The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had to recast some of its actors, but aside from the Hulk and Rhodey/War Machine, none of these have been big or recurring characters. Others, however, weren’t exactly recast, but had the luck of being played by three different actors. The MCU began in 2008 with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, which paved the way for the rest of the heroes and established the basis for the Avengers and more.
Iron Man introduced the audience to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), head of Stark Industries whose life of excess and party changed drastically after being kidnapped and almost dying. Viewers got a look at Tony’s life and backstory, and learned that his parents died in a car accident when he was 21. His father, Howard Stark, is an important figure in the MCU as he’s one of the co-founders of S.H.I.E.L.D, and his first appearance in this connected universe was in a photograph in Iron Man’s first solo film.
Howard Stark appeared a couple more times in the MCU, not only in Iron Man films but in others as well, even jumping to the small screen in Agent Carter. However, the Howard Stark seen in Iron Man wasn’t the same in subsequent films and series.
The Three Actors Who Played Howard Stark
At the beginning of Iron Man, a slideshow gives viewers a summary of Tony Stark’s life, obviously including his parents’ death. The Howard Stark briefly seen in that presentation is played by Gerald Sanders. The character was later played by John Slattery in Iron Man 2, appearing in a recorded message left for his son. A year later, Dominic Cooper portrayed a younger Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger, where viewers learned he was involved in the Super Soldier Project that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America. Cooper reprised his role in the Marvel One-Shot Agent Carter and later in the series of the same name. He also appeared on the big screen once more in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, though only as a photograph in a newspaper.
Slattery played the role again in Ant-Man during a flashback scene in which he witnessed Han Pym resigning from S.H.I.E.L.D. after finding out they were trying to replicate the Pym Particles without consent. He appeared once more in Captain America: Civil War, where it was revealed that the Winter Soldier was behind the murder of Howard and Maria Stark, and it wasn’t a car accident at all. Lastly, Slattery appeared as Howard Stark one more time in Avengers: Endgame, when Captain America and Tony Stark went back to the 1970s to retrieve the Tesseract and more Pym Particles. This last appearance was the most emotional and significant one as it brought closure to Tony’s fragile relationship with his father, and he had the chance to thank him for everything.