- Even with prior knowledge that it would be a Roger Rabbit-esque crossover fest, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022) still features a ton of cameos found to be particularly out of left field. Next to tons of Disney-characters (who are at least halfy expected in a thing like this) is even Randy of the family-unfriendly cartoon series South Park. Most notably, a character with significant plot-relevance is Sonic the Hedgehog...in his much-reviled initial design for Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). Also, the villain of the movie is a grown-up version of Peter Pan who has become a criminal kidnapping cartoon characters.
- Kamen Rider:
- The crossover film Heisei Rider vs. Showa Rider: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai has been dropping jaws with various returning characters. Shoutaro and Tsukasa? Awesome. Takumi? Wow, that's even better. Kusaka? But... how...? Keisuke Jin?! Holy... Freaking Takeshi Hongo?! This is gonna be the best movie ever!
- The film following that, Super Hero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider #3, introduces the titular Kamen Rider #3, who is in no way shape or form Kamen Rider V3 - instead, he was a Rider introduced in a story written by Shotaro Ishinomori back in 1972 and never had an appearance elsewhere.
- The 2017 Taisen film, Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Chou Super Hero Taisen had a few, but the most notable were Shuichi Kitaoka, who hasn't been seen in a long time and is the second returning Ryuki character in 2017 after his Arch-Enemy Takeshi Asakura showed up in a Kamen Rider Ex-Aid special, and the Amazons Riders, who originate from an adult-focused spinoff and included Amazon Neo from the then-upcoming Season Two.
- Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid & Ghost with Legendary Riders has, like the title reveals, the video game character Pac-Man. Before you ask, yes, THAT Pac-Man.
- Kamen Rider Zi-O: Over Quartzer had quite a few unexpected faces. Kamen Rider G, Zangetsu Kachidoki Arms, Kamen Rider Brain, the Goriders, and even Kamen Norider show up towards the end.
- While it was clear from the beginning that The Mummy (2017) was intended to start the Dark Universe, a Shared Universe involving classical Universal monsters, the inclusion of Dr. Jekyll as an actual character was still a surprise - especially as Jeckyll (and Hyde) was never part of the classic Universal line-up to begin with.
- Six members of the Green Bay Packers pop up at the a capella riff-off in Pitch Perfect 2, appearing as themselves.
- Scooby-Doo features Scrappy-Doo of all creatures as the Big Bad. He was kept hidden from marketing.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) opens with one, as all things pointed out to just using Sonic and Robotnik from the games, yet turns out the hedgehog's backstory involved the Echidnas! And The Stinger brings up Sonic's friend Tails out of nowhere (both the movie and its promotion never had any hint of this, and even the more credible Content Leaks managed to miss the fox), making for a great Sequel Hook.
- Sony's Spider-Man Universe: The concept of a cinematic universe full of Spider-Man characters without Spider-Man seems a bit odd as a whole to begin with, but while Venom and Morbius are based on beloved anti-heroes with their own comic series and fanbase, the further plans include more obscure characters like Madame Web, El Muerto (who actually only appeared in two issues of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man) and obscure villain Hypno-Hustler. Probably no one would have thought that these characters would get their own live-action adaptations.
- Madame Web (2024):
- While Spider-Woman appearing in the film was a given, nobody expected all of them (with the exception of Jessica Drew, who's off-limits so she can appear in her own solo movie), including Araña/Spider-Girl, to appear in the same film. Mattie Franklin is a particular surprise considering the character has been dead for quite some time in the comics.
- The film's villain, Ezekiel Sims, is just as much a surprise given he isn't as famous compared to a lot of other Spider-Man villains, and is also deceased in the main comics. While some people may remember him as the 2000s were considered a popular boon time for Spider-Man in both film and comics, it's unlikely a lot of people were expecting him to ever make the transition to a cinematic villain since he was only prominent for one particular totem-based arc in the comics and hasn't made any major waves since then.
