From the looks of things in the trailers, it seems Deadpool & Wolverine is going to have many cameos from characters from the Fox X-Men universe. One scene in the second trailer shows Cassandra Nova, probably the film’s main villain, emerging in front of several characters in the Void. Her stronghold seems to be the dead body of an Ant-Man variant. Eagle-eyed Marvel fans will notice several mutants from the Fox X-Men films standing about. While we can’t confirm if the original actors return to these roles, we can tell it’s those same characters at least. Here’s who we know is in the Void with Logan and Wade in the Deadpool & Wolverine trailers, and which X-Men films they originated from.
X-23/Laura Kinney (Logan)
The biggest reveal from a Deadpool & Wolverine trailer or ad is that Dafne Keen is returning at Laura Kinney, a.k.a. X-23, reprising her role from Logan. While Dafne play the same version of Logan’s daughter from the previous film, or are we looking at a variant here? We have a feeling this character is going to be more than just a cameo appearance, perhaps setting herself up for a future in the MCU.
Azazel (X-Men: First Class)
One of the easiest characters to spot at the giant Ant-Man corpse that is Cassandra Nova’s HQ is none other than Azazel. The red-hued demonic-looking mutant first appeared in 2011’s X-Men: First Class. In that film, he was one of Sebastian Shaw’s henchmen in the Hellfire Club. However, the movies explained that he died between the events of that film and Days of Future Past. Perhaps he didn’t really die, and they sent him to the Void? Azazel was once believed to be Nightcrawler’s father in the comics. However, recent events show that Mystique was Nightcrawler’s father, and conceived Nightcrawler while using Azazel’s form. Jason Flemyng portrayed Azazel in First Class. Will he return for Deadpool & Wolverine? We still don’t know.
Lady Deathstrike (X2: X-Men: United)
Lady Deathstrike threw down with Wolverine in one of the best-ever X-Men films, X2: X-Men United. The movie reimagined Yuriko Oyama as an experiment of William Stryker’s in the Weapon X project, just like Logan. She was a mutant with a healing factor like Wolverine’s, and had similarly grafted adamantium claws. This is a significant change from her comic book counterpart. Nevertheless, Kelly Hu and Hugh Jackman had a legendary fight in the climax of X2, where Deathstrike appeared to definitively die. It seems like a version of her still exists in the Void, so we may finally see the Wolverine/Deathstrike rematch after two decades. Hopefully, with Kelly Hu in the role.
Sabretooth (X-Men)
Rumors persist that the Liev Schreiber version of Sabretooth from X-Men: Origins will appear in Deadpool & Wolverine, yet the version in the trailer is confirmed as the Tyler Mane iteration from the first X-Men. It was always unclear if both versions of the animalistic mutant were meant to be the same character or not. Yet this is the version who said to Storm “You owe me a scream” back in 2000, now stuck in the Void.
Toad (X-Men)
Another veteran of the original X-Men film who seems to be lurking in the shot of everyone together is Toad. In the first X-Men film, Darth Maul performer Ray Park portrayed Magneto’s amphibian lackey. He even had a big battle moment with Jean Grey. Storm dispatched him as she uttered the lines “Do you know what happens to a toad when it’s struck by lightning?” True, it seemed like Toad kicked the bucket after Storm smoked him. But maybe he was just discarded with the other Fox mutants in the Void?
Pyro (X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand)
We first saw Aaron Stanford’s fire-controlling mutant Pyro in the first trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine. This was his big comeback, after a serious head butt from Iceman in X-Men: The Last Stand. It’s hard to say if it’s the version from the previous Fox X-Men films, or some kind of variant—a variant that is now stuck in the Void. Unlike the other characters, we can at least confirm the same actor plays Pyro from the original X-Men films.
There Will Be More Cameos to Come for Deadpool & Wolverine
We bet we can expect many more cameos to come when Deadpool & Wolverine releases in theaters. But the good news is that all of these cameos will serve a purpose in the story of the movie.
Recently, director Shawn Levy shared, “I’ll say we didn’t start off with a wishlist. From the day we started devising this Deadpool and Wolverine story, we let the story dictate the characters, not the other way around. Aaron and his return as Pyro was an outgrowth of that, and that applies to pretty much all the characters you’ll see in the movie.”
We can’t wait to see what other Fox X-Men cameos will come our way as we learn more about Deadpool & Wolverine.
Originally published on April 22, 2024.
