“Deadpool & Wolverine”: Wesley Snipes Makes History While Chris Evans Goes Off
Spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen Deadpool and Wolverine yet, move on to another story in the multiverse.
Deadpool & Wolverine is a bonafide smash hit, slashing and F-bombing its way toward a billion-dollar haul while delighting audiences across the globe. The Shawn Levy-directed scorcher is being fueled, of course, by the long-awaited pairing of Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with the Mouth and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, resurrected (in a way) from his noble death in James Mangold’s 2017 film Logan with a little help from the multiverse. While Deadpool & Wolverine is the third film in Reynolds’ Deadpool franchise, it was conceived as a proper two-hander, with Jackman’s Wolverine every bit as important, with just about as much screen time, as Reynolds’ foul-mouthed man-child.
With that said, one of Deadpool & Wolverine‘s joys is the mic-drop cameos scattered throughout the film. Some are blink-brief, like Henry Cavill’s delicious turn as the Cavillerine, a Logan variant chomping on a cigar and eager to stomp Deadpool during his uninvited pop-in on the Cavillerine’s timeline. A few of the cameos, however, are a little meatier, and those include Chris Evans’s shocking arrival in the Void not as Captain America but rather as Johnny Storm, his first turn as a superhero back in 2005’s Fantastic Four. Evans’ Johnny Storm is one of the Fox Marvel-era superheroes marooned in the Void, the wasteland where the Time Variance Authority sends folks they feel threaten the sacred timeline. Johnny and a slew of other superheroes live in hiding, trying to avoid getting on the wrong side of the Void’s Queen Supreme, Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin).
Speaking with People Magazine, Evans revealed how Reynolds pitched him the cameo, as well as how he approached Johnny’s big monologue that appears during the credits,
“It was a couple years ago and I got a text from Ryan [Reynolds], we’re buddies,” Evans told People. “He just said, ‘Listen, if you don’t like this idea, no worries whatsoever. But I have something that could really bring the house down and would let you play a character from your past. I mean, honestly, I would do anything Ryan asked. He gave me a great cameo in Free Guy already, and I just trust him completely. So the chance to be Johnny again, I couldn’t pass up. I loved it. It was fun to shoot, fun to watch, all of it.”
Johnny’s arc in Deadpool & Wolverine is a real barn burner, but Evans has even more fun in the credits. For his big, raunchy monologue, he eschewed help from quip master Reynolds.
“Ryan was like, ‘Listen, if we need cue cards…’ and I was like, ‘Cue cards? I’m showing up off-book,’ ” Evans told People. “I don’t get to say dialogue like this. Trust me. I’m going to enjoy every second of this. Memorized.”
Meanwhile, Wesley Snipes, another of the major cameos, appears as a team alongside Jennifer Garner’s Elektra, Channing Tatum’s Gambit (!), and Dafne Keen’s Laura. In the process, Snipes made history by breaking two Guinness World Records when he appeared as the iconic Daywalker Blade—he’s now the person to hold the longest career as a live-action Marvel character. Who’d he beat out? None other than Hugh Jackman. Snipes first played the character in 1998’s Blade, and his appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine was 25 years and 240 days later. The massive gap between Snipes’ current and last Blade performances is another record—he last played the character in Blade: Trinity in 2004 (which, incidentally, co-starred Ryan Reynolds), and then 19 years and 231 days, re-appeared in the Void to the shock and delight of fans everywhere. This bested Alfred Molina’s 17-year gap between appearing as Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
For more on Deadpool & Wolverine, check out these stories:
That Perfect “Deadpool & Wolverine” Cameo That Linked to the Best “Mission: Impossible” Fight Ever
Channing Tatum on His Long-Awaited Marvel Debut in “Deadpool & Wolverine”
Let’s Talk About Those Insane “Deadpool & Wolverine” Cameos
Ryan Reynolds & Hugh Jackman Surprise Comic-Con Fans With “Deadpool & Wolverine” Screening
Featured image: Wesley Snipes holding a dagger behind his back in a scene from the film ‘Blade’, 1999. (Photo by Amen Ra Films/Getty Images)
