Deadpool and Wolverine made it very clear that no matter how many cameos it teased in its trailers, there were even more in store in the full movie. We may have seen Cassandra Nova, Sabretooth, and X-23 already, but the Void contained so much more for Marvel fans, from the obscure to the obvious, and everything in between.
But one of the biggest cameos in the movie was exciting not because of who appeared, but because of who didn’t appear — and it could be teasing an even bigger cameo in the future.
Warning! Spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine ahead!
When Deadpool and Wolverine are fighting each other in the Void from Loki Season 1, a third party suddenly enters to mediate. “You fight each other in the Wasteland, we all lose,” he says. At first, it’s difficult to see who this figure is, but as a posse of bad guys roll up on apocalyptic cars, he jumps down and we get a better look.
Deadpool is excited, and for good reason: when this figure lowers his hood, he’s none other than Chris Evans, the man who saved the world during the Time Heist and wielded Thor’s Hammer. Or rather, it’s the actor who did all that. Despite Deadpool’s excitement, this isn’t the return of Steve Rogers that fans have been demanding. He may be wearing a blue and white suit, but when he gets ready to say his catchphrase, he says “Flame on,” igniting and shooting off into the sky.
That’s right — Chris Evans isn’t reprising the role of Steve Rogers, but Johnny Storm from the 2005 movie Fantastic Four, one of the Fox-era pre-MCU Marvel movies Deadpool & Wolverine pays constant homage to.
This isn’t a huge surprise if you’ve been keeping up with Chris Evans’ post-Marvel career. He’s collaborated with Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy before in Free Guy, and the choice to reprise Johnny Storm is actually something he’s considered before. In 2022, MTV asked if he’d ever go back to that role again, and said it would actually be an “easier sell” than returning as Cap. “Cap is so precious to me. And you know, I almost don't wanna disrupt what a beautiful experience that was,” he said. “But Johnny Storm, I feel like he didn't really get his day. That was before Marvel really found its footing.”
Johnny Storm’s cameo is also an homage to the X-Men and Fantastic Four crossover that never happened. For years, 20th Century Fox had planned to crossover its X-Men franchise with the Fantastic Four, with a movie being penned by Zack Stenz and Ashley Edward Miller, that would’ve also featured Deadpool and Daredevil. Alas, the crossover movie never came to be. But at least we have Deadpool & Wolverine to make up for it.
The cameo also doesn’t undo Steve Rogers’ touching sendoff in Avengers: Endgame — nor does it completely erase the possibility of Cap coming back even after his mantle has been passed down to Sam Wilson. In an interview with DiscussingFilm, Marvel president Kevin Feige said Deadpool and Wolverine actually may have proven those kinds of cameos are still possible. “I think Hugh’s appearance and starring role in [Deadpool & Wolverine] is a great sign that it can be done — if great care is taken,” he said.
So America’s ass may be back on the big screen, it’s just on fire this time. Hopefully, the next time we see this Chris in the MCU, it will be in the red, white, and blue fans have been waiting for.
