Deadpool 2 was so full of Easter eggs, inside jokes, and obscure gags that nobody could
possibly catch them all.
Which is great, because it means that every time you rewatch it, there's another layer
to discover.
To help you on that journey, here's a look at some of the smallest details in Deadpool
2 you might not have noticed until now.
Up and at 'em
Deadpool 2's Super Duper Cut, released to home audiences, restored a bunch of deleted
scenes to the film, but there was one truly random joke that didn't make it into any version
of the film.
During the sequence where Wade Wilson sets out to meet his deceased love Vanessa in the
afterlife by offing himself over and over again, there was originally an unexpected
homage to the beloved Pixar film Up.
"It's a free country."
"You're right.
It is a free co -- hey, I just wanna say, I loved your work in 'Up'."
"Sorry?"
The movies do, oddly enough, share a lot of thematic elements, so there's the thesis for
your next term paper.
You're welcome!
The true Juggernaut
Unlike his appearance in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, the super-strong, super-large
character Juggernaut was completely computer generated in Deadpool 2.
But if you were wondering who played the role, the end credits weren't very helpful: they
claimed that the film featured the real Juggernaut playing himself.
Turns out the truth is even weirder: the facial motion capture was actually provided by director
David Leitch, while Ryan Reynolds himself did both the voice and the motion capture
for the body, meaning in many scenes, he was actually fighting himself.
It was such a big secret that even co-star Stefan Kapičić, who provided the motion-capture
for Colossus, didn't know about it.
He told the Hollywood Reporter,
"Ryan is always there when I'm working on Colossus, helping me with the lines and giving
me ideas.
Then I saw Ryan getting into the CGI costume, and I'm like, 'What's going on, man?
Did I miss something?'"
Rubbed the wrong way
One of the deleted scenes that ended up in Deadpool 2's Super Duper Cut is a serene domestic
sequence in the opulent Xavier mansion, in which Wade Wilson tries to endear himself
to his new roommates, following Colossus' intervention in his mission to self-destruct.
"Something wrong with the soap."
"It's fine.
Just filled it.
Give it a few more pumps."
On its own, the scene seems like a non sequitur, but it's actually setting up a truly repulsive
punchline later in the movie.
"People think you wake up a hero, brush your teeth a hero.
Francis into a soap dispenser a hero."
"Bozhe moi."
This punchline actually appeared in the final film without the setup, so if you were confused,
now you know the secret behind this seemingly random moment.
Star-studded breakfast
In a quick moment during the first fight at the villainous Essex House, Deadpool pauses
after being hurled through a window to sign an autograph for a child who never actually
asked for one.
Grabbing a pen and a cereal box, he scribbles across the front of the box before jumping
back in the fray.
You probably noticed that the box of Hero Flakes has an image of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine
on the front.
But in a visual gag that might have gone by too fast to see the first time, Deadpool actually
signed his real name, Ryan Reynolds!
We know this rivalry with Wolverine comes from a place of hate and all, but as uninvolved
viewers, it all comes off as kind of cute.
Double-dipped alternate jokes
Deadpool 2's Super Duper Cut is less of a definitive director's cut and more of an alternate,
longer version of the movie replete with different jokes, some of which were improvised by the
actors, and some of which were scripted.
"There's a reason I'm here, I'll know when I know, everything usually just works out
for me."
"Like 2008 Ryan Reynolds."
"I don't know who that is."
"You're hired."
Reynolds and the gang apparently couldn't decide which jokes were funniest, so instead
they just released two different versions of the movie so you could get all the jokes.
The opening credits are a perfect example, with different punchlines that don't change
the story at all, but give repeat viewings a new twist.
And some of the changes, like replacing the finger gun with a real gun, don't seem to
serve any purpose at all - which is really the most Deadpool move of all when you think
about it.
Red Lotus
As director David Leitch puts it during a special features interview, there might be
Easter eggs hiding inside Deadpool 2 that no viewer will ever discover.
"There's so many to dig into and layers of them, that I don't think anyone will ever
find them.
I CHALLENGE you to find them all."
Just how deep are some of these cuts?
Take a look at this business card briefly seen during the opening action montage.
When translated, the text is actually a reference to an obscure X-men character named Red Lotus,
who is a superpowered Australian with ties to a Chinese crime family.
In other words, not only do you need an encyclopedic knowledge of X-Men lore to catch this reference,
you also need to be fluent in Cantonese.
So what other secrets are hiding in Deadpool 2?
Cue up Google translate and get to work.
We can't wait to see what you might find.