Every Deadpool & Wolverine cameo explained: X-Men, Blade & more

Deadpool & Wolverine is already a box office hit, and a lot of that is thanks to the exciting cameos the film features throughout.

Deadpool & Wolverine is a dream for fans hungry for new MCU content, as the Merc with a Mouth and Weapon X finally meet. More than that, though, Deadpool & Wolverine is loaded to bear with cameos featuring heroes and villains from previous films, specifically the Marvel films produced by 20th Century Fox.

Deadpool & Wolverine marks an exciting nexus point for longtime Marvel fans as the fan-favorite X-Men franchise, which was shepherded by 20th Century Fox before it was consumed by the Disney machine, finally slams into the MCU.

While Deadpool & Wolverine doesn’t necessarily go so far as to bring the X-Men into the MCU wholesale, the latest Marvel movie does capitalize on the fervor with cameos from the 20+ years of Marvel movies. In case you missed some, here’s every cameo from 2024’s biggest superhero movie to date, Deadpool & Wolverine.

Happy Hogan

Jon Favreau makes a surprise return as Happy Hogan, seemingly just before Tony Stark makes his ultimate sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame.

Ironically, Favreau kind of pulls double duty. He previously played Happy Hogan in Fox’s Daredevil movie, though even the sarcastic Deadpool doesn’t bring attention to this during his meeting.

X-Force

Most of X-Force–Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Yukio, Shatterstar, Dopinder, and Peter–are seen in the trailer during Deadpool’s birthday, right before he’s whisked away by the TVA. 

Early reports have suggested these appearances are little more than cameos, tying into the team’s survival after Deadpool rewrote history in the Deadpool 2 end credits. And while X-Force, along with Blind Al and Vanessa, appear to be small appearances in the film, it’s worth noting that Cable won’t be returning for this outing. 

Hulk

A dark horse cameo from seemingly out of nowhere, buzz started in June that the Hulk would show up in Deadpool & Wolverine.

The cameo is incredibly brief, but it appears to be the Mark Ruffalo incarnation of the Hulk. He appears for a brief scene referencing Wolverine’s first appearance, where Deadpool walks out into a universe with Wolverine and the Hulk are about to throw down.

Henry Cavill

Henry Cavill makes his surprise debut in the MCU in a cameo no one saw coming. He appears in an alternate universe as a new version of Wolverine.

Henry Cavill as Wolverine came about in much the same way John Krasinski wound up playing Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Cavill has been a long-time fan cast for Wolverine, and the appearance here is a fun nod to those passionate fans.

Human Torch

Long before he was Captain America, Chris Evans delighted fans as the first live-action Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch (well, the second if you count the infamous unreleased Fantastic Four movie from 1994).

Evans’ cameo is a huge fakeout, leading fans who had forgotten about his previous Fantastic Four work into believing it was a Captain America cameo. Johnny winds up being surprisingly relevant to the plot and gets one of the film’s most memorable deaths.

Pyro

One of the first surprise confirmations for Deadpool & Wolverine was the return of Pyro, seen in one trailer in a costume that skews a touch closer to his comic look, though he is notably older and appears to have been through the wringer. Calling him a cameo feels almost like a stretch since the film reveals he’s a double agent working with the TVA’s Paradox.

Fans last saw Pyro in a knock-down, drag-out fight with Iceman at the end of The Last Stand, where he was soundly beaten. He was among the mutants confirmed killed by Sentinels in X-Men: Days of Future Past, but it’s unclear what his fate was in the revamped X-Men movie timeline. 

Sabretooth

After numerous rumors and set photos teasing his arrival, a June 28 trailer finally confirmed the return of Wolverine’s long-time nemesis, Sabretooth. He appears in the void briefly to fight Wolverine, only to get decapitated for his trouble.

The Sabretooth last seen on film was the Liev Schreiber version from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. However, Deadpool & Wolverine will feature the version from 2000’s X-Men, played by former pro wrestler Tyler Mane.

Juggernaut

There’s a ton of old X-Men and Fox cameos hanging around in the background of Cassandra Nova’s base. One of the most important to the film’s narrative is an X-Men: The Last Stand-inspired Juggernaut.

Vinnie Jones was adamant before release that he would not appear in Deadpool & Wolverine, saying he didn’t want to wear the muscle suit again. The Juggernaut here appears to be a different version of the character from throughout the Multiverse.

