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

The MCU is dead! Long live the MCU. Amid much speculation and worry about the future of Marvel, Deadpool & Wolverine came to Disney from Fox and brought with them a record-breaking opening weekend in theaters. The movie, more or less made by a bunch of nerdy friends for a very specific audience of in-the-know Millennials, finds Deadpool searching for purpose and in need of his idol Wolverine to save his world. Any attempts in the film to explain the plot or raise the stakes are half-hearted and completely secondary to the main goal: to be violent, silly, and irreverent.

Marvel films notoriously feature inside jokes, subtle references, and lots of casual asides that offer something for diehard fans, and Deadpool & Wolverine is no exception, even as Wade Wilson talks to the audiences and points out a lot of things going on. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of the notable Easter eggs, allusions, call-backs, and inside jokes from the movie that you might have missed.

Superhero and villain cameos

Fox characters, assemble!

20th Century Studios / MARVEL.

In the Void, Deadpool and Wolverine meet a bunch of former superheroes whose big-screen movies were a mixed bag. The first is Johnny Storm, as played by Chris Evans, who surprisingly sticks around for a couple scenes and does whatever he can to subvert this golden boy image as Captain America. The man has range! As Deadpool looks to assemble a team later on to take on Cassandra Nova, he encounters a bunch more familiar faces from Fox Cinematic Universe.

The first to enter is Jennifer Garner as Elektra, who first appeared in 2003’s Daredevil and later her own film. Second up is Wesley Snipes as Blade, who arguably has the best comic book movie record of all the guests.

Channing Tatum then arrives as Gambit, whose presence is an industry-joke for those in the know. Like Ryan Reynolds’ passion for Deadpool, Tatum has long wanted to play Gambit, and tried to make it happen many times, and it got sort of close, but the Fox & Disney merger put an end to those hopes. Or did it?

Lastly, X-23 (Dafne Keen) makes her return to the screen after her pivotal role alongside Hugh Jackman in Logan.

Amusingly, there are a bunch of heroes who apparently died in the Void, referenced but not seen. That includes Quicksilver, Punisher, Daredevil, as well as Magneto and Professor X variants. Fortunately for our heroes, Dr. Strange also came through and conveniently left his sling ring.

The Void also welcomes back some familiar and maybe forgettable villains from previous Fox films. This includes Toad and Sabertooth from X-Men, Pyro from X2, Callisto and Juggernaut from X-Men: The Last Stand, and Azazel from X-Men: First Class. Mutant vPsylocke and The Russian from The Punisher also make an appearance in the battle at Cassandra’s base.

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Deadpool and Wolverine variants

Deadpool Corps face off

When Deadpool goes looking for a Wolverine to fill the Logan-sized hole in his world, he meets plenty that are just not quite the right fit before finding the perfect one. This includes Short King Wolverine, which is essentially a joke about Hugh Jackman being too tall to play Wolverine in the first place.

There is also Patch, a Wolverine variant with a James Bond Flair. There are a couple of comic book references, including Fever Dream Wolverine crucified on a giant ‘X,’ and Age of Apocalypse Wolverine, who is missing one hand. There is also a recreation of Wolverine’s first comic book appearance when he faces off against the Hulk, who makes a split second cameo in the movie. The only real cameo in this sequence is Henry Cavill as a variant dubbed Cavillrine. A third-act battle sees the title heroes face off against a horde of Deadpool variants: it’s a lot. Behind some of the masks, however, are some notable faces. Ladypool is played, not by Reynold’s friend Taylor Swift, but his partner, Blake Lively, who also gets a shout-out for Gossip Girl earlier in the movie. Nathan Filion plays the creepy Headpool, while Matthew McCoughney appears as Cowboypool.

Reynolds also enlisted some people he knows for some more roles. Wrexham football player Paul Mullin plays “Welshpool,” while two of his children, Inez and Olin, play Kidpool and Babypool, respectively.

Among the variants are some popular ones from the comics, including Roninpool, Knightpool, Zenpool, and Golden Age Deadpool.

