"Deadpool & Wolverine" is full of character cameos and surprise appearances from tons of Marvel characters. Yes, that's probably the least surprising sentence I might ever commit to the internet; after all, we knew from promotional material that quite a few characters were due to make a comeback.
It's precisely why I labeled the flick "Fanservice: The Movie" in my "Deadpool & Wolverine" review. So much of the runtime is dedicated to giving many characters a second shot at screen time. And judging by the audience reactions I've seen and heard thus far, people are loving the surprises.
If you're yet to experience "Deadpool & Wolverine" for yourself — and have successfully managed to dodge spoilers so far — click away, as learning who's set to return will likely suck the joy out of some of the movie's very best moments.
If you must know who you'll be reunited with from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and beyond!), here's every "Deadpool & Wolverine" cameo, surprise reveal and variant that I caught in the latest Marvel movie.
Warning: This article contains major "Deadpool & Wolverine" spoilers!
"Deadpool & Wolverine" biggest cameos
- Channing Tatum finally gets to play Gambit
- Wesley Snipes returns as Blade
- Jennifer Garner reprises Elektra Natchios
- Chris Evans is BACK ... as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch
- Henry Cavill slices up Deadpool as Wolverine
- Blake Lively leads the charge from The Void as Lady Deadpool
Every major "Deadpool & Wolverine" cameo, detailed
A montage's worth of Wolverines (and one Green Goliath)
After having dug up the corpse of the Wolverine from "Logan" (and having used each and every bone to eviscerate a ton of TVA agents) and subsequently robbing Mr. Paradox of his teleportation device, Deadpool starts hopping across the multiverse in search of a replacement soon-to-be-bestie. During the search, he comes across a ton of no-gos before settling on the right Wolverine for the job.
Those include a rather short (sorry, "comic accurate") Wolverine, Weapon Omega, first introduced in X-Men: Alpha #1, Wolverine's white-suited, eye-patch-wearing alter-ego, Patch, an Old Man Logan Variant and the crucified Wolverine from Marc Silvestri's iconic Uncanny X-Men #251 cover.
Deadpool also finds himself crossing paths with a brown-suited Wolverine on a soon-to-be-battleground, wherein Logan's about to scrap with The Incredible Hulk. There's also one other cameo in this montage we'll dedicate a little bit more time to in a moment: Henry Cavill as Wolverine!
"The Cavillrine"
Henry Cavill's left some of his biggest roles behind in recent years; he's no longer leading "The Witcher" (Liam Hemsworth has replaced him for "The Witcher" season 4, and he's also hung up his Man of Steel cape, with David Corenswet taking center-stage in James Gunn's forthcoming "Superman" movie.
In the wake of those departures, fans were quick to cast him as other superhero characters, and some of them got their wish. As part of the search for Wolverine, Deadpool stumbles into a room where Wolverine, facing away from the camera, can be seen tuning up his motorcycle. He faces Deadpool and deploys his claws (in a direct nod to that "arm reload" maneuver from "Mission: Impossible - Fallout") before scrapping with the Merc with the Mouth.
X-23 returns
Dafne Keen's X-23 (otherwise known as Laura) is a clone and adopted daughter of Wolverine who was last seen in "Logan", burying that timeline's Wolverine, and she became one of the final cameos spoiled in the marketing material for the new movie.
In "Deadpool & Wolverine", she is part of a resistance to Cassandra Nova's rule over The Void and serves to remind the Variant Wolverine that there's some good in him.
Wesley Snipes is 'the only Blade there ever was, and ever will be'
Wesley Snipes' hasn't played Dhampir vampire-hunter Blade since 2004's "Blade: Trinity." Well, until now. Snipes' Blade is one of the variants that X-23 had gathered up.
And in a dig to the forthcoming "Blade" movie which will star Mahershala Ali as the Daywalker (the same MCU movie that's been delayed time and time again), Snipes proclaims he's "the only Blade there ever was and ever will be." Ouch.
Channing Tatum IS the Ragin' Cajun, Gambit
If you didn't know, Channing Tatum has been locked in to play Gambit for a long time, but his movie lingered in development hell and eventually got canned when Disney bought Fox out.
In fact, the "Magic Mike" star was so upset by the mess that he's been unable to watch the Marvel movies; in his words, the "Gambit" cancellation was "just too sad" (via Variety).
Well, Tatum finally gets to don Gambit's coat and headgear, sling some cards and swing Gambit's staff around as part of the team that assaults Cassandra Nova's base. Whether or not he'll be sticking around remains to be seen, though.
Jennifer Garner as Elektra
More than a year ago, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Jennifer Garner would be reprising the role of Sai-wielding antihero, Elektra Natchios.
Garner previously played the assassin in the 2003 "Daredevil" movie and her own 2005 solo spin-off, "Elektra." Like Blade and Gambit, she's part of X-23's resistance and helps in the fight against Nova's loyal forces.
Cap's back ... nope, that's the Human Torch!
After being sent to The Void, Deadpool & Wolverine learn about their new surroundings from a mysterious cloaked figure who has been trapped here for some time.
Deadpool presumes that this has to be a Captain America variant, after his impressive superhero landing, but when he throws the cloak back and utters his famous catchphrase, "Flame On!," we learn that this isn't Steve Rogers, but Johnny Storm, aka Fantastic Four member, the Human Torch.
