Thanks to a brand-new Deadpool 2 ticket sales teaser, we finally know which mutant character from the comics Julian Dennison is playing. When Hunt for the Wilderpeople star Julian Dennison joined Deadpool 2, there was hardly any doubt that the young New Zealander was added to the film for his comedy chops. However, the two Deadpool 2 trailers so far have revealed “The Kid” plays an even bigger role in the plot, with Cable journeying from the future just to apprehend him (forcing Deadpool to create X-Force in response).

There’s been a lot of speculation over who exactly this child is. Some have thought it to be some variation on Hope Summers, with Dennison essentially Cable’s MacGuffin. Another popular theory, bolstered by his pyrokinetic abilities, is that he’s Kid Apocalypse, who has alternative ties to Nathan Summers. However, it appears both of these were off.

A new teaser for Deadpool 2 advertising that tickets for the movie are on sale features mostly old footage, but one moment in particular involves Wade referring to Dennison’s character as “Russell.” No more new information is provided, but that may be enough to crack the mystery; assuming he’s pulled from the comics (and most of the characters we’ve seen from the film so far are), the Russell in question almost certainly seems to be Russell Collins aka Firefist, a fire-generating mutant from the late ’80s and early ’90s who seems the perfect fit for the film.

Russell “Rusty” Jones was created by Bob Layton and Jackson Guice for 1986’s X-Factor #1. Known as Firefist, the character has hopped around to different teams including New Mutants, Acolytes, and the Mutant Liberation Front. Like Dennison’s character in the footage we’ve seen so far, he can create and manipulate fire. Between the powers, the name, and the era which the character hails from, it seems safe to assume Russell Collins is “The Kid” in question.

Collins died in 1995’s X-Men #42, making him firmly a product of the late ’80s and early ’90s in Marvel Comics. That lines him up with Deadpool 2’s mutant team, which features a lineup of characters mostly forgotten in modern comics outside of Domino. Like the use (and alteration) of Negasonic Teenage Warhead in Deadpool, the sequel is digging deep to pull out a roster of relative unknowns that Fox has no plans of sticking in other films. Thanks to that, the characters can be tweaked, killed off, or just plain made fun of without any ramifications to the larger X-Men universe.

We’ll have to wait just a few more weeks to learn the truth of Dennison’s character, but even if he is playing Collins we can expect some changes. The young character is unlikely to have his Navy background from the source material and him joining a variety of different teams is probably out of the question. Luckily, there probably aren’t too many hardcore Firefist fans who will be upset with the changes made to the character in Deadpool 2.

MORE: What The Hell Is Going On With The X-Men Franchise?

  • New Mutants Release Date: 2020-08-28 X-Men: Dark Phoenix Release Date: 2019-06-07 Deadpool 2 Release Date: 2018-05-18