The ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine script includes my favorite part of Henry Cavill’s MCU cameo, and I’m pleasantly surprised. The amount of Easter eggs in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine is staggering, and not all reference Marvel movies. While ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine is largely a love letter to the Marvel movies of yesteryear – particularly those of Fox’s X-Men franchise – it doesn’t shy away from referencing properties outside Marvel and the superhero movie sphere, with plenty of these coming from ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool himself, such as his early reference to Gossip Girl.
Many nods to other franchises take the form of the myriad cameos in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine, with plenty of actors reprising their roles as mutants and superpowered individuals condemned to the void. Henry Cavill’s cameo, meanwhile, was not a reprisal of his own superhero role, but an entirely new one as a Wolverine variant. This particular cameo paid off years of fan-casts now that audiences look forward to the MCU’s own version of Wolverine. This cameo was short, but quite literally packed a punch – the same punch that slipped in another nod to Henry Cavill’s movie career.
Henry Cavill’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine Cameo Included Many References To His Past Movies
It Isn’t Just About Satisfying Fan-Casting
Henry Cavill’s cameo occurs during ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool’s hunt for a suitable Wolverine variant to replace the Wolverine of his universe, whose death had instigated the decay of his timeline. After emerging from a time door, Cavill’s Wolverine can be seen working on a motorcycle. The motorcycle doesn’t seem to reference anything overt, outside, perhaps, Wolverine’s action-packed motorcycle scene in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but after successfully getting on the Cavillrine’s nerves, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool promises that the MCU would treat him “so much better than those s*** f***s down the street.” This is a reference to Cavill’s ill-fated tenure as Superman in the DCEU.
This action has become one of Cavill’s most memorable movie moments, and the fact that it was such a brief nod made me certain that it was agreed upon on the fly.
The Cavillrine then proceeds to make ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool leave by unsheathing his claws in a pretty unique manner and punching him through the time door. Cavill unsheathes his claws one at a time in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to another of his movie roles: Mission: Impossible – Fallout‘s August Walker. This action has become one of Cavill’s most memorable movie moments, and the fact that it was such a brief nod made me certain that it was agreed upon on the fly. Little did I know, however, that the “arm reload” moment was always part of the plan.
Cavill’s Mission: Impossible Arm Reload Was In ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine’s Script
The Script Calls For Cavill To “Load His Arms”
It turns out that the script for ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine (via ᴅᴇᴀᴅline) includes the moment where the Cavillrine “loads his arms Mission Impossible [sic] style“ before punching ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool through a stone pillar. This specification makes it seem that no ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine reference or Easter egg was accidental, despite no character so much as acknowledging the moment after the Cavillrine performs his Mission: Impossible – Fallout callback. It’s also worth noting that the script refers to Cavill’s character as “Hopper,” which was part of a commonly used ploy to hide cameos behind Stranger Things characters. The scene reads as follows:
Before DP can finish his sentence, Hopper-rene loads his arms Mission Impossible style. Claws protract from each fist and BOOM! He sends ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool through multiple pillars. Before ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool hits a final one and the wall, he’s opened another time door and WHOOSHES INTO:
Incidentally, the scene that Cavill is emulating was not originally intended, but improvised by Cavill. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Cavill revealed that he initially made the move to loosen his biceps and refrained from repeating it in subsequent takes. At director Christopher McQuarrie’s request, he continued to replicate the motion as he tussled with Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. Ultimately, I’m pretty happy that the filmmakers opted to include the relatively niche reference, as the way in which Cavill makes it look so effortlessly cool elevates his appearance as a Wolverine variant in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine.
6 Months Later, I Still Think Henry Cavill’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine Cameo Is Perfect
Henry Cavill Deserves The Recognition In A Superhero Movie
The Cavillrine is one of many Wolverine variants but stands out, not least because the others were all embodied by Hugh Jackman. The fact that it indulges the countless fans who have been fan-casting Cavill as the next Wolverine is the icing on the cake. Cavill proves in just a few short seconds how well he would embody the role, making me (and many others) long for a reprisal down the line. While he may suffer the same comic-inaccurate height problems as Hugh Jackman, Cavill brings the perfect physicality and ruggedness for Wolverine.
Henry Cavill reportedly chewed on his cigar throughout the day of filming in order to get into character, leading to significant nausea as a result.
It isn’t as if Henry Cavill is the only actor fan-cast as Wolverine, however. In fact, I was convinced that Daniel Radcliffe would also emerge as a Wolverine variant during the same sequence. Yet I’m heartened by the fact that Cavill was the only variant not portrayed by Hugh Jackman because he deserved a tribute of his own after his unfortunate and unceremonious departure from the DCEU. Whether this will lead to more of the Cavillrine after his debut in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine remains to be seen, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Upcoming MCU Movies
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Captain America: Brave New World
- Release Date
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February 14, 2025
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Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
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May 2, 2025
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
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July 25, 2025
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Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
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Spider-Man Homecoming 4
- Release Date
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July 24, 2026
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Avengers: Secret Wars
- Release Date
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May 7, 2027
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Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline & Happy Sad Confused
