17 pairs of Marvel stars who dated or got married in real life

Little is known about their relationship, but Downey Jr. and Tomei starred in two movies released in the '90s: "Chaplin" (1992) and "Only You" (1994).

Downey made his first appearance as the Marvel billionaire and philanthropist in 2008's "Iron Man." He reprised the role for a slew of MCU films, including the "Avengers" movies and Tom Holland's first standalone "Spider-Man" movie released in 2017.

Meanwhile, Tomei first portrayed Peter Parker's aunt in the 2016 film "Captain America: Civil War."

In 2017, the actress told The Observer that Downey Jr. recommended her for the role.

"Having a familiar face around certainly made me more comfortable," she said of appearing in "Civil War."

Affleck portrayed lawyer-turned-vigilante Matt Murdock/Daredevil in the 2003 Marvel movie "Daredevil."

Paltrow made her MCU debut as Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's assistant, in the 2008 film "Iron Man."

Affleck and Paltrow met following her split from Brad Pitt, at a dinner hosted by Miramax cofounder Harvey Weinstein.

"Harvey Weinstein, at the time, was trying to put all of his people in all of the movies," Paltrow told Howard Stern during a 2015 interview.

Affleck and Paltrow would go on to star as Ned Alleyn and Viola De Lesseps, respectively, in the 1998 movie "Shakespeare in Love." Two years later, they starred as love interests in the rom-com "Bounce."

The stars dated from 1997 to 2000, according to Us Weekly.

Paltrow told Stern that her parents "appreciated" Affleck's intelligence, talent, and humor, but "he was not in a good place in his life to have a girlfriend."

"I think they were OK with the two of us not being together," she said.

During another interview with Stern in 2018, Paltrow said that her relationship with the actor was "very much a lesson."

The first installment, starring Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, was released in May 2002. They had a short-lived relationship in 2001 while filming.

Maguire and Dunst reprised their roles for two "Spider-Man" sequels released in 2004 and 2007.

"I actually had some worries about that," Raimi told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007 of the actors working together after splitting.

"They apparently began dating with each other, I think, in the middle of the first movie ... although I didn't know it at the time," he said. "They eventually broke up before the second movie. I was concerned they wouldn't get the same chemistry back, but it was just me worrying."

Evans has portrayed two Marvel characters: Johnny Storm/Human Torch in the original "Fantastic Four" franchise (released in 2005 and 2007) followed by Steve Rogers/Captain America in the MCU. Biel starred as Abigail Whistler in the 2004 Marvel movie "Blade: Trinity."

The two actors dated from 2001 to 2005. During that time, they costarred in two films: "Cellular" (2004) and "London" (2005).

Specific details about their relationship are unknown, like how they met or what caused their breakup, but the actors did divulge some information about their romance during interviews.

In a 2005 interview with Cosmopolitan, Biel said that Evans surprised her for her 21st birthday by picking petals off "at least 24 roses in all different colors" and scattering them around her room to see when she woke up.

She called him "a keeper" and told the publication that they "always" talk about marriage.

"We both want to be married, and we both want to have children," she said.

Long after breaking up, Evans revealed to Esquire in 2017 that the former couple went sky-diving for Valentine's Day one year.

According to People, Gyllenhaal (Quentin Beck/Mysterio in "Spider-Man: Far From Home") and Dunst (MJ in Raimi's trilogy) were set up through his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal. Dunst and Maggie costarred in the 2003 film "Mona Lisa Smile."

During their relationship, Gyllenhaal and Dunst adopted a German Shepherd named Atticus and moved in together.

They were also photographed together at basketball games, movie premieres, parties, and the streets of NYC, packing on the PDA.

A specific paparazzi photo of the couple dining in London in July 2003, with Gyllenhaal staring at Dunst as she ate a salad with her fingers instead of a fork, went viral and remains one of the most memorable aspects of their romance.

In July 2004, Gyllenhaal's rep, Stephen Huvane, told People that the actors split.

"Kirsten and Jake remain the best of friends," Huvane said. "Details regarding when and why their romantic relationship stopped are not being provided, but suffice it to say it happened some time ago. They are still very close."

