DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Director Shawn Levy Confirms Which Marvel Actors Weren’t Asked to Return

Deadpool & Wolverine saw a metric ton of cameos from Marvel movies of yore, mostly from 20th Century Fox. The jaws of fans everywhere collectively dropped when Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Garner, Channing Tatum, Dafne Keen, and Chris Evans appeared on screen portraying their old Marvel characters. But as many returning actors as there were, there were a few who didn’t make the cut. Some actors (shockingly) Marvel never asked. While appearing on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, director Shawn Levy confirmed who he asked to return, and which actors he never thought to ask back.

Sir Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier

20th Century Studios

Rumors were swirling around all year about Patrick Stewart returning as Professor X. Yet despite those rumors, Shawn Levy never really entertained Stewart returning for Deadpool & Wolverine. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Levy even said ” He was never even discussed.” Although he did say actress Emma Corin, who plays Xavier’s evil twin sister Cassandra Nova, studied his performance carefully.

Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth

Twentieth Century Films

Despite Liev Schreiber working with Shawn Levy on another project right now, the director confirmed he never invited him to come back as Sabretooth. He played a version of the feral mutant killer in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. His return was nixed simply because one of the film’s writers, Zeb Wells, had a fondness for the Tyler Mane version from the original X-Men.

The Original X-Men Cast

Twentieth Century Fox

Speaking of the OG X-Men cast, despite all the online reports of Halle Berry, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, and Anna Paquin returning to the roles of Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Rogue, respectively, Shawn Levy said he never considered them. This only lends fuel to the fire that Kevin Feige plans to “retire them” in another project.

James McAvoy as Professor Charles Xavier

Twentieth Century Films

A different Charles Xavier, James McAvoy, also confirmed that they never invited him back However, he did have to sign off on the use of his footage for the end credits montage. He told Variety, when asked about Marvel Studios asking if could return, “No, no, no, no. Not this one. I don’t think so. If there was a world, they clearly threw that idea out the window before calling me, so no.”

Nicolas Cage as Ghost Rider

Sony Pictures

Not an X-Men character, or even a Fox Marvel hero, but Ryan Reynolds confirmed that he had conversations with Nicolas Cage returning as Ghost Rider. Without quite elaborating on what became of those conversations. All Reynolds would say to Collider was “It came to a conversation for sure. Yeah, but no.” Maybe Cage didn’t want another CGI Superman situation like in The Flash? We wouldn’t blame him.

Halle Berry as Storm

20th Century Studios

This one didn’t come from Levy, but Halle Berry herself revealed that she was ready and willing to come back as Storm in Deadpool & Wolverine but Ryan Reynolds never reached out (and neither did anyone else.) Speaking to ComicBook, Berry noted, “Blake [Lively] asked me one time—I ran into her at a Marc Jacobs fashion show—and she said, ‘Would you ever be in my husband’s movie as Storm?’ I said, ‘Yeah, if he asked me,’ but he never asked me.

Twentieth Century Films/Sony Pictures

We wouldn’t be shocked to hear of other cut cameos, or characters that were not even considered. But hey, Avengers: Secret Wars might have everyone in it! It’s not too late to see old Marvel actors one last time.

Originally published on August 8, 2024.

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