The premise of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opened the doors for cameos from any Marvel character. With Patrick Stewart returning as the X-Men’s Professor Xavier, many were hoping to see the appearance of another mutant: Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool. As it turns out that, that was almost reality.
During the press junket for Doctor Strange 2, Michael Waldron confirmed that discussions were had about Deadpool appearing in Doctor Strange 2. However, it seems that the timing just wasn’t right for this cameo to take place.
Why no Deadpool?
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Waldron says that they talked about “everything” for Doctor Strange 2, including a Ryan Reynolds Deadpool cameo. Despite these talks, Waldon says it “just didn’t feel like the right place” to introduce the Merc with a Mouth.
"Yeah, we talked about it," Waldron told ComicBook.com. "I think we talked about everything in this movie. So, [it] would've been crazy to not raise that, but it ultimately didn't feel like… It just didn't feel the right place. But yeah, of course we talked about it."
In his defense, Multiverse of Madness had to juggle Illuminati cameos, America Chavez’s debut, and leftover elements from both Spider-Man: No Way Home and the original Doctor Strange. A Deadpool cameo could have bloated a movie that was already packed to the brim with references and cool guest appearances.
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Ryan Reynolds tried to warn us
Prior to the release of Doctor Strange 2, Reynolds was asked numerous times if he was in the movie as Deadpool and he denied it every time, telling Variety “I’m really not in the movie…I’m promising, I’m not in the movie.” Unfortunately for him, Andrew Garfield did the same when he was asked about appearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home and we all know how that turned out.
Thankfully, it might not be long before we see Deadpool appear in the MCU. Reports have said that Free Guy director Shawn Levy will be directing Deadpool 3 and writers for the film did get confirmed, so it’s a matter of waiting. It would have been nice to see him in the Doctor Strange sequel but Deadpool's eventual MCU debut should be worth the wait.
Multiverse of Cameos (SPOILERS AHEAD)
Deadpool appearing in Doctor Strange 2 would have been nice but the sequel did have its fair share of surprises for fans. Clea, a longtime Doctor Strange character, made her debut in the Multiverse of Madness, played by the talented Charlize Theron. We also saw the MCU return of Black Bolt and a certain character who's part of a quite famous foursome.
One cameo we wish happened was Tom Cruise as the Superior Iron Man. Most hardcore MCU fans know that he was the original choice for Iron Man before Robert Downey Jr. got the role and temporarily seeing him as a greedier version of the hero would have been sweet. Waldron previously told Rolling Stone that he wanted it to happen but Cruise himself is a little too busy with his own projects.
Still, even without Superior Iron Man or Deadpool, most viewers seemed to enjoy Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Fans can check out the film in theaters now to see how Strange is doing and what's next in the MCU.
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