Marvel’s first family may have just found its way into the MCU, but Fantastic Four’s original Reed Richards has finally spoken about scrapped plans for a Wolverine cameo in the 2005 movie. Serving as the sixth Marvel movie released by 20th Century Fox following the success of 2000’s X-Men, eager-eyed fans have since spotted several X-Men Easter eggs throughout.

In addition to magazine covers referencing ­X-Men cast members James Marsden and Rebecca Romijn, Fantastic Four’s original DVD release also contained a deleted scene where Ioan Gruffudd’s Reed Richards attempts to impress Jessica Alba’s Sue Storm by using his powers to transform his face into a “stronger man.” That man ends up being none other than Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.

Speaking with Vulture about his time as Mister Fantastic, Gruffudd was quizzed about the infamous deleted scene and Fantastic Four’s attempts to introduce a Wolverine cameo. Admitting he did not know why the scene was left out of the final edit, he suggested that he loved the opportunity to pay homage to Jackman’s character. Check out his comments below:

I don’t know why that didn’t make it into the film. Paying homage to the great Hugh Jackman was quite a thrill because I absolutely love him as an actor and his Wolverine. I’m glad that it has a chance to exist somewhere.

Gruffudd also went on to explain that the scene itself was originally done during reshoots, and that while Reed and Sue both appear on-screen together, both he and Alba were in different countries at the time. Check out his final comments below:

That was a reshoot, and I was in Vancouver on a soundstage and Jessica was in New York, so we weren’t actually together, but we look perfectly in sync.

What The Scrapped Wolverine Cameo Meant For Fox’s Fantastic Four Plans

While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has since become a cinematic behemoth, the franchise still owes much to the pioneering work undertaken by 20th Century Fox in the early 2000s. Even though Fox’s X-Men and Fantastic Four movies never officially took place within the same universe, each would include reciprocal Easter eggs referencing their shared place within Marvel lore.

At the time of Fantastic Four’s release, Jackman’s Wolverine had already become the X-Men franchise’s most recognisable face, and the fact that the cameo was initially filmed during reshoots suggests that the studio may have been attempting to forge even stronger links between the two properties.

However, given that 20th Century Fox had also toyed with the possibility of a X-Men vs. Fantastic Four crossover movie, it may have also been decided that a direct Wolverine cameo may have been one step too far.

Our Take On Fantastic Four’s Famous Deleted Scene

Years before interconnected cinematic universes became the norm, even the most minor crossovers generated considerable excitement among avid fans. While viewers have now become so accustomed to having characters crossover into other movies that it has almost become a core expectation of the genre, scenes like these were once the pinnacle of comic book movie fandom.

Even when relegated to serve only as a deleted scene on Fantastic Four’s original DVD release, fans are still fascinated by the links that existed between the two Marvel properties before the MCU even existed. It also serves as a stark reminder of how much comic book movies have evolved since then.

Source: Vulture