Although Deadpool managed to fit in a quite a fair number of Deadpool’s supporting cast and other players from the X-Men universe (including one they technically didn’t have the rights to), not everyone made the final cut. Three minor adversaries had to be taken out, Deadpool favorites Patch and Emrys Killebrew were in earlier drafts, and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick wish they could have used Hulk in the movie. Now X-Men mainstay Wolverine and supervillain/occasional anti-hero Taskmaster can be added to the list of ‘didn’t-quite-make-its.’
While chatting with Empire, star Ryan Reynolds revealed that those two were among the many X-Men characters that Deadpool tried to fit in, but weren’t able to logistically. The actor said:
We had endless [conversations about other X-Men]. Taskmaster was in the script originally, too expensive. We had versions where we wanted Hugh Jackman in there, we wanted all kinds of cameos from different people, but it just becomes a big mess for the studio.
For those not familiar with Taskmaster, a.k.a. Tony Masters, he’s a fellow mercenary with an enhanced muscle memory, meaning that once he’s seen a physical action performed (excluding special abilities), he can perform that action himself. That has made him a master in multiple forms of combat and a keen marksman.When he’s not instructing at various organizations, be they criminal or government-related, he’s fought Deadpool on many occasions. While the original reason for not including Taskmaster might have been cost-related, his movie rights actually reverted back to Marvel around the same time as Daredevil’s. So when production of Deadpool finally began last year, there’s no way that they could have included Taskmaster even if they wanted to.
In Wolverine’s case, Deadpool marked the first X-Men movie where Hugh Jackman didn’t appear as him, though both the actor and the mutant were mentioned. Jackman has played Wolverine since 2000’s X-Men, and for years has been the poster boy for the entire franchise. There were rumors and speculation in the months leading up to Deadpool’s release about Wolverine cameoing, but the closest thing we got to that was seeing Jackman on the cover of People Magazine (and his face from that later taped to Wade’s face). There are rumors that Logan might show up in May for X-Men: Apocalypse, but Jackman confirmed last year that Wolverine 3 will his last time playing the clawed mutant.
Judging by Ryan Reynolds’ comments, it sounds like it was difficult for the Deadpool crew to include characters they liked due to Fox’s concern about expense, hence the inclusion of someone as obscure as Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Fortunately, Deadpool 2 may have more luck thanks to its predecessor’s success. Cable has already been confirmed for the sequel, and depending on how much bigger the budget is this time around, maybe some more recognizable faces will get to appear, be they newcomers or established characters in the cinematic universe.
