What started out as a little bonus mode in 2008’sCall of Duty: World at Warhas become a global phenomenon.Call of Duty‘sZombiesmodeis a staple of the franchise, with complex lore, a sprawling multiverse,varied maps, and numerous now-iconic original characters behind it. Not to mention, more than a few celebrity guests have gotten in on the zombie-killing action.
While the likes of Tank Dempsey (Steve Blum), Dr. Edward Richtofen (Nolan North), and Samantha Maxis (Julie Nathanson) have carried the mode from game to game, several notable pop culture favorites have briefly come along for the ride. Malcolm McDowell, Jeff Goldblum, the late Ray Liotta, and more have featured in the mode, and that’s just in Treyarch’s titles. Sledgehammer Games’Call of Duty: Advanced WarfareandCall of Duty: WWIIboast celebrity guest stars of their own.
While every celebrity cameo in theCall of Duty Zombieslineage has been fun, some are just a bit more special and noteworthy than others. Here are the top five best the Treyarch franchise has offered up to date.
5. Helena Bonham-Carter as Madame Mirela
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4‘sDead of the Nighttakes players to the manor of skilled archaeologist Alistair Rhodes (Charles Dennis), where all kinds of paranormal entities threaten the lives of those present. Alongside Gideon Jones (Kiefer Sutherland), Jonathan Warwick (Brian Blessed), and Godfrey (Charles Dance) is Christina Fowler, aka Madame Mirela, as portrayed in voice and likeness by Helena Bonham-Carter. She turns in a solid vocal performance here, and considering her entertainment track record, she was a perfect fit for theZombiesmode.
Bonham-Carter has made a career out of taking projects of the supernatural and macabre variety.Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,Corpse Bride,Alice in Wonderland, and more fill her filmography. She’s also among director Tim Burton’s most frequent collaborators, in addition to being his former romantic partner. Bonham-Carter took the role of Mirela seriously, too, tellingCinemaBlendthat she personally crafted Mirela’s accent and channeled Mrs. Lovett, herSweeney Toddcharacter, to get herDead of the Nightperformance just right.
4. Ron Perlman as Floyd Campbell
Kicking offCall of Duty: Black Ops III‘sZombiesmode, Treyarch put its latest celebrity-loaded map at the forefront.Shadows of Eviltakes place in the run-down, paranormal Morgue City, where seedy inhabitants do vile things to get ahead. One of these individuals is Floyd Campbell: a washed-up boxer who’s willing to kill if it means getting to the top of his profession. Ultimately, he pays the price for his underhanded tactics. Ron Perlman’s unmistakable face and rumbling voice couldn’t be more suitable for the grizzled journeyman fighter.
Much like Bonham-Carter, Perlman is no stranger to odd, paranormal fictional universes. He’s a mainstay in the works of director Guillermo del Toro, fromCronostoHellboy, where strange is the name of the game. The surreal French fantasy flickThe City of Lost Children, starring Perlman as carnival strongman One, also boasts a similar aesthetic toShadows of Evil. All of this experience, coupled with the fact that Perlman toldIGNhe’d always wanted to play a boxer in some form, drove home the fact that no one could play Campbell quite like him.
3. Joe Pantoliano as Al “The Weasel” Arlington
One of, if not the absolute bestZombiesmap to date,Call of Duty: Black Ops II‘sMob of the Deadfeatures four mobsters attempting to escape Alcatraz Island via a shoddily-built plane. Not only are they unsuccessful, but they’re trapped in a time loop, forcing them to fend off endless waves of zombies, die, and repeat their failure over and over again for eternity. The mastermind of their initial escape plan is Al “The Weasel” Arlington, modeled after and voiced by Joe Pantoliano to utter perfection.
In a cast chock-full of crime genre legends, Pantoliano very much stands out asMob of the Dead‘s MVP. TheSopranos,Matrix, andBad Boysactor was a prime choice to bring out Weasel’s meek and insecure yet innovative and intelligent personality. It’s just too bad that when the character returns inBlack Ops 4‘sBlood of the Dead, he only does so as a bird in spirit form, thus preventing Pantoliano from getting another shot at the role.
2. Danny Trejo as Himself
Call of the DeadfromCall of Duty: Black Ops Iis the firstCall of Duty Zombiesmap to feature a celebrity cast, and it goes all-out. When their horror film set is overrun, Robert Englund, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Michael Rooker have to fight off waves of zombies in the middle of Siberia. Danny Trejo joins them, signature machetes in hand, to slaughter the incoming undead. All four actors thrive with the material provided, but Trejo takes it to another level as only he can.
To say that theMacheteandFrom Dusk Till Dawnactor brings enthusiasm and gusto to the project would be a massive understatement. Trejo put his all into his lines, bringing a bit of comedy as well as plenty of badassery to match his tattooed, weaponed-up character model. The actor toldXboxViewTVall about his experience working onCall of the Deadback in 2011, and while he’s not much of a gamer himself, it’s abundantly clear that he had a ton of passion for the endeavor.
1. George A. Romero as Himself
Continuing on withCall of the Dead, it’s worth remembering who was directing the film that Trejo, Rooker, Englund, and Gellar were working on when they were ambushed by the undead. That person was none other than George A. Romero, who’s overpowered by zombies during the intro cutscene and turned into one himself. Throughout the game, he wanders the map with a stage light in hand and loads of one-liners. If you make Romero mad, he’ll fly into a rage, sprinting after you with his weapon of choice. All in all, there’s not a single soul more fitting to appear in aCall of Dutymap than him.
Romero is single-handedly responsible for crafting the modern image of a zombie through revolutionary films likeNight of the Living DeadandDawn of the Dead. Even years after his death in 2017, he continues to inspire the horror genre and those working within it.Zombiessimply wouldn’t exist without Romero, so it’s only right that the visionary director was included in what has become one of the mode’s most beloved maps.
For those unaware,Black Ops 4‘sTag Der Toten, aCall of the Deadreimagining, features Romero’s signature glasses sitting on a table. This is both a funCall of the DeadEaster egg and a tribute to the man who paved the way.