- Madame Web (2024):
- Prior to the trailer's release, there was next to no indication that Space Jam: A New Legacy was an All-Star Cast Crisis Crossover with all of Warner Bros. properties rather than just the Looney Tunes. Or worse, they would even showcase family-unfriendly things, such as the Droogs, the War Boys, the White Walkers, Jason Voorhees, Rick and Morty, Pennywise and in a case that borders on Refuge in Audacity by the filmmakers, Sister Jeanne
from The Devils, a highly controversial 1971 drama that Warner notably keeps unavailable whenever possible. - Star Trek Into Darkness includes both Carol Marcus and Khan Noonien Singh as major supporting characters, but it introduces both of them under fake names ("Carol Wallace" and "John Harrison", respectively) to hide their identities from savvy Trekkies who would already know them. Given that the film takes place in an Alternate Universe version of the Original Series era, most fans could deduce that both characters would be around somewhere, but the revelation of their identities is significant because it suddenly makes it clear that the film is really a loose What If? retelling of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
- Star Wars:
- Rogue One is a direct prequel to A New Hope, so it shouldn't come as a shock that Grand Moff Tarkin, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, her adoptive father Bail Organa (with the same actor as in the prequels!), and R2-D2 and C-3PO all make brief cameos. But absolutely no one expected Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor to run into Doctor Evazan and Ponda Baba on Jedha. It's a very brief moment, but it's likely to catch most Star Wars fans off guard.
- Solo has both a few obscure characters (Tag and Bink, Warwick Davis's character from The Phantom Menace) and Darth Maul as the true boss of Emilia Clarke's character. The last one is especially surprising even to fans who already knew Maul was still alive at this point in time, as not only did Solo not seem like the type of movie he'd be in, it didn't seem likely he'd be included in any new films due to potential Continuity Lockout with more casual Star Wars fans.
- The Rise of Skywalker: The first teaser ends with the distinctive Evil Laugh of Emperor Palpatine, who, in-universe, has been dead for decades. And then, at the Star Wars Celebration 2019 panel where the teaser was revealed, Ian McDiarmid came out on stage immediately afterwards and demanded the teaser be played again, suggesting that the character is more important to the movie than just being a simple Call-Back. This was further emphasized by said character's presence as an Evil Overlooker in the first proper poster.
- Super Sentai:
- Bio Hunter Silva, a villain introduced late into Choudenshi Bioman, completely faded into obscurity after the series ended its run. However, around 30 years later, he was added to the roster of a Super Sentai Legion of Doom during Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen, and had something of a major role as well..
- In Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger the Movie: The Flying Ghost Ship, one of the villains brought in is Baseball Mask, a simple Monster of the Week from Himitsu Sentai Gorenger.
- Many fans were shocked when it was revealed that Kamen Rider × Super Sentai × Space Sheriff: Super Hero Taisen Z would also feature other Metal Heroes outside of the three Space Sheriffs.
- After Gokaiger Goseiger Super Sentai 199 Hero Great Battle, people thought there wouldn't be a crossover movie, because they just had it early on. Cue Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie, which brought back the Metal Hero franchise by bringing back Gavan!
- The later Super Sentai team up movies did this. Kaoru Shiba showed up for Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters vs. Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger: The Movie, and the Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger and Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger teams show up in the crossover movie between Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger and Tokumei Sentai Go Busters.
- Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger vs. Lupinranger vs. Patranger gives us three unexpected characters — Cure Yell, Cure Star and Cure Grace, marking the first live action encounter between Super Sentai and Pretty Cure.
- It's been confirmed that James Gunn's Superman is going to feature Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, Metamorpho, and Mister Terrific alongside the Big Blue Boy Scout himself. While it's currently unknown how prominent their roles are going to be, it's safe to say that no one expected to see those characters in a solo Superman film, let alone in one of the first installments of a brand new DC Comics film continuity. Even more surprising, it was later announced that one of the movie's antagonist will be The Engineer (played by María Gabriela De Faría) who is a member of The Authority in the comics, a group that is announced to get it's own movie in Gunn's take on the DC Universe.
- Vernon suddenly shows up in a supporting role in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014). He hasn't been seen or mentioned since the 80s version (and wasn't even included in 1990 movie where April likewise was a reporter) and thought long forgotten, so it was a surprise to longtime fans.
- Sure, War for the Planet of the Apes was the closer on a trilogy reinventing the franchise. But it was a big surprise that the young girl that shows ends up as a version of Nova (only a Cute Mute instead of a Nubile Savage).
- Zombieland: The extended cameo of Bill Murray As Himself comes out of nowhere and was kept a secret until the release of the film.
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