Deadpool’s official welcome to the MCU is bursting with references to Marvel, X-Men, and Hollywood lore.
Deadpool & Wolverine is the formerly Fox-owned merc with a mouth’s first foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and given Ryan Reynolds’s passion for the comic books, it makes sense that the film is bursting with winks and nods to comics and movie lore alike. Some of these references arrive in the form of cameo appearances that leaked well before release. But even if you read every trade and watched every trailer, there are still plenty of surprises in store for you onscreen. We hacked and slashed our way through an entire carton of Easter eggs to bring you a comprehensive list of the movie’s sneakiest references. Spoilers ahead, naturally.
Exhumed
Deadpool & Wolverine opens with Deadpool (Reynolds) digging up Logan’s (Hugh Jackman) body from the gravesite where he was buried at the end of Logan (2017), after the character died while saving his daughter, Laura (Dafne Keen). Deadpool assures audiences that Wolverine can’t really be dead because of his mutant power of accelerated healing. Still, all Deadpool digs up is Wolverine’s adamantium-coated skeleton, showing that the events of Logan remain unchanged.
Are You Happy Now?
Deadpool takes a meeting with Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) about becoming an Avenger. Happy, of course, has been a mainstay in the MCU since Iron Man (2008), introduced as Tony Stark’s chauffeur and later bodyguard. He currently appears to be in charge of maintaining the Avengers’ legacy and he has a few reminders in his office to show for it, including Tony Stark’s first arc reactor and helmet, along with Howard Stark’s prototype Captain America shield. Behind his desk, there’s also what appears to be a coiled metal tentacle. Maybe it’s simply an art piece or maybe it’s a souvenir from his encounter with Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
Deadpool: Avenger(?)
Surely no one would ever let Deadpool join The Avengers, right? Wrong. In the comics in 2014, Deadpool was a member of the Astonishing Avengers, a group of villains and anti-heroes including Magneto, Doctor Doom, Mystique, Enchantress, Loki, Sabretooth, and Jack O’Lantern, assembled and led by Steve Rogers to face off against a corrupted and evil version of the Avengers led by the Red Skull. Soon after, he was invited to join the Avengers Unity Squad after saving the life of Rogue. A coalition of mutants, humans, and Inhumans, Deadpool worked alongside Steve Rogers, Rogue, Quicksilver, The Human Torch, Synapse, Spider-Man, and Brother Voodoo. Thanks to his merchandise sales and shameless self-promotion, Deadpool also funded the team. Although Deadpool gets a no-go for Avengers membership in Deadpool & Wolverine, the comics attest that there’s hope for him yet.
Welcome to the TVA
The Time Variance Authority, which monitors the activity of the multiverse, played a central role in Marvel Studios’ two-season series, Loki, on Disney+. In Deadpool & Wolverine, they become the inciting entity, setting off Deadpool’s journey. While the TVA is supposed to protect all of the timelines within the multiverse, the rogue Temporal Agent, Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfayden) seeks to destroy all branching realities except for the Prime Timeline, which is where the mainline stories of the MCU, Iron Man through The Marvels (2023) reside. Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) also reprises her role from Loki as the new, and altruistic head of the TVA, as established in the season 2 finale of Loki.
Short Stuff
During Deadpool’s search through the multiverse for a Wolverine to replace the one that died in his world, he encounters several variant versions. The first one is a Wolverine whose stature might actually be accurate to the comics, where he stands at 5’3”. When Hugh Jackman was first cast as Wolverine in 1999 there were complaints about the actor being 6’2”. Over the years, some fans have suggested digitally altering Jackman’s height to better reflect his look in the comics. The result, seen in this film, is appropriately comical.
Patch
In the 1980s, Logan took up the alias of Patch, a no-nonsense gambler in a white tux who wore an eye patch and had adventures separate from the X-Men in the Southeast Asian city of Madripoor, a former pirate haven rife with crime. Logan first appeared as Patch in Wolverine No. 1 (1988) and Madripoor appeared in the MCU in the Disney+ series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Jackman briefly shows up as Patch in this film and has a violent encounter with Deadpool.