Toad

Deadpool & Wolverine also sees the return of Toad, as portrayed by Darth Maul actor Ray Park for 2000’s X-Men. This marks only the second appearance of this Toad; he was reportedly planned to appear in early X2: X-Men United drafts, but was cut fromt he final version.

Missing from the Void is the Fox Universe’s second Toad. The character was recast with actor Evan Jonigkeit for Days of Future Past’s 1960s setting, though he’s barely in the film.

A plethora of old X-Men villain variants

Other close-but-not-quite versions of popular X-Men villains are hanging around too, including Calisto, Lady Deathstrike, Psylocke, and Azazel.

They all appear to be new actors playing the roles, implying they’re all variants rather than the original versions. Most are mainly there to be in the big final fight at Cassandra Nova’s base.

Alioth

Cameo? Recurring threat? A hint of what’s to come in the film? Either way, Alioth from the Loki TV series briefly shows up in the trailer. 

Alioth is the living storm that guards The Void, where variants pruned by the TVA inevitably wind up. We’ve already seen set photos showing off Deadpool and Wolverine fighting in a world littered with Easter eggs, so is it possible the two find themselves pruned? 

Elektra

Stranded in The Void, Deadpool and Wolverine find themselves helped out by a surprise band of resistance fighters. Included among these is the return of Jennifer Garner as the Greek assassin, Elektra.

First appearing in 2003’s Daredevil solo film, Garner’s Elektra is somewhat infamous. She was one of the few FOX characters to get a spin-off film, but Elektra was a notorious flop.

Blade

More infamous than Garnet’s Elektra is easily the controversial Wesley Snipes, who returns as Blade. The Blade of the void appears to specifically be the exact version from the previous film franchise.

Blade appearing is shockingly appopriate, as the success of his 1998 film is why films like Deadpool & Wolverine can exist in the first place. But his apperance is more notable as it highlights the healing of a rift between him and Blade: Trinity co-star Ryan Reynolds.

Gambit

A long time ago, Gambit was just a pipe dream of 21 Jump Street star Channing Tatum. The cajun X-Man was meant to receive his own solo film, but the project seemed snakebit from the start.

There was a previous live-action Gambit played by Taylor Kitsche, but he’s nowhere to be seen here. Tatum’s cameo does make for a great nod to eager fans who never got to see the Gambit film they all wanted.

X-23

A surprise that was dropped right before release, Dafne Keen returns as Logan’s surrogate daughter X-23/Laura, though it’s not clear if she’s a variant or the specific version from Logan.

She seems to have very much the same arc as her Logan counterpart, nonetheless, having been saved by a depressed and broken Logan. Unlike the other cameos, she seems to get a second chance, too, appearing in the film’s coda alongside Logan at Deadpool’s party.

Rob McElhenney

To the surprise of no one, Ryan Reynolds’ real-life best friend, Rob McElhenney, will be a cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine. The cameo was confirmed on an episode of the duo’s football reality series, Welcome to Wrexham.

It sure seems as though McElhenney took a page out of Daniel Craig’s playbook for The Force Awakens, appearing in a cameo where you can’t actually see his face. McElhenney shared an image to his Instagram of him in a TVA costume with Hugh Jackman. However, McElhenney also implies his cameo may have been cut.

Hunter B-15

Returning from the Loki series is Hunter B-15, as played by Wunmi Mosaku. We last saw B-15 in the Loki Season 2 finale, where she took control of the TVA after Loki saved the Sacred Timeline.

B-15 proves to be one of the sole authority figures in the film, stepping in at the conclusion to put Paradox in his place and reveal the timeline is saved. Based on her interactions with Peter, though, she may be due for a little romance the next time we see her.

The Avengers

Deadpool’s triumphant debut in the MCU calls for a triumphant arrangement of MCU heroes to usher him in. Fortunately, Deadpool & Wolverine was able to get the best cameos… if only via archive footage. 

Archive footage from Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor Ragnarok and Captain America: The Winter Soldier are used for the scene where Deadpool arrives in the TVA. There’s also a scene from Thor: The Dark World edited to feature Thor over a dying Deadpool, though Wade doesn’t know why he’s crying.

Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters now. You can also read our ranking of DiGiorno’s Deadpool & Wolverine pizzas or the fake movie Ryan Reynolds almost made. You can also read up on the best new movies on streaming this month or all the upcoming Disney+ releases.