Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds has shot down any notion that he’s making a cameo as the Merc with a Mouth during Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Speaking to Variety ahead of the release of The Adam Project (which is already being described as a curious mash-up of Back to the Future and Star Wars), Reynolds unequivocally said, "I don’t know if I’m supposed to say anything about that, but I’m really not in the movie."
When pressed further, Reynolds explained that "I could be an unreliable narrator, but I promise you I’m not in the movie."
It’s not an entirely convincing denial, though it does go some way to addressing one of the big prevailing theories surrounding the Doctor Strange 2 sequel on the heels of its Super Bowl trailer and subsequent poster release.
In the poster, fans thought they could see Deadpool hidden in a shard of glass. Given the anti-hero’s penchant for breaking the fourth wall and sprinkling in all sorts of in-jokes in his two movies so far, it would certainly be within his meta-centric wheelhouse.
Even without Deadpool, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is already shaping up to be pretty wild. Everyone from Reed Richards to an Iron Man variant (played by Tom Cruise, no less) have been rumored so far. Plus, there’s almost definitely Patrick Stewart's Professor X waiting in the wings. If even half of these whispers come to pass, it might make Spider-Man: No Way Home look like child’s play.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, and Rachel McAdams, is set for release on May 6. For more on what’s coming next in the MCU, check out our guide to Marvel Phase 4.
