Over the weekend, Marvel Studios released their latest film, Deadpool & Wolverine, worldwide. Currently, the film sits around 80% on Rotten Tomatoes and is Certified Fresh. It also crossed $205 million domestically, making it the largest opening of an R-rated film in movie history (via CNBC). The film has been described as a “love letter” to the Fox films of the early 2000s, like the original X-Men and the original Fantastic Four.
As with every multiversal film, many leaks surrounding the film took place during production last year in the UK. Many supposed leaks included cameos from past Fox-Marvel legacy actors showing up in the movie, much like what happened with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home. While most cameos were true, some notable false leaks were planted by Marvel Studios (via Variety).
The confirmed cameos and surprise cast of Deadpool & Wolverine are extensive, so this is a Spoiler Warning:
In the film’s first act, Deadpool is after finding the perfect Wolverine but unfortunately learns of the death of Old Man Logan from 2017’s Logan. He then scours the multiverse to find another Wolverine to save his universe from dying. This montage included several hilarious alternate-Logan’s played by Hugh Jackman, including a cameo from The Incredible Hulk (originally played by Edward Norton). However, a surprise cameo from actor Henry Cavill, as a tall variant of Wolverine, also appears with a cheeky jab at DC for not treating the actor right. There is also a small cryptic cameo of Chris Hemsworth as Thor holding a dying Deadpool sometime in the future while Wade is in the TVA. Hunter B-15 (played by Wunmi Mosaku) and Happy Hogan (played by Jon Favreau) also appear in small bookend cameos.
The rest of the film takes place in The Void, where many variants of characters appear, as it did in Loki on Disney+. Deadpool & Wolverine come into contact with the confirmed return of Sabertooth and Pyro by original X-Men actors Aaron Stanford (X2: X-Men United) and Tyler Mane (X-Men). Other variants of the Brotherhood of Mutants also appear, but they seem to all be played by unknown/background actors. Most notably, Juggernaut is not played by Vinnie Jones (X-Men: The Last Stand). Other mutants that appear include Toad, Lady Deathstrike, Azazel, and Callisto.
Deadpool & Wolverine also come into contact with heroes of The Resistance stuck in The Void, including Chris Evans returning as Johnny Storm, Jennifer Garner returning as Elektra, Wesley Snipes returning as Blade, and Dafne Keen returning as Laura/X-23. Interestingly, Channing Tatum was called upon to play a comic-accurate Gambit after trying to play the character for almost 20 years. This leads to some funny meta jokes about how the rest of the team want a proper ending to their characters as their movie franchises ended, while Gambit doesn’t know if his story even really began. They also make several references to some variant of The Punisher (unknown which actor) and Daredevil (played by Ben Affleck), who are part of the team but die at some point.
Many of the cameos that did not pan out include X-Men variants of Cyclops, Storm, and Jean Grey, appearing played once again by James Marsden, Hallie Berry, and Famke Janssen. Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four) was rumored to appear alongside Chris Evans as Sue Storm. Even Taron Egerton was rumored to play yet another variant of Wolverine. Smaller rumored cameos included Brian Cox returning as William Stryker, Josh Brolin returning as a variant Thanos, and the return of Magneto & Charles Xavier (played by Ian McKellen & Patrick Stewart) in a post-credit scene. Concept art was recently released, showcasing Nicholas Cage returning as Ghost Rider and Ben Affleck returning as Daredevil , though it never panned out (via Instagram).
One of the most popular rumors was that Taylor Swift would appear as either Dazzler or Lady Deadpool in the film. While the character appears in the film, she’s not played by Swift but by a stunt double. However, Ryan Reynolds convinced his wife, Blake Lively, to voice the character with ADR alongside the rest of the Deadpool Corps. Other actors to lend their voices include Matthew McConaughey as Cowboypool and Nathan Fillion as Headpool.
The most interesting cameo that was rumored but didn’t happen and then did was the return of Robert Downey Jr. as an alternate Fox version of Doctor Doom. Apparently, concept art even exists for this “one-and-done” cameo. He was going to be found in a rundown Avengers Tower in some alternate future. However, after announcing the actor’s return at San Diego Comic-Con this past weekend, the studio scrapped this scene to give the character his own movie. It’s unknown which multiversal legacy characters will make one final return in either Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars. Though it’s long been rumored Tobey Maguire and Hugh Jackman will return as Spider-Man and Wolverine one last time.
Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters now
