Summary
Call of Dutyisn’t just an incredibly popular FPS game. It’s the tenth highest-grossing media franchise in history, outdoing IPs like Batman and Spider-Man. It’s massive, and with that huge size, celebrities are bound to appear in these titles.
Ever since Black Ops 1 in 2010, celebrities have appeared, likeness and all, adding some fun flair to the multiplayer modes. Eventually, even the campaign saw Hollywood stars, and in the present, the wackest out-there unfitting celebrities have been playable as Operators in Warzone. Some dislike this, but frankly, the wackier, the better.
These celebrity appearances have to include their likeness along with their voice, and as such, people like Gary Oldman will not count.
10Snoop Dogg: Vanguard
You’ll Play More Like A Lion On The Battlefield
No matter the entertainment branch, you just can’t seem to go wrong with Snoop Dogg. Whether he’s commentating in the WWE or appearing in games like GTA5 and Call of Duty, he’s always a treat on screen. Snoop Dogg technically first appeared as an announcer DLC pack for Ghosts but had his playable Operator debut in Vanguard.
Because Snoop is actually a gamer, this appearance fits quite well. When you rage quit in COD, you might as well pick a character that would do the exact same thing in real life. Just make sure youremember to unmute your livestream.
9Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson: Infinite Warfare
This Zombies DLC Will Make You Scared Stiff
One of the few female pop culture icons in horror would be Elvira. The iconic persona Cassandra Peterson is known for has existed since the 80s, and Elvira’s been in the gaming sphere more than you may think. There were two Elvira PC adventure games released in the 90s and a trilogy of Elvira pinball tables.
Both are stellar, and since Elvira would fit so well into the retro aesthetic of Infinite Warfare’s Zombies mode, putting her in is only natural. The Attack of the Radioactive Thing map is an homage to 50s B movies, a perfect match for the Mistress of the Dark. Like all the celebrities in Infinite Warfare’s Zombies, you can unlock her as a playable character, which is the icing on the cake.
8Conor McGregor: Infinite Warfare
The Perfect Secondary Villain
In the mid-2010s, Call of Duty put several notable actors or celebrities in the campaign. Thecharacters they played were often great, especially the villains. Infinite Warfare had Kit Harington from Game of Thrones fame as the lead bad guy, but like with most action flicks, there’s a secondary villain.
An example would be Dave Bautista from Spectre, and Infinite Warfare has its own TKO athlete with Conor McGregor, of all things. This was before he became the first UFC Double Champion as well, which makes his appearance even more surprising. The future Road House star played the secondary antagonist great, and the shock value, looking back, is what makes his appearance more notable than Kit’s.
7David Hasselhoff: Infinite Warfare
The Hoff Is Back
Infinite Warfare isa pretty underrated Call of Duty game, and a large reason for that is Zombies. Easily the best non-Treyarch Zombies mode, Infinite Warfare delivered great maps with an awesome retro feel. The starting map, Zombies in Spaceland, is a perfect example with its 80s flair, 80s music, retro Activision games, and one of the most 80s actors ever, David Hasselhoff.
Famous for Knight Rider and Baywatch, David Hasselhoff is synonymous with the 80s. Even when the 2004 SpongeBob SquarePants Movie released, David Hasselhoff was 80s personified, making him a perfect match for a guest appearance and unlockable character here.
6Nicki Minaj: Warzone
Leave Your Pinkprint On The World
The one celebrity that apparently crossed the line for certain diehard COD fans was Nicki Minaj. One of the first female rappers to see mainstream chart-topping success starting in the late 2000s, Nicki retains her loyal fanbase and relevance in rap music today.
The Queen of Rap adds a lot of fun to the multiplayer experience and is so wacky you just have to love it, especially Nicki’s voice lines. Those are incredibly fitting, along with the trademark pink color scheme she uses on most of her products.
521 Savage: Warzone
The Slaughter King Is Deadlier Than Ever
Another celebrity that appeared in Warzone was 21 Savage, the famed East Coast Grammy Award-winning rapper. Like Snoop Dogg, 21 Savage is a gamer, which makes him more fitting of an appearance here, but the devs put a lot of detail into his model.
Like wrestling games, his tattoos are all recreated here, and also similar to wrestling games, some aspects had to be legally changed. Akin to CM Punk with the Pepsi logo, 21 Savage’s Jason and Freddy tattoos were swapped out, but he’s still a sweet-looking Operator to play as.
4Lionel Messi: Warzone
An Incredibly Odd Athlete Pick
Call of Duty is a pretty violent game with its shooting, and for an athlete’s appearance, you would think Activision would get someone from a sport more on the rough side. Soccer or Football isn’t one of them.
For a sport that’s rather peaceful and gathers athletes from all over the world, seeing one of the best Soccer players, Lionel Messi, in full tactical gear is a sight to behold. Playing as the 2022 World Cup Best Player has to be a treat for Argentina Soccer fans, but for nearly everybody else, this appearance is a wacky oddity, so bizarre you have to love it.
3David Tennant: WW2
A Bright Spot In WW2’s Zombies Mode
Most people will agree that Call of Duty WW2 Zombies has to be one of the weaker Zombie modes in the franchise. One thing that definitely helped the experience was David Tennant as Drostan Hynd, one of the playable characters in most maps.
The fan-favorite Doctor Who actor fits really well here, considering the WW2 setting with his Scottish nationality. He’s quite enjoyable if you’re playing as him or if he’s in your group, and it does add a spark of that old-school Zombies charm that Sledgehammer didn’t quite execute in their previous Zombies mode in Advanced Warfare.
2Michael Madsen: Black Ops 2
One Actor That’ll Always Be Enjoyable Whether Intentional Or Unintentional
Coming from one ofthe most praised Call of Duty gamesin Black Ops 2 would be Michael Madsen appearing in the Mob of the Dead Zombies DLC pack. This actor has more ties to video games than you may think. He’s done quite a bit of voice work for games like Driver 3 and the infamous so-bad-it’s-good Crime Boss: Rockay City.
Not to mention, he starred in the Bloodrayne movie and was the funniest part of that entire flick. He cares so little that it turns his performance into a genuine work of art. All his video game ties make him a perfect match for a Zombies playable character. Unfortunately, besides a cameo in Black Ops 4, his character hasn’t appeared again, which is a shame but makes sense in regard to the Zombies storyline.
A Horror All-Star Lineup
Debatably, the best celebrity lineup in any Call of Duty comes from the very first one in Call of the Dead. As Black Ops Zombies is horror-themed, you get an all-star horror cast. The four playable characters are Danny Trejo, Robert Englund (the actor of Freddy Krueger), Michael Rooker from The Walking Dead, Sarah Michelle Gellar from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and to cap it off, the late-great George A. Romero as the director boss enemy that follows you around.
How can you do better than putting in the creator of modern-day zombies? you’re able to’t. The fun factor of these celebrities here is unrivaled and frankly needed becauseCall of the Dead is surprisingly difficult. It’ll take a while until you fully learn the map, which makes these appearances even more important.
