We Rewatched Deadpool 2 And Here's What We Noticed
Marvel's mouthiest antihero, Wade Wilson — aka Deadpool — quickly carved out a space for himself in the oversaturated superhero genre when "Deadpool" premiered in 2016. Unlike clean-cut Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes such as Captain America, Black Panther, and Spider-Man, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) operates much more in the gray. He certainly has no qualms about committing murder and he subverts expectations by regularly breaking the fourth wall and pushing barriers at every opportunity.
This drew audiences in, and the critical and financial success of "Deadpool" led to a second outing for Reynolds. Premiering on May 18, 2018, "Deadpool 2" sees Wade embark on another daring mission, but he also goes through a pretty big transformation as he learns what it's like to be part of a team — heck, he's even willing to die for Russell (Julian Dennison) at the end, though happily, he doesn't.
Like its predecessor, a big part of what makes "Deadpool 2" work are the Easter eggs and cultural references embedded in every scene. But there's actually so much more to Wade's off-handed comments, his MCU references, and the A-list cameos in the movie than viewers realize on first watch. Secrets have since been revealed by the movie's cast and creators, which majorly change the meaning behind certain scenes and creative decisions. Keep reading for a deep dive into the movie as we break down all the hidden details. Here's everything we noticed when we re-watched "Deadpool 2."
There was a version of Deadpool 2 where Vanessa didn't die
At the beginning of "Deadpool 2," Wade Wilson is on top of the world. He's reunited with the love of his life, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), having saved her at the end of the first movie, and now they're planning to have a baby. But the couple are tragically torn apart in the first act of "Deadpool 2" when Vanessa is killed by a stray bullet meant for Wade.
Vanessa's death really shapes the tone of the movie and Wade's character arc, as he keeps seeing Vanessa and interprets his visions as her encouraging him to help Russell. However, "Deadpool 2" has been criticized for making Vanessa a victim of "fridging," a sexist storytelling trope where women are killed off or injured as a plot device to progress the male characters' narratives. Director David Leitch doesn't believe this is what happens to Vanessa because the character emotionally underlines the whole movie.
In fact, Vanessa was initially never supposed to die at all. "We had versions where they broke up and she left him — instead of dying," Leitch admitted on the audio commentary for "Deadpool 2" (via Screen Rant). According to Ryan Reynolds, the whole tone of the movie would have changed if Vanessa had lived, as they might have actually had a child. In the end, Leitch felt her death was best for Deadpool's narrative because he wouldn't have had the same motivation and character development had Vanessa lived.
There was more to that X-Men cameo than you realized
One of the biggest unanswered questions from "Deadpool 2" was why didn't other X-Men show up alongside Colossus (Stefan Kapicic), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), and Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna) to help during the final battle against Juggernaut? As viewers will recall, several of the "famous X-Men," as Wade calls them, do make an uncredited appearance early in the movie. Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), and Professor X (James McAvoy) hide from Wade while he's in the X-mansion. It's only a brief cameo, and it's easy to accept their appearance as a fun Easter egg for X-Men fans.
But if they were available for one scene, why didn't they join the fight at the end of the movie? Well, it turns out logistics were a major problem. None of the X-Men were actually available because they were busy shooting "Dark Phoenix" at the same time, so their appearance was added via a green screen in the doorway. With that said, the "Dark Phoenix" cast did give the cameo their all. "We had a lot of different versions for when they open that door and turn to us. But the one they used was pretty chill." Peters recalled to CinemaBlend. While he didn't reveal much about the alternate takes, they seemingly tried to measure up to Deadpool's signature R-rated humor. "There was some fun, dirty stuff," he admitted.
Nobody knew about Matt Damon's cameo
By now you probably know that Matt Damon had a cameo in "Deadpool 2" — even if you missed it at the time. The "Jason Bourne" star played one of the rednecks that Cable (Josh Brolin) first encounters when he arrives in 2018. The scene is chock full of Easter eggs, including the "True Grit" mini-reunion between Damon and Brolin, but very few people knew that at the time.
Details of Damon's cameo were kept under wraps, and while his scene partner Alan Tudyk is named in the credits, Damon isn't. He's credited as Dickie Greenleaf, which is a callback to "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and the identity that his character steals in that film. His cameo wasn't publicized or talked about in interviews until after the movie was released and he's heavily disguised by his costume and prosthetics in the scene, so viewers would be forgiven for not recognizing him. Members of the cast and crew certainly didn't, as only David Leitch and Ryan Reynolds were in the know.
