Could Deadpool & Wolverine be the film of the summer? Only a week after launching, it’s already become one of the MCU’s biggest-ever hits, raking in $205 million at the box office and steadily climbing the charts.
For good reason, too. The film (which the Standard called “wonderful, crass chaos”) is chock-a-block with some of the most jaw-dropping celebrity cameos ever put on a cinema screen. And given that this is Marvel, that’s saying a lot.
For the sake of ease, we’ve rounded up the best of them here. Step aside, Hugh Jackman: there’s a long queue behind you.
Spoilers, naturally abound.
Henry Cavill as… Wolverine?
The Cavillverse continues to expand: fresh from hanging up his sword in Netflix’s The Witcher series, Cavill pops up randomly in the MCU multiverse to make a cameo appearance as one parallel-universe version of Wolverine. Is it a portent of things to come? Or a one-film joke? All we know is, he wears those mutton chops very well.
Chris Evans as Human Torch
Yep, Chris Evans makes a reappearance in the MCU. But not as his iconic Captain America, as you might expect – this time, he’s Johnny Storm, a member of the Fantastic Four (the first one, before all the reboots). Evans took on the role as a 23 year old, and his return was sparked by a single text message from Ryan Reynolds.
"Honestly, Ryan might be the only guy that I would've done it for because he's just got the Midas touch," he said. Flame on.
Jennifer Garner as Elektra
Off all the cameos we were expecting, it wasn’t this one. The double-bladed Elektra first showed up in 2003’s Daredevil, with Garner appearing opposite her then-husband Ben Affleck, before getting her own, also-panned, solo film in 2005’s Elektra. And don’t miss the joke at Affleck’s expense: “I’m sorry about Daredevil,” Deadpool tells Elektra. She’s not bothered.
Dafne Keen as X-23
After appearing in 2017’s monster hit Logan, Dafne Keen returns as Wolverine’s kind-of daughter X-23 to make their stand against Cassandra Nova. She was 11 when she filmed that, but apparently=jumping back in felt natural.
“We went straight into this pretty intense scene. I know I was freaking out,” Keen later told EW. “As soon as they said, ‘Rolling!’ I really felt like we were back doing Logan. It was like eight years hadn’t passed.”
Channing Tatum as Gambit
This is a bit of an odd one, because Tatum never actually played Gambit. However, there was a time when Tatum really, really wanted to – to the extent that he spent four years trying to get a raunchy Gambit film greenlit. When Disney and Fox merged, plans for that got scrapped – but hey, at least he gets to live out his dreams, thick accent and all, here.
Wesley Snipes as Blade
He’s been absent from screens for a very long time, but Wesley Snipes finally makes his return as the vampire killer Blade, fresh from the 1998 film. “There’s only one Blade. There’s only ever gonna be one Blade,” he quips at one point – surely a reference to the upcoming Mahershala Ali Blade reboot that’s in the works. Yowch.
Blake Lively as Lady Deadpool
Now we know why Lively was wearing that red catsuit at the film premiere: it looks like she makes an appearance in the film as a parallel universe version of Deadpool. Comics-wise, this is the role assumed by Wanda Wilson on Earth-3010 – and Lively’s role in the film’s final-act shootout is pure gold.
Nathan Fillon as Headpool
The cameos keep coming: Nathan Fillon (ie. Castle and also Firefly) makes an appearance as the voice of the floating head version of Deadpool. Aka Headpool. According to the comics, the half-a-head appearance is the result of surviving a zombie apocalypse.
Matthew McConaughey as Cowboy Deadpool
If you want a southern cowboy gunslinger, Matthew McConaughey is your best bet for playing him. So it proves here – though he doesn’t show his face, McConaughey’s dulcet tones are instantly recognisable.
Inez as Kidpool
Not to be outdone by their parents, the Reynolds/ Lively brood also make an appearance in the film. Their oldest child, Inez, plays the foul-mouthed Kidpool, while sister James is credited as “screaming mutant” and Betty pops up as “Hugh Jackman’s wrangler.” Why not.
Juggernaut
This is the return of the bulldozing mutant Juggernaut. First played by hard man Vinnie Jones in the critically panned X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006, his successor, Aaron W. Reed, at least gets to redeem his character somewhat here. Though he’s still a baddie. Of course.
Aaron Stanford as Pyro
Stanford took on the role of the villainous flamethrower in X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand and then… nothing for twenty years. In fact, Stanford assumed Pyro had died off-screen. “I essentially just assumed that was it,” he told EW. “I had done those movies, a lot of time had passed, and they were cherished memories. I didn’t believe that Pyro would be making any more appearances.”
Ray Park as Toad
The rather loathsome Toad first appeared all the way back in 2000, for X-Men, where he helped Mystique kidnap a senator. Now he’s back! And still played by the same guy.
Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15
She’s a slightly newer addition to the MCU than most, but Mosaku plays Hunter B-15, who pops up in Loki as a time agent and ends up helping to save the day.
Rob Delaney as Peterpool
The Deadpools all love him… it’s Peterpool! Deadpool’s run of the mill, regular best friend who ends up saving the day after New York is swarmed by parallel-universe Deadpools.
He has absolutely no superpowers, and Delaney hopes it stays that way: "I think Peter should have to work with what he's got because, you know, with limitations, you can discover special skills – they might not be magical, but you might be able to do something that other people can't do because they're relying too hard on their powers,” he told GamesRadar. “I mean, like, 'Look at me, I've got an adamantium skeleton'. I mean, enough of that, right?"
Psylocke
Making a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance, we also see the return of Psylocke. She first popped up (played by Olivia Munn) in X-Men: Apocalypse, and her psychic energy blade is seen in the final clash between Deadpool’s group of mutants and Cassandra Nova.
Kelly Hu as Lady Deathstrike
You remember her from that scene in X2 where she appears and stabs Wolverine full of holes, right? Yep, it’s Lady Deathstrike. She of the pointy silver fingers, in other words – and Kelly Hu reprises her role here, seemingly none the worse for wear after being pumped full of adamantium by Wolverine.
Ant-Man… kind of
Okay, so, Paul Rudd doesn’t make an appearance, but the corpse of Ant-Man does. His giant, hollowed out body forms the lair for Cassandra Nova and her team of villains. Who knows how he got there... probably wasn’t pretty though.