Age of Apocalypse
In another brief flash of an alternate timeline, Jackman appears as the one-handed, savage Wolverine from the Age of Apocalypse, a dystopian future in the comics, ruled by the mutant tyrant Apocalypse (who was portrayed by Oscar Isaac in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse). This version of Wolverine first appeared in X-Men: Alpha No. 1 (1994) and went by Weapon X. His savagery could only be quelled by Jean Grey’s telepathic abilities, and the two forged a connection that was later consummated in marriage. The version of Weapon X in Deadpool & Wolverine doesn’t seem to have encountered Jean yet, because boy, is he angry.
Cross to Bear
We see another version of Jackman’s Wolverine crucified on an X, atop a pile of skulls. This is a recreation of the iconic cover of The Uncanny X-Men No. 251 (1989), drawn by Marc Silvestri and Dan Green. In that story, called “Fever Dream,” Wolverine is left for dead on a cross by Donald Pierce and The Reavers. Pierce, portrayed by Boyd Holbrook, and The Reavers are the central antagonists in Logan.
Old Man Logan
Logan was inspired by the comics miniseries Old Man Logan, and here Jackman finally dons a look accurate to that series, complete with a cowboy hat and a Clint Eastwood “get off my lawn” vibe.
Vicious Circle
Deadpool & Wolverine brings another famous cover to life, this time Todd MacFarlane and Bob Wiacek’s The Incredible Hulk #340 (1987), in which we see the Hulk reflected in Wolverine’s claws. Jackman dons the cult-favorite brown and orange Wolverine suit for this scene. And the Hulk himself appears briefly, though it’s unclear whether it’s via reused footage or if Mark Ruffalo showed up for a quick cameo.
Farm Boy
A final variant of Wolverine is played by the Snyderverse’s former Superman, Henry Cavill. The actor has been the subject of fan-casting for Marvel Studios’ eventual X-Men reboot, somewhat ironically given that he’s only an inch shorter than Jackman. Deadpool cracks that Marvel Studios will treat him better than the studio down the street. He’s referring to Warner Bros., which announced that Cavill would return as Superman in a new movie after the release of Black Adam (2022), only for the studio to change directions and forge ahead on a reboot (and a recast of Cavill’s role — David Corenswet will take over in James Gunn’s Superman).
When Thor Cries
On a monitor in the TVA, Deadpool sees a future version of himself, apparently injured, being cradled in the arms of a weeping Thor (Chris Hemsworth), in repurposed footage from Thor: The Dark World (2013). Paradox tells Deadpool that’s something in the future and he doesn’t need to worry about it, but the image haunts Deadpool for the rest of the movie. While the scene may simply be a gag, it could point to a scene planned for the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars, which might see Deadpool and Thor team up, with the former sacrificing himself for the God of Thunder.
Enter the Void
Deadpool and Wolverine find themselves in The Void, a multiversal dumping ground where the remnants of dead universes and unwanted variants go. Upon entry, audiences can spot an original version of Thor’s comic book helmet, along with a version of Captain America’s shield from the comics storyline Secret Empire. We also spot the Narvas, the blue bird-like creatures with spheres for heads, which first appeared in Loki Season 1. Before Deadpool and Wolverine enter the resistance hideout, we see a stone wall depicting Wanda Maximoff as the Scarlet Witch, as seen at Mount Wundagore in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Antagonist Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) at one point pulls out a sling ring from a variant version of Doctor Strange. And guarding over The Void looms Alioth, a monster created from tears in reality which also made its MCU debut in the first season of Loki.
He’s Going to Say It!
The first individual whom Deadpool and Wolverine meet in The Void is a figure cloaked in rags whose blue costume is just visible beneath. When the hood is pulled down, none other than Chris Evans appears. Deadpool, thinking he’s looking at Captain America, prepares for him to yell “Avengers Assemble!” But instead, Evans says, “Flame On!” and the clever misdirect reveals that Evans is reprising his role as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch from Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).
Cassandra’s Army
The ruler of The Void, Cassandra has assembled quite the collection of mutant villains, including Pyro (Aaron Stanford) and Sabertooth (Tyler Mane), who reprise their roles from the X-Men films. Other characters include Juggernaut, Deathstrike, Azazael, Callisto, and Toad, who all appeared in previous X-Men films, though all appear to be played by different actors here. The Russian (Billy Clements), the big guy clad in the red and white striped shirt also shows up and longtime Marvel movie fans may recognize him from The Punisher (2004) where he was played by Chris Nash.