Reynolds, who co-wrote the movie, thought the toilet paper scene would be a fun addition and pitched Damon the idea over dinner. "We didn't even tell the crew. His name wasn't on the call sheet — it was a fake name. Nobody really knew what that scene was about. They were like, 'Why are we shooting these two rednecks?' We just didn't tell anybody," Leitch later admitted to Collider.
The reason behind Brad Pitt's cameo
As a producer and co-writer, Ryan Reynolds was intimately involved with the making of "Deadpool 2." This means he had a hand in casting decisions, especially when it came to the plentiful celebrity cameos. Alongside Matt Damon and Alan Tudyk, fans will no doubt recall seeing Brad Pitt get a brief moment of screen time. His character, Vanisher, has just parachuted out of a plane along with the rest of the X-Force, but severe winds blow him into electrical cables and he is killed. The electrical current causes Vanisher to become visible, and that's when Pitt appears.
This is a fun cameo for fans, but there was actually a lot more to it than comes across on screen. Pitt had originally been in the running to play Cable but backed out — or vanished — from the role due to a scheduling conflict. Although Josh Brolin ended up playing the futuristic warrior, David Leitch told Collider that Pitt still really wanted to be involved in the franchise. "He kind of left the door open when we left that meeting, like, 'If you guys ever need anything, give me a call. I'd love to be involved,' and Ryan just said, 'Oh, I have an idea.' So we started to think about what it could be and The Vanisher thing was perfect," Leitch explained. All Pitt asked for in return for his appearance was a single cup of coffee.
Why Stan Lee's cameo was cut
While Matt Damon and Brad Pitt's cameos were two of the most notable in "Deadpool 2," it's probably Stan Lee's that was the most anticipated. Late in his life, the Marvel Comics co-creator made a number of cameos in the MCU and other Marvel-based films, popping up in funny ways, but his "Deadpool 2" cameo wasn't what viewers were expecting. Unlike in the first movie where Lee played a strip club DJ, his appearance in the sequel was purely two-dimensional.
"Deadpool 2" celebrates Lee with a giant mural, which can be seen when Domino is parachuting into the city. David Leitch explained to Collider that the colorful graffiti art was included in the movie because scheduling issues precluded them from shooting Lee in the flesh. "We're always aware that you want to get a Stan Lee appearance in there, but ... it was more like what would work and what was the time and place, and our schedule was tight and things got away from us," the director explained. "So by the time we were done with the movie, we were thinking where could we plug him in during reshoots."
Leitch denied at the time that Lee's absence was due to his rumored ill health. Sadly, Lee's health did begin to decline, and he passed away just a few months after the release of "Deadpool 2," with his last-ever cameo in "Avengers: Endgame."
Zazie Beetz just forgot to shave her armpits
Zazie Beetz's Domino is a great addition to Deadpool's X-Force — and not just because she's the only member beside him who survives the team's parachute jump. From day one, Beetz put her own stamp on the strong, determined, and lucky character. She collaborated with David Leitch and Ryan Reynolds on how Domino should wear her hair, which resulted in her embracing her natural afro in the movie.
This wasn't the only natural hair Domino retains in "Deadpool 2," either. Viewers might have spotted that the character keeps her armpits au naturale too. Beetz has been praised for making a bold feminist statement by not shaving under her arms. But unlike her afro, this actually wasn't a stylistic choice at first. She admitted to The Independent that she simply got busy and forgot: "Before we started shooting I actually hadn't shaved in a bit, just out of ... not even having gotten to it," she explained. "And my boyfriend, if I remember correctly, he was like, 'Maybe you should keep it.' And I was like, 'You know what?' That's kind of a good idea.' So I just kept it. And then I sort of tentatively brought it up. Well, not really tentatively, I brought it up."
Beetz wasn't too worried about any backlash to her armpit hair as she was keen to call out the societal pressure women feel to shave — and the truth is, sometimes superheroes have more important things to worry about.
Who is the 'guy who can't draw feet'?
