When you watched Deadpool 2 (2018) were you a little confused about the credit scenes? Did you also feel like you missed out on a few of the movie’s in-jokes?
OK, well if that’s the case then you have come to the right place. In this post I will provide an explanation to the post credit scenes, and set out an explanation to some of the more significant in-jokes and references in Deadpool 2.
__
The credit scenes for Deadpool 2 explained
During the credits, Deadpool returns four times – all the while using Cable’s time travel device in order to hop about the timeline. The first two scenes are pretty self-explanatory – Deadpool stops Vanessa from being killed (as seen earlier in the film) and then he stops Peter from being killed (seen during the X-Force section of the movie).
The next two scenes are included as in-jokes and specifically reference the career of actor, Ryan Reynolds (aka Deadpool). Here is an explanation:
- In one scene, Deadpool travels back to pre-2011, where a younger Ryan Reynolds is sat reading the script for the DC/Warner Bros. movie, Green Lantern – a critical and commercial failure and an all round terrible comic book movie which starred Reynolds. Deadpool shoots Reynolds in the head, thus stopping him from ever agreeing to star in the movie.
- In the other scene, Deadpool travels back to 2009, to appear in a scene taken from the movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Reynolds first played the role of Wade Wilson in this Wolverine solo movie, although the role was very different to the Wade/Deadpool we know today – and fans hated it. During the scene, modern Deadpool arrives just as the original Deadpool is about to face Wolverine in battle. The time-hopping Deadpool kills the original, thus removing him from the X-Men movie series and making fans very happy.
And now for an explanation of some of the significant in-jokes and references…
__
Are the X-Men in Deadpool 2?
Yes. Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead return for Deadpool 2 and are joined by Yukio, becoming the three core X-Men in the movie. However, Professor Xavier, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Storm, Beast and Quicksilver also appear in a blink-and-you’ll miss it cameo. The characters are played by the actors from the X-Men prequel movies (Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix etc)
__
Who is Yukio in Deadpool 2?
As noted above, Yukio is one of the X-Men. She is also the girlfriend of Negasonic Teenage Warhead.
A different, older version of the character appeared in The Wolverine (2013). This version is from a different timeline.
__
Does Stan Lee cameo in Deadpool 2?
Yes, Stan Lee does appear in Deadpool 2… although not physically.
An image of Stan Lee can be seen graffitied on the side of a building. Stan Lee was unavailable to film a cameo for Deadpool 2, so the image was used instead.
__
What is Essex House?
Essex House is the name of the school that Russel Collins, aka Firefist attends. Essex is a reference to the X-Men villain, Mister Sinister – also known as Nathaniel Essex.
This is not the first time that Sinister/Essex has been name checked in the X-Men movie series, the Essex name also appeared in a post-credit scene in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016).
__
What X-Men villains appeared in Deadpool 2?
A few X-Men villains either appeared in Deadpool 2 or were referenced. The two obvious villains were Black Tom Cassidy and Juggernaut.
Black Tom has not appeared in the X-Men movies before, but his brother Sean Cassidy, aka Banshee appeared in X-Men: First Class (2011) and was referenced in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). No connection is made between the two characters in Deadpool 2.
Juggernaut previously appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) where he was played by professional football player-turned-actor, Vinnie Jones. In Deadpool 2, Juggernaut is a CGI character, voiced by Ryan Reynolds.
The Juggernaut of X-Men: The Last Stand was simply one of Magneto’s henchmen. In Deadpool 2 it is noted that Juggernaut is related to Professor Xavier. The characters are step-brothers in the comics.
Outside of these two villains, there are two further references to X-Men villains. The first is the Mister Sinister connection (as noted above), while the second is the reference Shatterstar makes to his home planet of Mojoworld.
Mojoworld is the home of the media-obsessed villain, Mojo who has crossed paths with the X-Men on numerous occasions in the comics.
__
Who are X-Force?
X-Force are a mutant team connected to the X-Men. As seen in Deadpool 2, X-Force are a group that tend to do the jobs that the X-Men don’t/won’t.
In the comics there has been a number of different team line-ups, with members including Cable and Domino. In Deadpool 2, X-Force is composed of Deadpool, Domino, Peter, Shatterstar, Zeitgeist, Bedlam and Vanisher.
__
Who is the Vanisher?
Although the Vanisher is portrayed as a bit of a joke character within X-Force, he is actually a real comic book character! He made his debut in X-Men issue #2, waaaay back in 1963 and his comic book powers are teleportation rather than invisibility.
__
Who played the Vanisher?
In Deadpool 2, Brad Pitt played the Vanisher. Pitt filmed his brief cameo appearance within 2 hours.
__
Who is Cable?
In Deadpool 2, Cable is a mercenary from the future, who travels back in time to prevent his wife and daughter from dying. Comic book fans know him better as the time-displaced mutant who is the son of Cyclops.
In the comics, Cyclops’ son, Nathaniel Summers was infected with a techno-organic virus. In order to save his life, Nathaniel was taken to the future where technology existed to keep him alive. It is here where he grows up to become Cable.
In Deadpool 2, Cable is played by Josh Brolin – the same actor who plays Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. Deadpool makes a couple of references to Brolin’s past acting roles – one when he directly name checks Thanos and one where he calls Cable ‘One-eyed Willy’, a reference to the 1985 movie, The Goonies – which featured a young Josh Brolin.
__
Who is Domino?
As with Cable, Domino is a character familiar to fans of the X-Men comics. The character first appeared in the pages of The New Mutants, but it was X-Force that brought her to a more prominent role.
As seen in Deadpool 2, Domino has probability altering powers – or the mutant ability of ‘luck’, if you will. The character is portrayed by Zazie Beetz.
__
Who is Cable’s daughter?
Cable’s daughter, Hope only had a very minor role within Deadpool 2, but comic book fans know her as someone far more important in X-Men lore. In the comics, Hope Summers is the first mutant born after the events of House of M and Decimation – two storylines which see mutant life pretty much removed from the planet.
__
Who are Alpha Flight?
Alpha Flight are a Canadian super-team who have appeared in the pages of X-Men comics and share a connection via Wolverine. In Deadpool 2, an advert featuring the name ‘Alpha Flight’ can be seen on top of a taxi cab outside the X-Mansion.
And now you know!
Of course, Deadpool 2 was loaded with even more references and in-jokes than appear in this post, but hopefully the details above give you a better understanding of what some fans will have picked up on.
__
Thank you for taking the time to read this post about Deadpool 2. For more Deadpool/X-Men-related posts, please check out one of the recommended reads below.
Read more:
- Review: Deadpool 2
- Where were you when the X-Men movies happened?
- Deadpool 2 the initial movie review reactions
It's A Stampede! 
One Response to What are the Deadpool 2 in-jokes and credit scenes?
I now understand why there are comments about Green Lantern. I saw Ryan and the guy who plays Cable on the Graham Norton show.They were joking about with each other and Green Lantern came up a few times. Actually they were both really funny. It was a good interview.
LikeLiked by 1 person