All the Deadpool & Wolverine easter eggs and inside jokes you might have missed

MCU is dead! Long live MCU. With much speculation and uncertainty about Marvel’s future, Deadpool and Wolverine moved from Fox to Disney and brought record-breaking opening weekends in theaters. The movie feels like it was made by a group of nerdy buddies for a very specific audience of in-the-know millennials, with Deadpool searching for purpose and asking his idol, Wolverine, to save the world. Any attempts in the movie to explain the plot or raise the stakes are half-baked and completely secondary to its main purpose of being violent, silly and irreverent.

Marvel movies are famously packed with inside jokes, subtle references, and plenty of subtle asides that offer something for die-hard fans, and Deadpool & Wolverine is no exception. With Wade Wilson addressing the audience and pointing out a lot of what’s going on, here’s a non-exhaustive list of notable Easter eggs, allusions, callbacks, and inside jokes in the film that you may have missed.

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Superhero and villain cameos

Fox characters, assemble!

20th Century Studios/Marvel.

In the Void, Deadpool and Wolverine encounter some former superheroes who’ve had mixed reviews on film. First up is Chris Evans’ Johnny Storm, who makes a surprising appearance in a few scenes and does everything he can to defy his golden boy image as Captain America. This guy’s got all the right talents! As Deadpool tries to assemble a team to take on Cassandra Nova, he encounters some more familiar faces from the Fox Cinematic Universe.

First up is Jennifer Garner as Elektra, who first appeared in the 2003 film Daredevil and later starred in her own film, and second is Wesley Snipes as Blade, who has perhaps the best comic book movie record of any guest.

Channing Tatum will be appearing as Gambit, whose existence has become something of an industry joke among insiders: Like Ryan Reynolds’ love affair with Deadpool, Tatum has long wanted the role and has come close to doing so many times, only for the Fox-Disney merger to kill his hopes. Or is that true?

Finally, X-23 (Dafne Keen) will return to our screens after her prominent role in Logan opposite Hugh Jackman.

Interestingly, several heroes who supposedly perished in the Void are mentioned but never seen, including Quicksilver, the Punisher, Daredevil, and even a variant of Magneto and Professor X. Luckily for our heroes, Doctor Strange also survived, conveniently leaving his sling ring behind.

The Void also sees the return of some familiar and often forgotten villains from Fox’s past films, including Toad and Sabretooth from X-Men, Pyro from X2, Callisto and Juggernaut from X-Men: The Last Stand, and Azazel from X-Men: First Class. Mutants v Psylocke and the Russian from The Punisher also make an appearance in the battle at Cassandra’s base.

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Deadpool and Wolverine Variations

Deadpool Army Showdown

When Deadpool goes looking for a Wolverine to fill the Logan-sized hole in his world, he meets a bunch of totally unsuitable Wolverines until he finds the perfect one, including the short King Wolverine, which is basically a joke about Hugh Jackman being too tall to play Wolverine.

There are also James Bond-esque Wolverine sub-species patches. There are also a few references to the comics, including Fever Dream Wolverine crucified on a giant “X” and Age of Apocalypse Wolverine missing one hand. There’s also a recreation of Wolverine’s first appearance in the comics, where he faces off against the Hulk, who makes a brief cameo in the film. The only person who actually makes a cameo in this scene is Henry Cavill, who plays a sub-species called Cavill-rin. A third-act battle sees the title heroes face off against a horde of Deadpool sub-species. There are quite a few. But there’s a face of note hiding behind the mask. It’s not Reynolds’ friend Taylor Swift who plays Ladypool, but his partner Blake Lively, who also appears in Gossip Girl at the beginning of the film. Nathan Fillion plays the creepy Headpool, and Matthew McOnie appears as Cowboypool.

Reynolds also cast some of his acquaintances in the roles: Wrexham footballer Paul Mullin plays “Welshpool” and his children Inez and Olin play Kidpool and Babypool respectively.

Some of the variations include comic book favorites such as Roninpool, Knightpool, Zenpool, and Golden Age Deadpool.

