Groot."

"Groot's" sidekick, the scrappy talking raccoon "Rocket," gets his voice from Bradley Cooper! The actor known for starring in films like A Star is Born and The Hangover recorded his lines while wearing motion capture technology, and has reprised his character in several Marvel films.

"Ronan the Accuser" is a Kree alien who first appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy, and many might not realize that Lee Pace is the actor behind him! The Pushing Daisies star made his feature film debut in the role, and has since played "Ronan" in Captain Marvel.

"Talos" was one of the supporting characters in Captain Marvel, and the alien looks very different from his real-life counterpart! Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn took on the role, spending several hours in the makeup chair and wearing prosthetics to play the shapeshifting Skrull.

"Mantis" first showed up in the MCU in 2017's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, played by French actress Pom Klementieff. Since "Mantis" has mid-length brunette hair, a pair of antennae, and big, dark eyes, Klementieff looks very different from the empathic humanoid insect she plays!

"Malekith the Accursed" was the villain of 2013's Thor: The Dark World, and the actor who plays the leader of the Dark Elves is well-known for another popular genre franchise! Christopher Eccleston played the "Ninth Doctor" in British sci-fi series Doctor Who for the first series of the show's 2005 reboot.

"Thanos" is one of the most infamous villains in the MCU, and the "Mad Titan" is portrayed by Josh Brolin! The actor known for films like The Goonies and Deadpool first showed up in the end credits of 2012's The Avengers before having a significantly larger role in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

"Korg" rocked his way into the Marvel universe with Thor: Ragnarok in 2017, and he's actually given life by the film's director, Oscar winner Taika Waititi! Waititi instantly became a fan favourite as the Kronan, and is set to reprise his role in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, which he will also direct.

"Surtur" only makes a brief appearance in the MCU, featured in the opening scene of Thor: Ragnarok, and it's actor Clancy Brown who voices the fiery villain! Also known for voicing "Mr. Krabs" in SpongeBob SquarePants, Brown's 6-foot stature makes him an imposing presence on-screen— interestingly enough though, it is Waititi who performed the motion capture for the role!