Happy Hogan
Before he sets foot inside the TVA, Deadpool uses Cable's time travel device to travel back to 2018 and make a bid to become part of the Avengers in "Deadpool & Wolverine."
There, he's disappointed that his resume isn't vetted by Tony Stark, but Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). Unfortunately, Happy rejects Deadpool's pitch to be part of the Avengers. Whether saving his timeline will be enough to get the crew to reconsider his bid remains to be seen.
Lots of old X-Men foes
For brevity, I've bundled in as many of the X-Men's foes who found their way into The Void in one spot on this list.
Throughout the movie, you can spot Pyro, Toad, Lady Deathstrike, Callisto, Arclight, Azazel, Psylocke and Bullseye, who are part of Cassandra Nova's (Emma Corrin) legion of loyal goons. And while he's not played by Vinnie Jones, Juggernaut's also present and accounted for. Only a few of them play more than a passing role in the movie, though.
Blake Lively is Lady Deadpool
Sorry, gang, that female version of Deadpool is not Taylor Swift. Instead, the de facto leader of the Deadpool Corps. (a huge group of Deadpool Variants who were all banished to The Void) is instead played by Blake Lively, Reynolds' wife.
The character never takes off her mask on-screen, so there's no telling whether Lively was wearing the costume or just lent her voice to the role instead.
Welsh Deadpool
Outside of the movie biz, you'll no doubt know that "Deadpool & Wolverine" star Ryan Reynolds co-owns Wrexham AFC with "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" star Rob McElhenney. And in a nod to the club, you can spot "Welshpool" in Wade and Wolvie's clash with the other Deadpools.
When the many, many Deadpool variants spill out of a Dr. Strange portal in the movie's final act, one of them can be seen sporting a suit adorned with the Welsh Dragon. Well, you might not know that Wrexham AFC player Paul Mullin is wearing the suit!
Bonus points if you spot Rob McElhenney in his brief appearance as a TVA agent, or fellow Red Dragon Ollie Palmer as a patron in a bar. The Deadpool Corps. also apparently contains another regional Variant called "Canadapool" (who is credited as Ryan Reynolds' stunt double, Alex Kyshkovych). Speaking of all those other variants ...
Tons more Deadpool variants
Along with Blake Lively's "Ladypool" and "Welshpool," you'll see Nathan Fillion-voiced Headpool, a zombified Deadpool variant equipped with a propeller cap so he can flit around the battlefield. There's also the revolver-toting Cowboypool (also known as "The Deadpool Kid), who is voiced by Matthew McConaughey.
Ryan Reynolds also plays a heightened, more Canadian version of himself in polished armor and sporting gold-plated firearms as the super-pleasant merc, "Nicepool"... and how could we possibly forget the true star of the movie, Dogpool.
Elsewhere in the crowd, there's "Zenpool", a Variant who (briefly) turned his back on violence in the comics, Babypool, Kidpool (voiced by Reynolds and Lively's daughter, Inez), Roninpool (aka Watari), a Golden Age Deadpool sporting a gasmask and twin sabers, futuristic Deadpool 2099, a nautical "Piratepool", among many, many others.
It's also worth mentioning Mild Mannered Peter (aka Sugar Bear) is revealed to be "Peterpool" when he brings the fighting to a close.
As it turns out every Deadpool has a corresponding Peter, and each adores Peter just as much as our Deadpool does. When the Corps. sets in to celebrate Peter, this gives our heroes the perfect opportunity to slip away.
Other appearances/references
- Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth reprise the roles of Captain America and Thor ... technically. When Deadpool is first brought before Mr. Paradox, he's shown a bunch of footage of Cap and is treated to a preview of a moment far in the future where Thor (in repurposed footage from "Thor: The Dark World") cradles Deadpool's bruised body, crying. Whether this is a future we'll get to see remains to be seen.
- Wunmi Mosaku returns briefly as TVA agent Hunter B-15.
- If you watched "Loki," you'll know that The Void is ruled over by Alioth, and the wrathful cloud is a looming threat here, too.
- Sabretooth and Wolverine duke it out very briefly here. Despite fans waiting to see the pair cross claws, Wolverine manages to behead Sabretooth mere seconds into their anti-climactic bout.
- The rocket launcher Blade uses to blow open the gate (read as: Giant-Man hands) of Nova's hideout apparently used to belong to one of the Punishers who have landed in The Void, though he's not sure which one he took it from. That's a nod to the fact that there have been a number of actors who've embodied Frank Castle over the years:
- The movie's plot revolves around Wade's wish to save his own timeline from Mr. Paradox's time ripper because his timeline contains all his friends: Vanessa, Blind Al, Shatterstar, Dopinder, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Yukio, Buck, and Colossus, all of whom (briefly) appear in a couple of scenes.
- The late Stan Lee had roles in the previous two Deadpool movies, and eagle-eyed viewers can spot his face on a bus ad in "Deadpool 3."
In a movie that's as stuffed with cameos and references as this, there's bound to be stuff I've missed. We'll have to look forward to the home and streaming releases of "Deadpool & Wolverine" so we can comb through the movie and identify anything else we might have missed.