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Decor, crafts and memorabilia galore

The void is full of garbage

In a fun opening scene, Deadpool applies to join the Avengers alongside Happy Hogan, and while the office is filled with Avengers knickknacks and memorabilia, the most prominent item is Iron Man’s arc reactor, which could be considered the beginning of the MCU.

You can also see Captain America’s shield prototype, Agent Coulson’s Captain America card from the first Avengers movie, Ultron’s Iron Man mask, and an Iron Man Mark V briefcase. There’s also a Pepper Potts magazine cover and a Stark Expo poster.

Scattered around the Void are numerous artifacts and relics from other Marvel and Fox films and shows. This includes a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, parts of Thanos’ Q-Ship, a Chitauri Leviathan, a Guardians of the Galaxy ship, and a giant 20th Century Fox logo. Captain America’s shield and Thor’s helmet can also be seen. In the background, Asgard Castle and a stone wall carving of the Scarlet Witch can also be seen.

Cassandra has Thanos’ throne in her lair, and her minions drive familiar looking vehicles around the Void, including Red Skull’s car, a Chimichanga truck, Tony Stark’s old hot rod, and a Fantastic Car. Cassandra’s base also has sentinel feet, which Deadpool and Wolverine use to escape before Arios arrives.

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Industry Jokes

You need to follow the news to get these

20th Century Studios/Marvel.

There are a lot of jokes that aren’t funny unless you have some knowledge of everything going on in the film industry, especially what’s happened between Disney and Fox over the past few years. Deadpool makes jokes about recent struggling movies and off-screen issues, noting that Wolverine joined the MCU at “the lowest point.” He also goes on a little rant about the multiverse and how it’s not working (though Spider-Man and this movie might suggest otherwise).

The “Ryefield’s Just Feet” store, prominently featured during the street fight, is an internal reference to Deadpool creator Rob Ryefield and the struggles he had drawing feet in the comics. When meeting superheroes from the past, Deadpool apologizes to Elektra for Daredevil not coming, to which Elektra responds “It’s okay,” a joke on Garner’s divorce from Daredevil actor Ben Affleck. Jackman is also blamed by Deadpool for the divorce.

As they storm the castle, Deadpool asks who the Punisher is, having been played by so many different actors. Wesley Snipes cuts in and says there is and always will be one Blade, a joke on the problems Mahershala Ali’s Blade films continue to face (although Snipes may be right; it wasn’t mentioned at SDCC). Snipes also tells Deadpool, “I don’t like you,” to which Deadpool replies, “I never liked you,” a reference to Reynolds’ portrayal of Hannibal King in Blade: Trinity.

Of course, a Marvel movie wouldn’t exist without creator Stan Lee, who appears on a bus ad during the street fight scene.

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Deadpool series revival

Did you pay attention?

20th Century Studios/Marvel.

Deadpool makes many jokes that only those who have seen his previous two films will understand. At a gathering of old friends and ex-lovers, he refers to X-Force and Cable’s lack of prominence by saying that they “didn’t do well in the tests.” He also refers to taking cocaine as a euphemism for “wanna build a snowman,” which is reminiscent of Deadpool’s earlier comment that the song “Want to Build a Snowman?” from Disney’s Frozen is just a riff on Yentl’s “Can You Hear Me, Daddy?”

Colossus mentions watching the British Bake Off, which is what Deadpool does when he’s feeling down. It’s the same in Deadpool 2 when Wilson tells Buck he’s not going to say another line and stops him right before he opens his mouth. “Angel in the Morning” plays in the background, the same song that plays in the Deadpool opening. There’s also a mention of Kevin the Scoutmaster, but if you don’t get it, I don’t want to explain it to you. That’s the best thing.

Whether you love Easter eggs, subtle references, and not-so-subtle jokes, or you think they’re a lazy substitute for thoughtful scripting and quality storytelling and just for corporate synergy, there’s no denying that Deadpool & Wolverine is full of them, and even if some don’t think they were fun to watch, they seemed fun to make.

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