Billionaire Elon Musk, whose takeover of Twitter for $44 billion finally came through on Monday after weeks of speculation, is a celebrity in his own right. Over the past decade or so, Musk has cashed in on his own image by appearing in a series of cameos in films and television shows, mostly as himself or an exaggerated version of himself.
And thus was born a quick cameo in Iron Man 2, in which Musk has a chat with Stark about private jets at the Monaco Grand Prix. Favreau also revealed that parts of Iron Man 2 were filmed at SpaceX.
But over the years, as Musk became a more prominent face even outside tech circles, his presence grew. Predictably, he has appeared as himself on both The Simpsons and South Park–both animated shows are known for celebrity cameos. Musk also played an alternate reality version of himself, Elon Tusk, complete with tusks in his mouth and a automobile company called Tuskla at his disposal.
It was one of Musk’s SpaceX rockets that sent Danny Trejo’s Machete into outer space in director Robert Rodriguez’s over-the-top exploitation film Machete Kills. Musk has also appeared in both The Big Bang Theory and its spinoff, Young Sheldon. In the popular sitcom, he plays himself in a season nine episode, in which he meets Howard Wolowitz while cleaning dishes at a shelter. In Young Sheldon, it is revealed that he arrived at a major scientific breakthrough after coming across Sheldon’s childhood notebook.
Musk made a brief appearance in the 2016 comedy Why Him? in which he met with Bryan Cranston’s lead character. Musk is also one of the producers of the movie. Additionally, he appeared in an uncredited cameo in Men in Black: International.
