Breaking down over 70 cameos, Easter Eggs, and references in Deadpool and Wolverine

The closer we got to the release of Deadpool and Wolverine, the more it seemed like the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie would be filled with plenty of secrets and cameos for audiences to enjoy. Rumors flew like crazy months before shooting even finished and - to add fuel to the fire - early previews of Ryan Renolds' latest movie highlighted how it had many mind-blowing surprises. Going in blind was heavily advised so that audiences could be blown away by what was awaiting them on the big screen.

So with expectations at an all-time high, I went into Deadpool & Wolverine with a pocket notebook ready to write down any cameo and Easter Egg I laid my eyes upon. Fortunately, those expectations paid off big time, as countless surprises awaited to be discovered from the very first scene. It's no exaggeration to say the film has more jaw-dropping references than any other MCU movie to date. So it's time to break seventy of them down!

But before we begin, it's important to note a few secrets could've slipped past me. So if there's any Easter Egg that isn't discussed here, be sure to let us know on our social media pages! And more importantly: there will be SPOILERS for Deadpool & Wolverine below. So if you don't want any surprises ruined, be sure to bookmark this page and return after you've watched the movie. Now, without further ado, let's kick things off!

MCU Easter Eggs

From the get-go, there's a scene where Wade Wilson is interviewed by Happy Hoggan to be a part of The Avengers. While it isn't clearly specified, we can assume the interview takes place in The Avengers tower as we see a lot of memorabilia from Earth's Mightiest Heroes, including:

1. The suitcase armor - better known as the Mark V suit - from Iron Man 2.
2. Captain America's prototype shield from Iron Man 2.
3. A Forbes magazine that features Pepper Potts on the cover.
4. The helmet of the Mark ll Iron Man armor from Iron Man.
5. An Iron Man toy helmet worn by Peter Parker in Iron Man 2.
6. A glass box from Iron Man containing Tony Stark's first arc reactor with the phrase "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart" engraved.
7. The picture of Tony Stark and Peter Parker in Stark Industries from Avengers: Endgame.
8. Wade mentions he was using toy Hulk hands to do... well, unspeakable things.

As if that wasn't enough, there are multiple other references to the Avengers and the MCU as a whole scattered throughout the movie, such as:

1. The scene where Earth's Mightiest Heroes first assemble in the MCU is shown at the T.V.A.
2. When Wade Wilson takes a multiversal variant of Logan to the T.V.A. he says something along the lines of "On your left, baby girl". However, Wolverine is to his right in that scene. So perhaps that phrase is a reference to when Captain America says "on your left" to Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
3. Thor's comic-book helmet and Captain America's original comic-book shield are seen lying on the ground when Deadpool and Wolverine are first pruned and transported to The Void.
4. The pruned Helicarrier that made an appearance on Loki returned in Deadpool & Wolverine.
5. On the same page, a pruned Chitauri Leviathan can be seen on The Void.
6. The Avengers' theme music can be heard playing in the background when Chris Evans (who Deadpool believes to be Captain America) is about to fight Pyro.
7. Ant-Man's giant corpse is Cassandra Nova's base of operations in The Void.
8. Alioth, the terrifying cloud-like monster from Loki, makes a return in Deadpool & Wolverine during multiple sequences in The Void.
9. Rembember the Q-Ship? It was Thanos's giant ring-like ship seen in Avengers: Infinity War. Well, it appears some of them were pruned as they can be seen in The Void.
10. Deadpool pretends to shoot webs ala Spider-Man when he's traveling with Logan by car.
11. A Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch carving can be seen on the roof of X-23's hideout.
12. The Benatar - ship to the Guardians of the Galaxy - can be seen in The Void when Deadpool, Logan, X-23, Elektra, Blade, and Gambit are on their way to Cassandra's base.
13. A variant of Doctor Strange was, at some point, in The Void as Cassandra has his Sling Ring.
14. Deadpool and Wolverine eat shawarma after saving the day, a la Avengers.

MCU Cameos

While Deadpool & Wolverine mostly focuses on X-Men cameos, that doesn't mean there aren't surprises in store for MCU fans, such as the appearances of:

1. Happy Hogan - Tony Stark's right hand - when he interviews Wade to become an Avenger. Jon Favreau reprises his role for the first time since Spider-Man: No Way Home.
2. Footage of Captain America appears multiple times on the T.V.A.'s screens.
3. Thor makes an appearance in footage from the future captured by the T.V.A. Apparently - at some point in the future - the God of Thunder will hold Wade's dying body in his arms. It seems that this was unused footage from Loki's death scene in Thor: The Dark World.
4. Hulk makes an appearance fighting Wolverine in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment. That short (yet awesome) cameo happens when Wade travels to many realities to find a new Logan to be the anchor being of his universe.
5. Hunter B-15 - from the Loki series - appears near the movie's end after discovering Paradox's evil plans.

