Trivia: Vinnie Jones claimed he was offered a cameo role in this film reprising his role as Juggernaut from X-Men: The Last Stand, but turned it down as he did not like the process of having his costume put on.
Trivia: Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige initially advised Hugh Jackman not to return to the role of Wolverine, as he felt Logan was the perfect sendoff for his portrayal of the character.
Trivia: SPOILER: Following his appearance in this film, Guinness World Records recognized Wesley Snipes as having the longest career for playing a Marvel character in live action at 25 years and 340 days, surpassing the record previously held by Patrick Stewart. He also had the longest gap between appearances, at 19 years and 231 days, surpassing the record previously held by Alfred Molina.
Trivia: SPOILER: When Blade is about to blow up the entrance to Cassandra Nova's lair with a Punisher variant's AT4, Deadpool asks which Punisher it belonged to, stating there have been about "five of him." Blade responds by saying there's only one Blade, and there only ever will be, which causes Deadpool to look into the camera. This is a reference to Mahershala Ali being cast as Blade all the way back in 2019, with his planned film suffering numerous delays to the start of its production.
Trivia: SPOILER: Channing Tatum appears in this film as Gambit. Tatum was originally supposed to have a solo Gambit film in 2016 (the same year as the first Deadpool film). However, the film was continually delayed due to script rewrites, losing directors (including Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman, and Gore Verbinski), and 20th Century Fox slashing its original $154 million budget after the financial failure of the 2015 Fantastic Four film. The film was ultimately canceled after Disney purchased Fox in 2019.
Trivia: According to director Shawn Levy, Kevin Feige would not allow overt drug use to be seen in this film. They decided to make fun of this mandate in the film by having Deadpool tell Blind Al that he's not allowed to do cocaine, and that Disney knows all of the slang terms used for the drug.
Trivia: Because this film went into production during the midst of the Writers' Guild strike, Ryan Reynolds, as one of the film's writers, was not allowed to ad-lib his dialogue on set.
Trivia: The vulgar reference to Pinocchio that Deadpool makes regarding Disney getting cheap is a substitute for a similarly vulgar line referencing Mickey Mouse that Disney CEO Bob Iger asked Ryan Reynolds to remove from the film.
Trivia: While being interviewed by his fiancée, Zoe Kravitz, Channing Tatum revealed that he wanted to keep the Gambit costume after filming wrapped, as he traditionally keeps an outfit from every film he makes, but was too scared to ask.
Trivia: Ryan Reynolds posted a deleted scene on his social media in late August 2024, showing that Gambit survived Alioth's attack. While walking around Cassandra Nova's lair and the bodies of her defeated minions, Gambit turned around to see a portal opening, presumably to take him to his own universe or to allow him to enter the Sacred Timeline. Some of this can be seen blurrily in the background of the TVA at the end of the movie.
Trivia: Rob McElhenney, who co-owns Wrexham A.F.C. with Ryan Reynolds, filmed a cameo scene as one of the TVA's Minutemen. He said on his social media that he traveled 6 thousand miles to film his cameo, only to learn upon watching the film that his cameo had been cut. Reynolds would later clarify that his cameo was cut because the sequence wasn't working the way they had constructed it.
Trivia: The character in Cassandra Nova's forces wearing the red-and-white-striped shirt is The Russian, who was portrayed by Kevin Nash in 2004's The Punisher. Nash said he was fine with another actor playing the role in this film, as he isn't as interested in appearing in movies anymore because of his age. Tyler Mane, who plays Sabretooth, was actually a professional wrestling tag team partner of Kevin Nash. Nash himself was offered the role of Sabretooth in X-Men, but couldn't accept it.
Trivia: Ryan Reynolds offered Nicolas Cage a cameo role in this film as Ghost Rider. Reynolds offered no explanation as to why Cage turned it down, but since Cage is known for accepting almost any role he is offered, it may have just been a scheduling issue.
Trivia: Director Shawn Levy was one of the finalists to direct the Channing Tatum-starring Gambit movie that never came to be.
Trivia: Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy personally went to Madonna's house to convince her to let them use "Like a Prayer" in the film, which she otherwise never licenses out for films.
Trivia: The burned-out car, along with John Candy's trunk, from "Planes, Trains and Automobiles", can be seen as part of the debris littering The Void. Ryan Reynolds has repeatedly stated how much he loved John Candy and his Del Griffith character, and there is a reference to him in every "Deadpool" film.
Answer: In addition to Bishop's answer, you could theoretically apply this to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man characters. They both appeared in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," which technically acts as a sequel to "Spider-Man 3," "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" and "Spider-Man: Far From Home" - three distinct movie franchises. (And there are persistent rumors that Maguire and/or Garfield may make future MCU appearances).
TedStixon
To add to that (I ran out of room in my reply), with the creation of the multiverse, now any Sony or Fox franchise or universe can be considered as part of the MCU. So any Fantastic Four or X-Men sequel (although most likely any up coming film will be a reboot) can be part of the MCU.
Bishop73
I get what you're saying, but No Way Home was more of a crossover film that acknowledged characters coexisting in the multiverse, with those characters returning to their respective universes by the end, and Sony would still have control of those characters. Although we won't know for sure until Deadpool 3 comes out, Deadpool is meant to start as a character in a previously established film franchise and then occupy a different one moving forward.
Phaneron ★
But what film franchise would he be in? If he's in a Deadpool movie, he's in the Deadpool franchise. If they stop making Deadpool films and put him in another film, then he becomes part of another franchise. (Or more likely, just another crossover film).
Bishop73
This is where I would disagree with you about the MCU not being a franchise. I would contend that it is a franchise, and every series of films and TV shows within it are sub-franchises. So the Deadpool series of films would be a franchise unto itself, beginning in the larger Fox X-Men franchise and transitioning over to the MCU.
Phaneron ★
So what distinguishes one Marvel film from being in the MCU and another Marvel film not to be in it? Marvel Studios has been part of the production of a lot of films not included in the MCU, including the Blade, X-Men, and Deadpool films.
Bishop73
Any film made by Marvel themselves (or co-produced like the Tom Holland Spider-Man films). Marvel didn't begin making their own movies until the first Iron Man. All previous movies based on Marvel characters were made by other studios in association with Marvel, largely because Marvel licensed out their properties to avoid going bankrupt. The MCU itself is recognized as being the highest-grossing film franchise of all time.
Phaneron ★