One of the big surprises of the first Deadpool & Wolverine trailer was seeing Aaron Stanford reprising his role as Pyro from X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand. While we expected (and still expect) most of the mainline X-Men team from the original Fox films to appear in some form, it looks like some “deep cut” characters from the Fox Marvel films are popping up too. Here are the Fox X-Men characters we hope will make a cameo in the TVA’s pruned timeline wasteland known as the Void in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) From X2: X-Men United (Confirmed)
Although she didn’t say a word, Kelly Hu (The Orville) as Yuriko Oyama, also known as Lady Deathstrike in X2: X-Men United, left quite an impression. Especially on Wolverine, who she stabbed with her claws multiple times. The Japanese mutant had similar powers to Logan, and very similar adamantium claws as well. We’d love to see her pop up in the Void, maybe this time wearing her classic costume from the comics. This is a rematch we’d all love to see. And maybe the film can allow her to talk this time! Is that too much to ask?
Happily, Lady Deathstrike’s appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine has been confirmed. But we aren’t certain yet who will play the character.
Angel (Ben Foster) From X-Men: The Last Stand
As we said, we expect most of the major original X-Men cast to have cameos of some sort. And yes, this character in the comics is a major X-Man. However, in X-Men: The Last Stand, he barely spoke any lines. So he was not much more than a glorified cameo. But maybe the MCU could bring Ben Foster back as Warren Worthington III, a.k.a. the Angel, now lost in the Void? And if the movie really wanted to make fans go wild, it could turn him into his blue-skinned razor-winged persona of Archangel.
Psylocke (Olivia Munn) From X-Men: Apocalypse
We have a hunch that most of the returns from the Fox Marvel-verse in Deadpool & Wolverine are going to be from the original X-Men trilogy, as those are the films Kevin Feige had a personal hand in. Also, the main First Class stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Nicolas Hoult might be busy these days. Having said that, there’s one character from X-Men: Apocalypse that Fox perfectly cast—Olivia Munn as the psychic ninja called Psylocke. The film totally wasted her, but it would be fun to see her fight with (or against) Wolverine and Deadpool in the Void.
Darwin (Edi Gathegi) From X-Men: First Class
We love X-Men: First Class, but one of its character deaths was so ridiculous it has become a meme. The mutant Darwin was introduced in that film, played by Edi Gathegi. His power was the ability to evolve to adapt to any situation. But for some reason, he couldn’t adapt to Sebastian Shaw’s powers and died unceremoniously. It was a totally lame way for such a cool character to go out. Let’s see his variant show up in the Void and maybe not die in some super dumb way this time. We know DC recently cast actor Edi Gathegi in Superman: Legacy. But hopefully, he gets one more spin in the Marvel world.
Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones) From X-Men: First Class
Banshee is another First Class alum who didn’t return for X-Men: Days of Future Past. Mystique said Xavier’s student Sean Cassidy was killed in between films. But this is superhero storytelling. Unless there’s a body, you ain’t dead. (And even then, maybe not). So we’d love to see Caleb Landry Jones put on the gliders of the sonic-powered mutant again. Although, this time in green. Sorry, green and yellow are just Banshee’s colors. Marvel never portrayed Sean Cassidy as a teenager in the comics, so luckily, Caleb Landry Jones is now the perfect age to play a comics-accurate version of the Irish X-Man.
Madrox the Multiple Man (Eric Dane) From X-Men: The Last Stand
The 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand overflowed with mutant cameos, some better than others. One perfectly cast role was Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane as Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man. As his name suggests, Jamie can replicate himself into an infinite amount of identical copies. He was used better than most of the mutants in the third X-Men film, even if he was inexplicably a bad guy. But maybe he pops up in the Void, and lends Deadpool and Wolverine a hand for a great Fox X-Men character cameo. The leader of the Marvel mutant team X-Factor certainly has plenty of hands to spare.
Honorable Mention: The Human Torch (Chris Evans) From Fantastic Four 2005
We know we’re focusing on the X-Men films, but there’s nothing to say that other Fox heroes won’t make a cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine. After all, Jennifer Garner as Elektra is in this movie. So with all the speculation that Chris Evans is returning to the MCU, wouldn’t it be hilarious (and very Deadpool) if Evans reappeared, but as Johnny Storm, the Human Torch? He loves playing that character, and we’d love to see hothead Johnny annoy the ever-living crap out of Wade and Logan. We know Michael Chiklis is not coming back as the Thing, but we know we’d love to see Chris Evans yell “Flame on!” just one more time.
Originally published on February 14, 2024.