Marvel Fox universe cameos:

Deadpool and Wolverine had the difficult task of introducing the Merc With A Mouth to the MCU, while also giving closure to the 20th Century Fox Marvel universe. Fortunately, the movie succeeded at both duties with surprising ease. As a result, fans can witness jaw-dropping cameos from previous Fox movies, and here are some of the best:

1. Chris Evans makes a return to the MCU. But this time, instead of playing Captain America, he reprises his role as the Human Torch from 2005's Fantastic Four (and its 2007 sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer).
2. Tyler Mane’s Sabretooth makes a return on the big screen and fights Wolverine in The Void.
3. Mortimer Toynbee - better known as Toad - forms part of Cassandra Nova's henchmen in The Void.
4. Pyro - an X-men who can control fire- also makes an appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine as seen in the movie's trailers. Aaron Stanford reprises his role from X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand.
5. Azazel, who appeared in X-Men: First Class, also makes a big-screen return.
6. Lady Deathstrike is a part of Cassandra Nova's followers. The character previously appeared in X2.
7. Jennifer Garner's Elektra joins forces with Deadpool along with other unexpected heroes. Garner previously appeared in 2003's Daredevil and 2005's Elektra.
8. Laura Kinney - better known as X-23 - makes her second big-screen appearance after Logan.

Other multiversal cameos

Would Deadpool & Wolverine really be a multiversal movie if it didn't let us see the return of iconic characters from other realities? Fortunately, the movie does exactly that and more. It also goes the extra mile to let us catch a glimpse of our beloved heroes portrayed by different actors. Here are some examples:

1. Henry Cavil appears as a multiversal variant of Wolverine, which felt like a dream come true.
2. An iteration of Juggernaut - meant to be closer to the version seen in X-Men: The Last Stand - appears on screen but isn't played by actor Vinnie Jones.
3. A multiversal variant of Psylocke appears in The Void as one of Cassandra's followers.
4. Wesley Snipes' Blade made a return to the big screen after a twenty-year hiatus, and he helps Deadpool and Wolverine on their mission to escape The Void.
5. Channing Tatum (finally) gets to play Gambit. After all, he was set to star in a Gambit movie before the project was ultimately canceled.

Comic book references

If paying homage to tens of Marvel movies wasn't enough, Deadpool and Wolverine is also filled with a few cool secrets for comic book fans to spot:

1. Hugh Jackman plays a "comic-book-accurate" variant of Logan in a different universe that is way shorter than anyone could've expected.
2. A white-bearded Logan in a coat appears when Deadpool tries to find a Wolverine to be an anchor being. That's a live-action adaptation of the Old Man Logan comic book look.
3. A crucified Logan appears during the "finding-a-Wolverine" montage about thirty minutes into the movie. That's a recreation of the cover of Uncanny X-Men #251.
4. A multiversal variant of Wolverine is seen using an eye patch and a white suit. That's a reference to Patch, the name given to Logan in Madripoor during the Wolverine: Patch comic book run.
5. Cassandra Nova's henchmen use the Fantasti-Car to traverse The Void.
6. Stan Lee's cameos were a given in the MCU prior to his unfortunate passing. However, he appears one last time in Deadpool & Wolverine on a bus billboard that reads "Your friendly neighborhood cleaners: Stanlee Steamers".

The many, many variants of Deadpool

As expected, Deadpool & Wolverine features many different variants of The Merc With a Mouth. While we weren't able to identify every single one of them (as there were too many), here are a few:

1. Nicepool
2. Dogpool
3. Ladypool (voiced by Blake Lively)
4. Headpool / Zombie Deadpool
5. Canadapool
6. Dancepool
7. Kidpool
8. Babypool
9. Samurai Deadpool
10. Magician Deadpool
11. Cowboy Deadpool (voiced by Matthew McConaughey)
12. Deadpool 2099
13. Golden Age Deadpool
14. Zenpool

Fourth wall references

It wouldn't be a proper Deadpool movie without many fourth-wall-breaking moments that reference the real world. And wouldn't you know it, but those are perfect instances to hide little details, such as:

1. Kevin Feige - the mastermind behind the MCU - is brought up in a conversation between Blind Al and Wade Wilson near the beginning of the movie. The two mention how cocaine is the only thing "Feige" says is off-limits.
2. When Paradox reveals that Deadpool will finally join the MCU, the Merc With a Mouth says something along the lines of "The power in the Marvel Universe is about to change forever". This could be a reference to the Rock's statement about how "the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change" prior to the release of Black Adam.
3. When a T.V.A. agent insults Canada, Wade proceeds to deliver the lines "Get my country's name out of your f*****g mouth". That's a reference to when Will Smith said "Get my wife's name out of your f****g mouth" to Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards.
4. When Wade Wilson is talking to a variant of Logan portrayed by Henry Cavill, the former says: "We will treat you so much better than those s**t f**ks down the street" which is most likely playfully referring to his time as Superman for DC.
5. There is a giant 20th Century Fox Studios logo pruned in The Void.

Other (minor) details

To wrap things up, let's discuss a few minor (or obvious) details that also made it into the movie:

1. Deadpool now appears twice in the Marvel opening theme.
2. Deadpool's new katanas are made of Adamantium - which is the same material Wolverine's claws are made of.
3. A Secret Wars comic book is seen on The Void when Deadpool first arrives there.
4. The main theme of Logan sounds at various points in the movie, such as when Paradox shows Logan's death scene in the T.V.A.
5. When Cassandra Nova is first introduced, she's using Charles Xavier's wheelchair.
6. Magneto, The Punisher, Quicksilver, and Daredevil are all mentioned by X-23's resistance group in the Void.
7. Wolverine mentions Scott, Jean, Beast, and Storm when tellng X-23 how they all wanted him to wear the yellow super suit.

And that's it! Those were all the cameos, Easter Eggs, secrets, and references we were able to find in Deadpool and Wolverine. And who knows? Perhaps more little details will come up on the mandatory re-watches we'll do because, yes, the movie is just that good. So stick around Bam Smack Pow for more coverage on Deadpool's latest adventure.