Hollywood is full of nepotism, and that goes double for the Marvel multiverse. Casting a relative of a pre-established star in another MCU role is as much of a trope of the franchise as superpowers, big third act battles, and sub-Downey quippery.
Not to denigrate the immense talent of the actors in question, but it’s probably not a total coincidence that, say, The Marvels villain Zawe Ashton is the IRL partner of Tom Hiddleston or that Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s Jennifer Connelly is the wife of Paul Bettany. And nobody’s buying that Chris Hemsworth is nothing to do with his brother, Luke, wife, Elsa Pataky, and daughter, India, all having cameos in the Thor movies.
The latest high-profile Marvel casting is Julia Garner, star of Ozark and Inventing Anna, as a female version of Silver Surfer in The Fantastic Four. But is Julia Garner related to Jennifer Garner, star of Daredevil, Elektra, and the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine?
Do Julia Garner and Jennifer Garner share a familial connection?
Guess what? No, there is no familiar connection between Julia and Jennifer Garner. At least, not any that we are aware of. Who knows, maybe something will come out in the wash on the day that Jennifer does a Finding Your Roots episode but until then we can say that the two Garners are not relatives. People can just have the same surname, people!
As it happens, the two Garners don’t have too much in common apart from their surnames and first initials. While Jennifer is a 51-year-old from Houston, Texas, Julia is 30 years old and hails from Riverdale in The Bronx. So far the pair have yet to work together, but this could theoretically change soon now that they are both active in the MCU. Maybe they could feature in a cameo in 2027’s multiversal extravaganza Avengers: Secret Wars?