Every Cameo In Deadpool And Wolverine Explained, From Chris Evans As Johnny Storm To Henry Cavill's Surprise Wolverine

Deadpool and Wolverine is packed with cameos, and I want to go through every single one I spotted, along with some of the history behind the actors and characters involved.

Chris Evans Returns As Johnny Storm, Not Captain America, In A Nod To Fox's X-Men Movies

The first thing I think everyone is going to talk about when they leave the movie is the return of Chris Evans. He has a big reveal at the midpoint and also features in the film's post credit scene, coming forth wearing red, white and blue with his arms strapped up, ready to fight. I was expecting him to be Captain America, and I was super pumped to see him back. But because this is a tribute to the Fox movies, he is once more playing Johnny Storm, saying flame on instead of Avengers Assemble.

That brings things full circle from some of Fox's early iterations in the comic book genre. It was so good seeing Evans back, and he got to go all out cursing at Cassandra Nova. Cap was obviously a bit more restrained with his language, so it was great seeing the actor get to let loose with it here.

Jennifer Garner's Elektra And Dafne Keen's X-23 Both Denied Their Comebacks Beforehand

Evans is not the only character returning from the early Fox films. Jennifer Garner is once more reprising her role as Elektra, and the film also pays lip service to Ben Affleck's Daredevil. Garner was asked in an interview with Kimmel if she was in the film, and she was smirking and giggling while denying it. I said in the piece that she needs to take some acting lessons from Andrew Garfield.

Someone who clearly did take lessons from Garfield was Dafne Keen. When asked during the promotion of The Acolyte, she managed to keep quiet and use what I'd call Jedi mind tricks to make us think she was out of the movie. We called it though, in an earlier Cameo Theory piece, and they actually did it in a way we guessed from the first trailer. Keen is once more playing X-23, returning after the events of Logan.

Wesley Snipes' Blade Cameo And The Rocky Road To A Blade Reboot

Alongside her is Blade, once more played by Wesley Snipes. Blade basically saved Marvel from bankruptcy in the 90s, since putting out that movie was a big gamble at the time. Luckily it was a big success, and you could say Blade paved the way for what was to come. Obviously the Superman and Batman movies came before it, but those other Marvel movies from that era, that Captain America one and the Fantastic Four film, were pretty bad, to the point where they made Madame Web look like Citizen Kane by comparison.

The Blade reboot has been stuck in development for a while now, with several rewrites from the ground up. Snipes even joked about this on Twitter, and it kind of feels like he might be the only version of Blade we get. He even makes a joke about this in the movie. I do hope they finally get that reboot off the ground, and I would love to see Snipes incorporated into it in some way. The guy has definitely still got it. He mentions being the only Blade, though there is potentially a nod to the TV version too, a guy in a trench coat.

Channing Tatum Finally Plays Gambit After Two Decades In Development

Channing Tatum is also in the film, finally playing Gambit. In case you do not know, that movie has been in development since 2003, with Tatum going back and forth over whether he could play the character. He had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts on GI Joe, and Taylor Kitsch ended up playing Gambit in X-Men Origins instead, with plans to take the character off into his own spin-off film.

Tatum ended up expressing interest again in 2013. Two years later they got the ball rolling, and Rupert Wyatt signed on to direct, before being replaced by Doug Liman, who was then replaced by Gore Verbinski in 2016. There were several more reworkings before the project stalled, and it is great to see him finally show up here. They even have a running joke about how difficult his accent is to understand throughout the film, plus a joke about it being a white boy summer.

Every Wolverine Variant, Including Henry Cavill's Alternate Timeline Take

We get several versions of Wolverine in the film. This includes Patch, a crucified version pulled from the cover of Uncanny X-Men 251, and also a yellow and brown suited version. There is also a comically accurate skinny Wolverine, with Hugh Jackman's face put on it, similar to how they did skinny Steve Rogers. At one point Deadpool approaches a porch and finds a gray bearded Wolverine wearing a cowboy hat, a clear nod to Old Man Logan, and the giant Ant-Man corpse in the same scene is a nod to that comic as well. There is also a nod to the 90s Wolverine with the crazy big hair.