Thwip, Thwip
During the road trip through the void, Deadpool is seen posing his fingers like Spider-Man and pretending to release webs. Reynolds has previously expressed interest in doing a team-up film with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. No better time to start practicing web-slinging than the present.
A Heavy Sai
While her appearance had been revealed last year, it was still a pleasure to see Jennifer Garner reprise her role as the assassin Elektra Natchios from Daredevil (2003) and Elektra (2005). When Deadpool offers condolences for Daredevil’s death, Elektra shrugs it off and says “it’s fine,” a comedic dig at her divorce from Ben Affleck, who played Daredevil in the 2003 film.
X-23, All Grown Up
Dafne Keen reprises her role as Laura/X-23 from Logan, now a self-assured mutant resistance fighter. Keen denied appearing in the film all through production, but Marvel Studios broke the secrecy with their final trailer last week. At the end of the film, Laura is seen alongside Wolverine and Deadpool, giving fans hope that this won’t be the end of her story, even if she is still multiverses away from the MCU. And hey, Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) is putting that team of young superheroes together after all. She’d make a great addition, especially considering the two are currently co-starring in the comic book NYX.
Suckheads Beware
One of the film’s most surprising reveals that surely no one saw coming is Wesley Snipes reprising his role as Blade. The last time we saw him in the role was 2004’s Blade: Trinity, an infamously troubled production that saw rumored conflict between Snipes and co-star Reynolds, who played vampire hunter Hannibal King. The film references this conflict at several points to great comedic effect. But that all seems to be water under the bridge now. The two actors hugged at the Thursday night Comic-Con International screening of Deadpool & Wolverine, and Snipes referred to Reynolds as “my friend.” See, happy endings aren’t just for the movies.
Gumbo
Channing Tatum finally gets to introduce his version of Gambit as the final member of the resistance against Cassandra Nova. Tatum had signed on to play Gambit back in 2006, but scheduling conflicts with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) resulted in him dropping out and Taylor Kitsch playing the role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). Still, Tatum still pursued Gambit, referencing his and his family’s history in New Orleans and his longtime love of the character. By 2014, the movie entered development with Tatum. The actor even showed up at the 2015 edition of Comic-Con decked out in a Gambit shirt. The film cycled through a series of directors including Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman, and Gore Verbinski, and was delayed to 2019 while the hunt for a new director began. It was going to be an R-rated action-adventure rom-com, with Lizzy Caplan and Lil Rel Howery in talks to co-star. Fox envisioned it as a new franchise that could be integrated into the X-Men series, and popular villain Mister Sinister was set to make his debut, tying in the threads established in Deadpool 2 (2018) and The New Mutants (2020). Unfortunately, the film became a casualty of 20th Century Fox’s merger with Disney. But Deadpool & Wolverine finally gives Tatum his shot, along with plenty of references to what might have been. His accent proves to be one of the funniest ongoing jokes of the film, and he’s got some cool action beats that are enough to make you wish you could’ve seen the Gambit film that almost was.
Across the Poolverse
The final act of Deadpool & Wolverine sees Cassandra unleash an army of The Void’s Deadpool variants to fight Deadpool and Wolverine. Led by Lady Deadpool (Blake Lively), the army also features Cowboy Deadpool (Matthew McConaughey), Headpool (Nathan Fillion), Dogpool (Peggy), Nicepool (Ryan Reynolds again), and a bunch more including Kidpool and Babypool, portrayed by Reynolds and Lively’s children, along with Watari/The Fool, Deadpool 2099, Canadapool, Piratepool, Scottish Kingtpool, and Golden Age Deadpool. Together, along with the many other unnamed variants, they form the Deadpool Corps which first appeared in Prelude to Deadpool Corps No. 1 (2010), where they were also led by Lady Deadpool. While they initially come to blows with Deadpool in this film, they eventually find out they have more in common than not. In the comics, Deadpool joined the Deadpool Corps to stop a multiverse devouring consciousness, and on another occasion to hunt down and kill a rogue, evil Deadpool. How much Deadpool is too much Deadpool? Your mileage may vary, but the Deadpool Corps certainly make an impression in Deadpool & Wolverine.