With almost all the X-Force team dead, it's down to Domino and Deadpool to try to protect Russell from Cable. After parachuting into the city, Domino heads straight for the prisoner transfer truck, and thanks to her luck powers, things miraculously fall into place around her and she lands inside the front compartment. But as this is going on, Wade is in her ear dissing her abilities. "It's just hard to picture, and certainly not very cinematic," he says as a car flips behind Domino in the background. "I mean, luck? What coked-out, glass pipe-sucking freak-show comic book artist came up with that little chestnut? Probably a guy who can't draw feet!" he continues to yell over coms, although the scene proves that Wade massively underestimates her powers.
His comments are typical Deadpool humor, but there's more to what he said than you might have realized watching "Deadpool 2" for the first time. Wade's quip about the "guy who can't draw feet" is actually a dig at Rob Liefeld, who created Deadpool in the comics. Liefeld is famed for never drawing feet in any of his work, typically cutting his characters off above their ankles, though as he has pointed out, this style of drawing quickly spread around the industry. Ryan Reynolds reached out to clear the joke with Liefeld, who was thrilled to be included in the movie. "There's no greater shout-out in the world," he told Inverse.
Ryan Reynolds secretly voiced Juggernaut
"Deadpool 2" takes the opportunity to introduce a few more morally gray characters — like Russell, who is not actually a bad guy, as his actions are a product of his environment and upbringing. Juggernaut, on the other hand, is intent on causing destruction. Having befriended Russell in the Ice Box, Juggernaut joins him in attacking the orphanage before taking on Deadpool, Domino, Cable, Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Yukio in the final battle.
Juggernaut's reintroduction to the X-Men film universe was a major secret prior to the release of "Deadpool 2." All the secrecy paid off as Juggernaut was a surprise that not many people saw coming. But the biggest surprise of all was the A-list actor who ended up voicing Juggernaut: Ryan Reynolds, although he wasn't actually supposed to do it and isn't named as the voice of Juggernaut in the credits.
After "Deadpool 2" was released, Reynolds revealed to Empire that he'd just been standing in until they could find the real voice actor, which never happened. "I just did it as a kind of temp. It was this sort of Brooklyn brawler voice that we modulated in post, and cranked up and gave it all this bass and reverberation," he explained. "We didn't settle on that just because it was quality, we settled on that because we just didn't have any more budget left for other actors to jump in." Director David Leitch ended up doing the motion capture for Juggernaut.
Deadpool 2 almost had an alternate ending
At the end of "Deadpool 2", armed with Cable's time travel device, Wade makes some pretty major changes to the timeline. First, he goes back in time to save Vanessa, killing her attacker with a cream cheese spreader before he can get a shot off. Then he pokes fun at the past roles of Ryan Reynolds, killing the version of Deadpool he played in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and putting a bullet in Reynolds' head before he can play Green Lantern.
It's a pretty happy ending overall, and it creates a clear path for Morena Baccarin to appear in "Deadpool 3," where Vanessa may transform into the mutant superhero Copycat. But "Deadpool 2" almost had a completely different ending where this probably wouldn't have happened. Co-writer Rhett Reese said the team was initially happy with their decision to kill Vanessa off and leave it like that. "We originally did not save her," Reese admitted to CBR. "It was interesting — we thought we might have to save her with the time machine, because the audience would be mad at us, but they were accepting of her being dead."
Bringing Vanessa back was ultimately a last-minute decision, but they felt it was the best fit for the story and the future of the franchise. Luckily, when they called Baccarin up to tell her of this change, she was very receptive to the news.
Why the baby Hitler scene didn't make it into the movie
One of Wade's time-traveling adventures that didn't make it into the movie involved him going back in time to kill Hitler as a baby. In the deleted post-credits scene, he's ready to go full Deadpool on the newborn infant, but then starts to struggle with the decision. Despite giving himself a pep talk, he then admits, "I think we both know I don't have what it takes to do this," as he cradles the baby.
The scene was eventually released as part of the "Super Duper Cut" in August 2018. Discussing the decision not to include the scene in the theatrically released version of the movie, Ryan Reynolds told The Hollywood Reporter that there was a big debate behind the scenes. "I always loved it, because it created the same debate in our edit room as it does in the streets of the world," he explained. "It was debated back and forth, and over and over again. We were all a little nervous about it, wondering, 'Is it too much?'" In the end, "none of us could come to a consensus on how to handle it, so our final decision was to just not handle it, to just not put it in the movie," Reynolds added.