The little details no one noticed in Deadpool 2

It's not as though Deadpool's connection to the X-Men movie universe is a secret… it's just a thing that the serious X-Men films don't exactly like to acknowledge. Deadpool himself is the world's biggest critic of Ryan Reynolds' performance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which he makes explicitly obvious during the movie's mid-credits scene by pumping a dozen bullets into the other, original Deadpool.

Without actually interacting in any meaningful way with the core X-Men, Deadpool 2 does everything it can to insinuate itself into their far-too-serious world: Deadpool wears Professor Xavier's Cerebro helmet (and says it smells like Patrick Stewart, the original X-trilogy's Professor), and zips around the X-Mansion in the Prof's wheelchair. Most notably, and perhaps twisting continuity into even more complicated pretzels than before, Deadpool briefly stands in front of a room filled with actual, real-life, First Class X-Men, including nu-Professor X James McAvoy. It's the stuff X-Fan dreams are made of.

Before he was Thanos, or Cable, or anything else for that matter, Josh Brolin first appeared on the big screen as Brand Walsh in The Goonies, a fact that Deadpool will not let him forget. While it's absolutely true that Cable has one normal eye and one crazy 1990s comic-book eye, Deadpool mockingly calling him One-Eyed Willy isn't just a dig at his one peeper or a superficial pop culture reference — Willy was the pirate that the Goonies were searching for in their own iconic film.

Want to double down on the Goon-love? When Deadpool appears on his couch after being torn in two by Juggernaut, he's wearing the exact same shirt that Chunk did in The Goonies. It's all done out of love, of course: Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin have a rare kinship. Both starred in absolutely terrible DC movie flops — Green Lantern and Jonah Hex, respectively. If there was no love, Deadpool wouldn't take the onscreen time to remind us that yes, Brolin was an absolutely amazing Thanos.

There's nothing like a super smart cameo to really get the fans going, and like usual, Deadpool 2 had a few. Notably absent, however, was Marvel patriarch Stan Lee, who only appeared as a mural on the side of a building. One might have also expected Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld to appear again in this second outing, but he's nowhere to be seen. Instead, he's called out in a much more creative way: as the creator of Domino, who Deadpool proclaims to basically have a very stupid set of powers, and was probably created by a guy who can't draw feet. Comic art historians will note that Mr. Liefeld's grasp of the human anatomy is creative at its best, hilarious at its worst, and as often as not, includes large clouds of smoke usually focused somewhere below each character's knees.

Noted Deadpool writer Gerry Duggan also gets a shoutout: the parkway on which part of the epic convoy battle sequence takes place is named after him.

Most importantly, in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance, is Brad Pitt, playing the ill-fated Vanisher. At one point scheduled to play Cable himself, Pitt's one and only appearance, and immediate death, was added in post-production, but is nonetheless a pretty unexpected addition. Also unexpected is the surprise appearance of Alan Tudyk as a toilet-paper obsessed redneck, appearing alongside none other than Matt Damon.

Deadpool co-star TJ Miller has been embroiled in multiple controversies since December of 2016, including (but not limited to) calling in a fake a bomb threat on a train, allegedly assaulting an Uber driver during a political argument, and allegedly committing violence and sexual assault against a woman in 2001. When the latter accusations surfaced after Miller's prominent role in Deadpool 2 was already in production, the film's producers made the difficult and controversial decision to keep the former Mucinex monster and Emoji Movie star in the picture, but axe him from Deadpool 3.

Still, the film couldn't resist taking a jab at the situation. During the news report about Firefists' explosive meltdown, the crawl at the bottom of the screen mentions that Christopher Plummer had turned down a role in the film. Famously, Plummer reshot all of Kevin Spacey's scenes in All the Money in the World after Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual improprieties. It's not like anything in Deadpool 2 was in good taste anyhow. All this and not one Emoji Movie jab? Poor form, Deadpool.