"Everwood" ran for four seasons on The CW, then known as The WB, between 2002 and 2006. Pratt and VanCamp, who played Bright and Amy Abbott, reportedly dated from 2004 to 2006.

Pratt spoke about their relationship during a 2006 interview with TV Guide, saying that the pair got used to people calling their real-live romance "creepy" because they act as siblings in the show.

"The people who know us are happy, and probably expected it to happen eventually," he said. "But yeah, every once in a while we get that one person that's like, 'That's really creepy. You just kissed your sister.'"

"It never really weirded us out that we played brother and sister, because, you know, it's all fiction," he added.

Pratt said that he and VanCamp tried to keep their relationship under wraps at first and they attempted to "stay as professional as possible" on set.

"We tried to hide it from everyone that wasn't dear and close to us, and then eventually it just felt very good to kind of just come out with our relationship," he explained. "'Ah, fuck it. We're together. We love each other, and if you don't like it, you can kiss our ass — our collective brother and sister kissin' ass.'"

Pratt has portrayed Marvel's Peter Quill/Star-Lord since the 2014 film "Guardians of the Galaxy" and will return in "Thor: Love and Thunder."

VanCamp played Sharon Carter in 2016's "Captain America: Civil War" and reprised the role for the Disney+ series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier."

Affleck and Garner portrayed love interests Daredevil and Elektra, respectively, in 2003's "Daredevil." But prior to that, they costarred in the 2001 movie "Pearl Harbor."

In a 2017 interview with Playboy, Affleck said that the stars "fell in love on 'Daredevil.'"

"By the way, she won most of the fights in the movie, which was a pretty good predictor of what would happen down the road — my wife, holding swords and beating the living shit out of me," he said.

Affleck and the "Alias" star got married in Turks and Caicos in June 2005 and welcomed their first child, daughter Violet, in December of that year.

Garner gave birth to two more children with Affleck, daughter Seraphina in 2009 and son Samuel in 2012.

The couple announced their split in June 2015.

"After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce," they shared in a joint statement to People. "We go forward with love and friendship for one another and a commitment to co-parenting our children whose privacy we ask to be respected during this difficult time."

Gyllenhaal and Portman reportedly went on a few dates in 2002 before dating for a short period of time in 2006. Then they costarred in the 2009 war drama "Brothers."

After their split, the two stars remained amicable and Gyllenhaal presented Portman with the Desert Palm Achievement Award in January 2011.

During his speech, Gyllenhaal cracked a few jokes and called her "the Audrey Hepburn of our generation."

"She's graceful, has amazing eyebrows, and is talented, really short, funny, smart, dedicated, incredibly kind, and Jewish!" he said, per Us Weekly.

Portman joined the MCU as Jane Foster, an astrophysicist in the 2011 movie "Thor." She's set to reprise the role in "Thor: Love and Thunder," in theaters on July 8.

Gyllenhaal starred as the villain Quentin Beck/Mysterio in 2019's "Spider-Man: Far From Home."

Reynolds and Johansson went public with their relationship in April 2007, per E! News.

Their engagement was confirmed in May 2008 and the couple wed in September of that year in Reynolds' home country of Canada. Johansson was 23 at the time and Reynolds was 31.

"I never really thought about getting married — it just kind of happened," Johansson said of getting married at a young age in an interview with Glamour in 2009. "It seemed natural, the right thing to do. It was kind of a celebration of the time."

Reynolds also spoke about their relationship in a 2010 interview with GQ, saying: "Things change when you get married in general."

The actor said that being a couple in the public eye made him "a little more guarded."

"I'm a little bit more wary of having my relationship turning into a soap opera," he said.

Reynolds and Johansson announced their split in December 2010.

"After long and careful consideration on both our parts, we've decided to end our marriage," Reynolds' rep said in a statement shared by E! News. "We entered our relationship with love and it's with love and kindness we leave it."

The actor spoke about the end of their relationship during a 2011 interview with Details.