During these moments we also see Henry Cavill playing an alternate variant. This is such a massive thing for the movie, since Cavill has been fan cast as Wolverine for years during those long dark periods when it seemed like he was fully out as Superman. There was a hope he would play Wolverine in the MCU, then DC brought him back as Superman, and we all know how that ended up turning out.

Seeing Cavill here is brilliant, and I am hopeful they bring him back in some way down the line. Jackman deserves to be in Secret Wars, and I think he should be one of the main characters in it, but beyond that I think he is eventually going to have to hang up the claws, and I would love to see Cavill take over. Cavill got messed around so much by DC, remember those Instagram posts where he said he was back, only to have to post about a week later saying it was over. There is even a joke in the film about looking after him better than those guys down the street. Fingers crossed we see him come back, because he looks spot on as Wolverine.

The Hulk Cameo And Talk Of A Wolverine Versus Hulk Movie

Along with those variants, we also have the Hulk, with Deadpool getting smacked around by him. Wolverine's first ever appearance was fighting the Hulk, in the pages of Incredible Hulk 181. This Hulk is the Mark Ruffalo version, and over the last couple of days there has been talk of a Wolverine versus Hulk movie. I think that would be a great way to take things, and I would love to see that film actually get announced.

Sabretooth, Toad, Lady Deathstrike, Callisto, Juggernaut And Azazel All Return

Speaking of the X-Men battling it out with big names, we also have Sabretooth, who Wolverine fights in the void, and I joked that the fight lasts about as long as Liz Truss lasted as prime minister. Still, it is great seeing the character back, carrying his classic design from the first X-Men film. Alongside him is Toad, who also appeared in the first film, Lady Deathstrike returns from X2, and Callisto is back from X-Men: The Last Stand.

Coming fresh out of that same movie is the Juggernaut, whose helmet plays a key part in defeating Cassandra Nova. From X-Men: First Class we also get Azazel.

The Russian's Vest Might Connect To Black Widow's Ursa Major

Also appearing is the Russian from The Punisher movies, played by Kevin Nash, wearing the same red and white vest we saw him in there. I think there is a deeper cut beyond this though. In Black Widow, Red Guardian wrestles a prisoner named Ursa Major, a Russian hero who can turn into a bear and who has been listed as the first mutant in the MCU, played by Olivier Richters. I did not get a proper look at the character here, but the actor does look similar, so it feels like they have mushed together the Easter eggs for both characters into one. The Punisher is also mentioned throughout the film, with Blade using his rocket launcher at one point.

Psylocke's Return From X-Men Apocalypse

I think we also get an appearance from Psylocke at one point. She previously appeared in X-Men: Apocalypse, where she was portrayed by Olivia Munn.

Every Deadpool Variant, From Lady Deadpool To Matthew McConaughey's Cowboy Deadpool

As we get toward the final act, the film brings in a lot of Deadpool variants. This includes Lady Deadpool, played by Blake Lively, who is of course Ryan Reynolds's real life wife, with the film making an earlier joke about getting an extra bone from watching Gossip Girl. Blake being in the film is something you learn from watching the credits, which also reveal that Matthew McConaughey is the actor behind Cowboy Deadpool, another big cameo for the film.

Kidpool appears, along with Headpool, the Greatest Showman Deadpool, Babypool and Dogpool, who is a big part of the cast. There is also a Welsh Deadpool, a reference to Wrexham football club, which Reynolds is heavily involved with. Beyond those, King Deadpool and Deadpool 2099 are also among the crowd of variants.

Happy Hogan, B-15 And A Stan Lee Tribute Close Things Out

Happy Hogan also appears in the opening of the movie, rejecting Deadpool from joining the Avengers. On top of this we also have B-15, though I am not sure if that counts as a cameo exactly, she is there so we might as well include her. And who could forget Stan Lee appearing on a bus, rest in peace. That was every cameo I managed to spot in the movie.

Did I miss any cameo worth flagging?