While Deadpool is mostly known for his red-and-black duds, he's historically fought crime in a wide variety of colors at different points in his long comics career. While seeking admittance into the X-Men during Deadpool #16, he actually made his own X-Men uniform, with a giant red X on the front. Totally on the nose, but Wade Wilson isn't a clothing designer, and apparently neither is whoever designed the X-Men's trainee uniforms in Deadpool 2, because they're a pretty close match.

Deadpool, during his darker X-Force days, has also been seen sporting a black and grey version of the familiar costume. So while the change in color isn't intentional on the part of the big-screen Deadpool, his charred costume near the end of the movie is a dead ringer for his X-Force comics counterpart. It's no coincidence: this is when the real X-Force finally comes together. Sorry, Shatterstar. You suck.

Deadpool 2 quickly broke records for the largest Thursday-night box office, continuing a franchise trend for shattering financial expectations. The 2016 original disproved the misguided belief that R-rated superhero movies couldn't make money, paving the way for the R-rated Wolverine outing Logan. Of course, the success went to Deadpool's head. In Deadpool 2, he acknowledges the box office haul of the original movie by alluding to its place among the top-grossing R-rated movies of all time.

Deadpool's history lesson wouldn't be complete without mentioning the highest-grossing R-rated movie in U.S. box office history: The Passion of the Christ. While Mel Gibson's biblical epic may never be toppled from its throne in terms of domestic gross, it's a different story internationally. Overseas, Deadpool managed to outperform Passion, so overall, the violent superhero romp is still the most financially successful R-rated film of all time. Not bad for a character that once got beat up by Squirrel Girl.

Deadpool's no stranger to twisted timelines himself, as his dialogue in both Deadpool and Deadpool 2 would suggest. From metatextual knowledge of Professor Xavier's different actors to his blasé relationship with time travel, the Merc with a Mouth seems to take it all in stride. Still, maybe he should have been a little more worried about the banners hanging inside the Essex House that read "M-Day is Coming."

Longtime comics readers will no doubt remember that M-Day is the in-universe term for what happened when Scarlet Witch erased the mutant genome in the comic book crossover House of M. M-Day goes down in Marvel history as a dark time for mutants, to put it mildly — the resulting purge of the mutant race had a fairly lasting effect in terms of the retcon-friendly medium, sticking around for years. The mutant population in the Marvel universe dropped from tens of thousands to just around 200 — and for years, those numbers stayed relatively static… until a very important mutant baby was born and protected by Cable. That mutant? Hope Summers, Cable's daughter (adopted in the comics). Sounds like a job for X-Force.

In the movies, Deadpool can pretend to be too cool for Xavier's school, but comic book Deadpool is a pretty big X-Men fan. Since Deadpool breaks the fourth wall more often than the Wrecking Crew breaks actual walls, this usually manifests through him referencing specific issue numbers when he gets excited. When Juggernaut appears in Deadpool 2, the Merc with a Mouth tells him how big a fan he is and names three Juggernaut-centric comic book issues: X-Men #183, X-Men Unlimited #12, and Thor #411.

Beyond featuring the Juggernaut, all three issues have a thematic connection as well; they all feature Juggernaut taking down increasingly powerful enemies just to set the scene for how tough it's going to be for X-Force to beat him later. In Uncanny X-Men #183, Juggernaut brings an entire building down on Colossus in a bar brawl. In Thor #411, Juggernaut fights and completely defeats Thor, the God of Thunder. Finally, in X-Men Unlimited #12, Juggernaut fights Cytorrak, the cosmic demon that controls his power, and beats him too. If Deadpool's been reading these comics, it's no wonder he's such a fan.

Deadpool 2's home media release came in two flavors, with both the theatrical cut and an extended Super Duper Cut on offer. As one might imagine, the latter version is chock-full of deleted scenes, alternate takes, and small alterations that make the little moments of the movie land slightly differently. But one of those little moments, a cute Pixar movie reference, didn't show up in any version of the movie, instead ending up as an unfinished deleted scene.

In the extended cut of Deadpool 2, a grieving Wade Wilson sets out to meet his deceased love Vanessa in the afterlife in a Groundhog Day-esque sequence, killing himself over and over again, as many times as it takes for something to stick. 