"Anyone who gets divorced goes through a lot of pain, but you come out of it," Reynolds said. "I'm not out of it yet. At all. But I sense that as I do come through it, there's optimism. How can there not be?"

Years later, in a 2019 cover story for Vanity Fair, Johansson said that she "didn't really have an understanding of marriage" when she tied the knot at 23.

"Maybe I kind of romanticized it, I think, in a way," she said.

Cooper and Saldana played a couple in the 2012 movie "The Words."

In December 2011, E! News reported that the two stars were dating. Three months later, the publication reported that they split.

Cooper and Saldana reportedly got back together but split permanently shortly before the holidays in 2012.

Since then, Saldana has starred as Gamora and Cooper has voiced the raccoon named Rocket in the MCU. Both characters made their debuts in the 2014 Marvel movie "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Hoult and Lawrence portrayed love interests Hank McCoy/Beast and Raven/Mystique, respectively, in the film.

Their real-life romance was confirmed by JustJared.com in January 2011, four months before "First Class" hit theaters.

In a 2012 interview with British Vogue, Lawrence described Hoult as a humbler person who "has absolutely no idea how good-looking he is."

"I think a lot of women and men hate me because of that," she said.

Lawrence and Hoult's reported split was revealed in January 2013 but they got back together a few months later. By August 2014, they ended their relationship for good. Post-breakup, the actors continued to work together in three "X-Men" movies released between 2014 and 2019.

They remained amicable, with Lawrence telling Marc Maron in 2018 that she's "friends with all my exes."

"Nick was a great boyfriend," she said.

Lawrence also spoke about the breakup during an interview with Diane Sawyer in 2015.

"These movies had been my life for so long and they had to come first in everything," she said of the "X-Men" franchise. "I was also in a relationship with somebody for five years and that was my life."

She continued: "My life was this person and these movies and we broke up around the same time that I wrapped those movies. Being 24 was this whole year of 'Who am I without these movies? Who am I without this man?'"

Garfield starred as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Stone portrayed Gwen Stacy in two "Amazing Spider-Man" movies released in 2012 and 2014.

Garfield told MTV News in 2012 that he was "so happy" when Stone was cast.

"Those are the days I'd look forward to, you know? For Peter as well, because Peter goes through some horrible stuff in the movie. There's some joy to be had when experiencing his first love," he said.

In a Teen Vogue interview that year, Garfield vividly recalled his first interaction with Stone.

"It was like I woke up when she came in," the actor said, describing it as "diving into white-water rapids and having no desire to hang on to the side."

"Throughout shooting, it was wild and exciting. I couldn't help but try to stay with her, keep pace with her, and not let her get away," Garfield added.

Stone and Garfield split in 2015.

Since then, Garfield has continued to voice support for Stone, telling Vanity Fair in 2017: "We care about each other so much, and that's a given, that's kind of this unconditional thing."

"I'm her biggest fan as an artist," he said later.

Connelly was actually Bettany's childhood crush and the couple later met through their roles in the 2001 film "A Beautiful Mind."

"I remember seeing her across the table at the read-through and just thinking, 'I've never been this close to somebody that beautiful before," Bettany told Entertainment Tonight in 2015.

Bettany told Larry King in 2015 that 9/11 caused a shift and made him realize he was in love with her, despite not dating.

The actor recalled being in Tuscany at the time and watching the second plane hit the second tower in New York City.

"Like so many people's lives in that moment, mine was changed forever," he said. "I spent two days trying to call this woman that I sort of barely knew."

He continued: "I remember very clearly thinking to myself, 'What are you doing?' I realized I was in love. So I finally got her on the phone and said 'I'm coming over, and let's get married.' And that's really what happened. We had never dated."

The couple got married in January 2003 and welcomed their first child together, a son named Stellan, later that year. Connelly gave birth to their second baby, a daughter named Agnes, in 2011.