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Trinkets, artifacts, and memorabilia abound

The Void is full of trash

An amusing early scene sees Deadpool applying to join the Avengers with Happy Hogan. The office is full of Avengers trinkets and memorabilia, perhaps most notably by Iron Man’s arc reactor, which sort of started all of this MCU stuff.

You can also see a Captain America’s shield prototype, Agent Coulson’s Captain America cards from the first Avengers movie, an Ultron 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 plenty of artifacts and relics from other Marvel and Fox films and shows. This includes a SHIELD Helicarrier, a piece of Thanos’ Q-Ship, a Chitauri Leviathan, a Guardians of the Galaxy ship, and a giant 20th Century Fox logo. You can also spy a Captain America shield and a Thor helmet. You may also notice Asgard castle in the background as well as a stone wall carving of the Scarlet Witch.

Cassandra has Thanos’ throne in her lair, while her assortment of goons drive some recognizable vehicles around the Void, including Red Skull’s car, a Chimichanga truck, an old Tony Stark Hot Rod, and the Fantasticar. There is also a sentinel leg in Cassandra’s base, which Deadpool & Wolverine use to conveniently escape before Alioth arrives.

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Industry jokes

You need to follow the news to get these ones

20th Century Studios / MARVEL.

There are a bunch of jokes that are only funny if you have some knowledge of all the goings-on in the film industry, particularly what has happened over the last many years between Disney and Fox. Deadpool references Wolverine joining the MCU at a “low point,” a joke about some recent struggling films and off-screen issues. He also goes on a bit of a rant about the multiverse and how it’s just not working out (although Spider-Man and this movie might suggest otherwise).

A shop that features prominence during the street fight called Liefield’s Just Feet is a very inside reference to Deadpool creator Rob Liefield and his struggle to draw feet in comics. When meeting superheroes from time gone by, Deadpool apologizes to Elektra that Daredevil didn’t make it, to which she replies, “it’s fine,” a joke about Garner’s divorce from Daredevil actor Ben Affleck. Jackman also gets called out by Deadpool for his divorce as well.

When storming the castle, Deadpool asks about the identity of Punisher, as he’s been portrayed by various actors. Wesley Snipes jumps in to say there’s only one Blade, and “there’s only ever going to be one Blade,” a joke about the continued problems that Mahershala Ali’s Blade movie keeps encountering (Snipes might be right: it wasn’t mentioned at SDCC). Snipes also says, “I don’t like you” to Deadpool, to which he responds, “you never did,” referring to Reynold’s turn as Hannibal King in Blade: Trinity.

Of course, a Marvel movie couldn’t exist without creator Stan Lee. He is seen on a bus advertisement in the street fight.

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Deadpool franchise throwbacks

Did you pay attention?

20th Century Studios / MARVEL.

Deadpool makes a lot of quips that only resonate if you’ve seen his previous two films. When his old friends and ex-girlfriend gather around, he mentions the notable lack of X-Force and Cable, saying they “didn’t test well.” A euphemism for doing cocaine is referred to as wanting to build a snowman, which throws back to Deadpool’s earlier musing that the song from Disney’s Frozen, “Do you want to build a snowman?” is just a riff on “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” from Yentl.

Colossus mentions watching the Great British Bake-Off, which is something Deadpool did when he was feeling low. In Deadpool 2, Wilson tells Buck he won’t get anymore speaking lines, and that holds true when he stops Buck just before he opens his mouth. “Angel in the Morning” plays in the background, the same song that played in the opening of Deadpool. There’s also another reference to Scoutmaster Kevin, which if you don’t get, I don’t want to explain to you. It’s for the best.

Whether you love all the Easter eggs, subtle references, and not-so-subtle jokes, or you think they are a lazy substitute for thoughtful writing and quality storytelling and are only in the service of corporate synergy, there’s no denying Deadpool & Wolverine is packed full of them. It sure seemed fun to make, even if some didn’t think it fun to watch.

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