Chris Evans’s Surprise Deadpool & Wolverine Cameo, Explained

The following story contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.

IT’S NO SECRET Deadpool & Wolverine would sneak in a number of surprise superhero appearances. The list includes Blake Lively as Lady Deadpool, Jennifer Garner returning as Elektra, Wesley Snipes once again playing Blade, and Channing Tatum finally fulfilling his dream and playing Gambit, a superhero he tried to bring to the big screen for years under Fox but never got a movie into production.

Needless to say, fans were both surprised and pleased with the familiar faces making appearances on screen for the film, and one in particular is getting a lot of attention: and it’s got a surprise tie-in with the mid-2000s incarnation of the Fantastic Four.

Chris Evans made a surprise cameo playing his first superhero role as Johnny Storm/Human Torch (prior to his roles in the MCU as Steve Rogers/Captain America, and his underseen role in The Losers). He was the big screen’s first Human Torch, playing the role in both Fantastic Four and its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Michael B. Jordan played the character in the 2015 Fantastic 4 film, and Joseph Quinn will take up the mantle in next year’s MCU version.

Evans has a couple scenes in Deadpool & Wolverine that play delightfully with both his persona and the way he has played multiple Marvel superheroes. When Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and a multiversal Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) are banished to the wasteland known as The Void by Mr. Paraodox (Matthew Macfadyen), they run into all sorts of Marvel characters who have seen their timelines abandoned (aka starred in Marvel films in franchises that have, more or less, been discontinued).

Early in their time there, the duo meets a hooded figure who is eventually revealed as Evans. The constantly quipping Deadpool is excited, and thinks he’s about to say “Avengers, Assemble!” when instead he reveals himself to be Johnny Storm—the less popular Evans Marvel superhero portrayal—when he says “Flame On!” and his entire body is set on fire as he flies away. Evans appears in a couple more scenes (including a post-credits flashback), delightfully reprising his role until he’s, well, murdered by Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) in what may be the most violent thing in MCU history.

It’s a pretty fun sequence. But how did this happen?

How did Chris Evans end up playing Johnny Storm in Deadpool & Wolverine?

Evans spoke with Yahoo Entertainment about the appearance and credits star and producer Ryan Reynolds for making it happen.

“Any time you get a call from Ryan to do something, you know it’s going to be fun, and you know it’s going to work, because he’s a real mastermind,” Evans said in the interview. “So the fact that it actually let me revisit a role that is very dear to my heart was a thrill. I jumped at the chance.”

When it came to reflecting on his career and returning to such a career-changing role, Evans said his 2005 year old self would be in “in a little bit of disbelief.”

“I really loved playing this role back then. I mean, not only was it a big turning point for my career, but it was a character that resonated with me,” he said. “He reacted to superpowers the way I probably would. He was excited. He had fun. He was a little juvenile. I was too at the time. So it was a real special chapter in my life.”

To get tickets to see Evans’s cameo and the entire Deadpool & Wolverine film, click below.

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