NO GOOD
DEED.

A CAMEO THAT WAS RULED OUT

REYNOLDS SAID DEADPOOL WOULD NOT APPEAR IN LOGAN

Before Logan opened, fans expected Deadpool to turn up in it. On 21 February 2017, Ryan Reynolds dismissed the rumour of a cameo: “Sadly, not true.” He added that Logan was its own unique thing and that Deadpool would not mix with its tone. A day earlier, Hugh Jackman had ruled out a Wolverine and Deadpool team-up film, saying that he was out.

The extra material turned out to sit at the start, not the end. By 2 March it was reported that the extra scene was not after the credits but a secret teaser attached to the beginning of the film, and director James Mangold had denied the post-credits rumours on all counts. The theatrical cut also ran several minutes longer than the press-screening version.

A SUPERHERO ORIGIN GONE WRONG

A PHONE BOOTH, A TIGHT COSTUME AND A LATE ARRIVAL

The short first played at Thursday-night screenings on 2 March. Wade Wilson comes across a mugging and speeds to a phone booth to change, Superman style, but the costume takes so long that the victim is killed before Deadpool gets out. The online version ends with Deadpool mocking Hugh Jackman’s Australian accent, and the closing card promises Deadpool “not soon enough.”

Writer Rhett Reese said the opening was meant to feel like the start of Logan, so viewers would think “Hugh in the hoodie” was about to appear before the surprise landed. He was firm about what it was:

“It’s not a teaser. It’s not a trailer. It’s a short film.”

Rhett Reese, March 2017

LEITCH BEHIND THE CAMERA

DAVID LEITCH DIRECTS A SHORT FOR HIS SEQUEL

David Leitch directed the short from a script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, with Ryan Reynolds starring, and it was shot in December 2016. It runs nearly four minutes. Leitch was directing the Deadpool sequel, and Reese said the idea was to make “a silly short” that doesn’t really happen to Deadpool.

The end of the short carries a line of fine print, a joke summary of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. The film also mimics Logan’s visual style, with a cinema showing the film and a poster for it in the alley.

THE REWATCH

THE ONLINE CUT, THE THEATRICAL CUT AND WHERE TO WATCH

Reynolds put the short on YouTube on 4 March 2017, a day after it opened in cinemas. The version online first carried a Stan Lee cameo and changes to the music and dialogue. Fox later released the version shown in theatres, an alternate cut that leaves out Lee and changes some of the dialogue.

Because it played before the feature, it is best watched before Logan. In the Marvel Marathon it appears only in the X-Men movies in order guide, directly after Legion Season 1 and directly before Logan. It is catalogued as a special on the same date as the film, so it is not in the movies-only or series guides.