Bettany's Marvel journey began when he voiced Tony Stark's AI named J.A.R.V.I.S. in "Iron Man." Bettany reprised the voice role for a few more MCU films. Then he started playing Vision, a synthezoid constructed partly from the remains of J.A.R.V.I.S., in 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

Connelly portrayed Betty Ross in the 2003 "Hulk" movie that starred Eric Bana as the titular character. In 2017's "Spider-Man: Homecoming," she provided the voice for Peter Parker's Spider-Man suit, which he dubbed Karen.

Rockwell played a nefarious military contractor named Justin Hammer and Bibb portrayed a journalist named Christine Everhart in 2010's "Iron Man 2."

The couple met in the lobby of the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, California, in October 2007. Bibb was there to have dinner with some friends and he was staying at the hotel while filming "Frost/Nixon."

Bibb told Rosie O'Donnell in 2012 that she was "struck" by him. The actors went on a date a week after, with Bibb not having high expectations.

"I think three weeks later, I was, like, 'I love you so much,'" she said.

Since then, Rockwell and Bibb have costarred in the films "Don Verdean" (2015) and "The Dark of Night" (2017). They've also accompanied each other to awards shows and Rockwell has given Bibb shout-outs in his acceptance speeches.

In a 2018 interview with Us Weekly, Rockwell said that they "have a two to three-week rule" regarding how much time they spend apart.

That year, on the red carpet at the 2018 Screen Actors Guild Awards the couple told then-E! News host Giuliana Rancic that communication, good sex, and "a healthy sense of humor" were the keys to keeping their relationship strong.

Cooper portrayed young Howard Stark in 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger" and Chan has played two Marvel characters: Minn-Erva in "Captain Marvel" (2019) and Sersi in "Eternals" (2021).

It's unclear when they began dating, but the two actors costarred in the 2017 movie "Stratton." They were first romantically linked in the summer of 2018 when they were spotted on a trip together in Formentera, Spain.

They made their first public appearance together as a couple at an after-party for the British Fashion Awards in December 2018.

Little is known about their relationship because the actors don't comment on it, but they have posted photos with each other on Instagram. Cooper and Chan also attended the 2021 Met Gala together. According to Vogue, they share a home together in London.

Holland and Zendaya met through their roles as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and MJ, respectively, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

They first costarred in the 2017 movie "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and have since appeared together in two more standalone Spidey sequels, "Spider-Man: Far from Home" (2019) and "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (2021).

For years, Holland and Zendaya denied dating rumors and insisted that they were platonic.

But in July 2021, the stars were photographed kissing in an Audi driven by Holland. Additional photos posted by Page Six showed Holland and Zendaya walking out of a home with her mom, Claire Stoermer.

The following month, Holland and Zendaya were photographed attending the wedding of a friend named Josh Florez in Simi Valley, California.

Holland went on to speak publicly about their relationship in a cover story for GQ's Men of the Year issue, released in November 2021.

The "Uncharted" star said that he and Zendaya "sort of felt robbed of our privacy" when the paparazzi took photos of them in July and released them.

"One of the downsides of our fame is that privacy isn't really in our control anymore, and a moment that you think is between two people that love each other very much is now a moment that is shared with the entire world," he told GQ.

Zendaya shared similar comments, telling the publication: "I think loving someone is a sacred thing and a special thing and something that you want to deal with and go through and experience and enjoy amongst the two people that love each other."

The two actors previously starred in the West End production of Harold Pinter's "Betrayal" from March to June 2019 alongside Charlie Cox. Later that year, the three actors reprised their roles for the Broadway run of "Betrayal."

In September 2019, The Sun reported that Hiddleston and Ashton had been dating since February of that year.

In mid-September 2021, the stars were seen showing PDA while at a beach in Ibiza, Spain.

The couple made their relationship red-carpet official shortly after at the Tony Awards in New York City.

The engagement was confirmed by People in March 2022, after Ashton was seen with a ring on her left hand while attending the 2022 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) with Hiddleston.

Hiddleston has portrayed Loki, the God of Mischief, in the MCU since 2011's "Thor" and will reprise the role for the upcoming second season of "Loki" on Disney+. Ashton will reportedly play a villain in the "Captain Marvel" sequel titled "The Marvels," in theaters on February 17, 2023.