Ryan Reynolds Tricked Chris Evans Into His Deadpool & Wolverine Cameo

According to Ryan Reynolds, Chris Evans was tricked into his Deadpool & Wolverine cameo in Johnny Storm's MCU debut. Deadpool & Wolverine was crammed with cameos as expected, with Johnny Storm being among the first characters from Fox's Marvel movies to make an appearance. Deadpool & Wolverine recently became available to buy and download digitally, allowing fans to re-watch the MCU's only movie of 2024 as many times as they like and comb it even further for Deadpool & Wolverine Easter eggs that may have been missed at first.

Johnny Storm's arrival perfectly encapsulated the movie's tone, with a bait-and-switch moment that saw Deadpool mistaking him for Chris Evans' other Marvel movie character, Captain America. This gave way to some violent slapstick humor and several uses of colorful language that it would be extremely out-of-character for Cap to emulate. Johnny Storm, on the other hand, fits the R-rated mold a little better, with the colorful language he is seen using being a large part of why he agreed to join in the first place.

Ryan Reynolds Wrote Chris Evans' Profane Human Torch Monologue To "Trick" Him Into Joining The Movie

The Monologue Wasn't Always Going To Feature

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Featurettes for Deadpool & Wolverine have started making the rounds online, with one snippet in particular revealing that Ryan Reynolds "Tricked" Chris Evans into playing a moderately major role in the movie by leading with his expletive-laden diatribe seen in the Deadpool & Wolverine post-credits scene. The clip, shared by @DeadpoolUpdate on X, can be seen below:

In the clip, Reynolds states that when he led with the scene in which Deadpool paints Johnny Storm as a foul-mouthed trash-talker to Cassandra Nova it was initially penned as a trap for Chris Evans to entice him along. Ultimately, the script for Johnny Storms' rant was too amusing to not be included in the movie.

Chris Evans Agreed To Deadpool & Wolverine So Long As His Monologue Remained

The Diatribe Was Ultimately A Deal-Breaker

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According to Reynolds, Chris Evans only signed on to the role on the condition that the tirade was left in, apparently sharing Reynolds' sentiments. Reynolds' full quote is below:

"I wrote this setup for him where Deadpool talks about him as the ultimate trash-talker - that's not "Me." I wrote this tag for Chris initially i just wrote it to trick and manipulate Chris into saying "Yes," like "But there's also in this scene that-" and then it became something really funny, actually, and I was like "This has to be in the movie," and Chris only agreed to do the movie as long as that tag stays in the movie...which I don't blame him at all."

It makes sense for Chris Evans, who is best known for portraying the straight-laced Steve Rogers, to go distinctly off-piste and indulge in a rant that subverts all expectations. This is also why it works so well in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Why Chris Evans' Human Torch Monologue Is Perfect For Deadpool & Wolverine

The Scene Encapsulated Deadpool's Irreverence

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Chris Evans' Johnny Storm comes from Fox's first attempt at adapting the Fantastic Four in 2005's Fantastic Four and 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. The movies have the same PG-13 rating as most MCU installments today which makes Chris Evans' reprisal of the role in an R-rated context an especially entertaining subversion. The fact that he is better known as Captain America - a character famously squeamish about foul language - compounds this subversion and typifies the tone of Deadpool's cinematic outings.

Johnny Storm will now be portrayed by Joseph Quinn in the MCU's The Fantastic Four: First Steps

The tirade also shows how the MCU did not shy away from embracing its first R-rated movie and the freedoms it provided. Echo, for example, was a TV-MA-rated show that barely measured up to the likes of Daredevil with its depictions of violence, making the higher age rating feel somewhat unnecessary. Ultimately, Deadpool & Wolverine nailed the continuation of the celebrated R-rated tone of the franchise and Johnny Storm's rant was a perfect example of its irreverence.

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Source: @DeadpoolUpdate/X