This post contains SPOILERS for Deadpool 2

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In the original Deadpool, jokes were made about how the film’s lower budget prevented famous X-Men characters from making appearances, but Deadpool 2 changed that in a big way. The Ryan Reynolds-led sub-franchise essentially operates independently of the main X-Men movies, but the two series co-exist in the same cinematic universe. This was readily apparent in the first installment, where Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead had supporting roles as Wade Wilson’s unlikely allies. When Deadpool visits the X-Mansion, he remarks how those two are always the only ones home.

The sequel brings back the gag during a sequence where Wade roams through the mansion as he mourns the loss of Vanessa. While having a conversation with Colossus about staying and becoming an X-Man, Deadpool once again cracks that the big names are nowhere to be found. The film then cuts to an open door behind Wade, revealing the hilarious truth.

We can now add several of rebooted X-Men cast to the growing list of Deadpool 2’s A-list cameos. Included in the group shot are Nicholas Hault’s Beast, Evan Peters’ Quicksilver, Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Nightcrawler, Tye Sheridan’s Cyclops, Alexandra Shipp’s Storm, and James McAvoy’s Professor X (which answers a question Wade posed in the first Deadpool). In the short scene, the group is in the midst of discussing something before a disgruntled Beast shuts the door.

As for how this sequence was shot, odds are it was filmed while X-Men: Dark Phoenix was in production. Originally set for release this November, the movie was in principal photography from June to October 2017. Coincidentally, Deadpool 2 was in front of the cameras in June 2017, doing initial filming at Hatley Castle in Canada - the location used for the X-Mansion. With all the actors in the same area working on their films, the crews probably thought this would make for an amusing moment and the pieces fell into place. The record-breaking success of the first Deadpool most likely played a role in getting this to happen, as everyone (including Brad Pitt) wants to be part of the franchise now.

It’ll be interesting to see if there’s a reverse version of this scene in Dark Phoenix, allowing us to experience it from the X-Men’s perspective as they’re rudely interrupted by the bickering Wade and Colossus. There’s no denying that would make for a funny callback, but there’s a more serious issue raised by the X-cameos. Par for the course for the franchise, it seems to muck up the timeline. Dark Phoenix takes place in the 1990s (see: Quicksilver’s Nirvana shirt), while the Deadpool films are set in the modern day. It’s odd the ’90s X-Men would be the ones who showed up given the time difference, and perhaps it’ll be addressed in a future project. Of course, the end credits scenes in Deadpool 2 have all sorts of ramifications that need to be sorted out, making the out-of-time X-Men look like small potatoes.

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  • Deadpool 2 Release Date: 2018-05-18