First, Deadpool goes to the Theodore Roosevelt Zoo and belly flops into a cage of hungry polar bears after introducing himself to a child spectator as Captain Delicouspants. Then he drinks drain cleaner and falls off a building, ultimately ending up back at his apartment laying on the barrels of gasoline that he blows up to start the movie. But one self-induced death sequence didn't make the montage.

Sitting on a park bench, Deadpool is interrupted by an elderly couple who bear a remarkable resemblance to the characters from the animated movie Up — balloons and all. Deadpool even makes a reference to it, telling the woman he loved her work in the movie. And then he tries to blow his brains out.

One of the deleted scenes that ended up in Deadpool 2's Super Duper Cut is a serene domestic sequence in the opulent Xavier mansion, in which Wade Wilson tries to endear himself to his new roommates following Colossus' intervention in his mission to self-destruct. (Prior to the film's home media release, the scene was released on YouTube in its entirety by IGN.)

During the scene, Colossus futzes with the kitchen's soap dispenser, which appears to be a little gunked up. Deadpool knows exactly why, quipping, "It's fine — I just filled it. Give it a few more pumps there." 

On its own, the scene is a little non sequitur about two unorthodox roommates. But coupled with a later moment during the first Firefist standoff, the exchange becomes a setup for a truly repulsive punchline. In a bit that made the movie's theatrical cut, Deadpool goes off on a small philosophical spiel about perception vs. reality when it comes to what it means to be a hero. 

"People think you wake up a hero," Deadpool says, holding court on the steps of Essex House. "Brush your teeth a hero… Ejaculate into a soap dispenser a hero." After which Colossus regards his compromised metal hands with dismay. In the theatrical cut, this particular perversion came off as a little random, but the deleted kitchen scene takes us to the very scene of the crime.

Deadpool 2's Super Duper Cut is less of a definitive director's cut and more of an alternate, 15-minute longer version of the movie with a small across-the-board increase in inappropriate sex jokes. Instead of just serving up the original cut of the movie with every last deleted scene shoved in the gaps, the Super Duper Cut is a remix, using different takes, different jokes, and surprisingly, a slightly different opening credits reel.

The James Bond-style sendup sequence, an overblown production to the tune of Celine Dion's "Ashes" in which the credits act as the audience's bewildered internal monologue after the unexpectedly serious death of Vanessa, proceeds in functionally the same way whether you're watching the theatrical cut or the SDC. But you might notice that many of the onscreen text jokes have been switched up to humorous effect and for no real reason. 

By way of example, where the theatrical cut says "In association with I Don't Understand," the SDC says "She was like everyone's favorite character." The theatrical credit "Starring: Obviously, someone who hates sharing the spotlight" is changed to "Good luck bringing me back f—heads." And in the weirdest change, where the theatrical cut sees Deadpool reclining in the crook of his own finger gun, the SDC shows him laying on a real one. Why? Well, we've got no clue. Why not?

As director David Leitch puts it during a special features interview, there might be Easter eggs hiding inside Deadpool 2 that no viewer will ever discover. 

"There's so many to dig into, and layers of them, that I don't think anyone will ever find them," Leitch says during a special feature about the movie's secrets. "I challenge you to find them all."

It's a bold claim, but considering how obscure this next one is, it honestly might be true. According to the commentary track for Deadpool 2, an unassuming business card seen during the opening action montage actually has an incredibly well-hidden X-Men reference. That's the reference above. Can you tell what it is?

As Leitch goes into on the commentary, the card is a translated reference to the X-Men character Red Lotus, a superpowered Australian with ties to a Chinese crime family. Essentially, it means this minor character exists within the Deadpool universe — for whatever that's worth.

It's truly astounding how deep of a cut that is. Not only do you need a deep encyclopedic knowledge of obscure Marvel Comics characters in order to get that callout, you also need casual fluency in the Chinese language. We kind of thought Leitch was exaggerating, but he might honestly be onto something. After this, we're ready to believe that this movie really might have more Easter eggs and fun little details than your average human could ever hope to discover.