FILM · 2018 · USA
Deadpool 2
- Directed by
- David Leitch
- Runtime
- 120 min
- Studio
- Maximum Effort, Genre Films, 20th Century Fox
319 archived facts 8 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
Wisecracking mercenary Deadpool battles the evil and powerful Cable and other bad guys to save a boy's life.
Summary: TMDB
41 Easter Eggs and References in Deadpool 2
- #006
Contains a major spoiler — show
(Around 18 minutes) Early in the film, Deadpool lifts a floorboard in Blind Al's house and grabs one of two bags of cocaine next to something labeled "cure for blindness." This is a reference to the first film, in which Deadpool says he hid 116 kilos of cocaine in Blind Al's house right next to the cure for blindness.
- #009
The film draws many frames from Barbra Streisand's Yentl (1983). Streisand is Josh Brolin's stepmother in real life. Although this fact would have been perfect material for another meta-joke at Brolin's expense, the producers stated in the commentary that they completely forgot to include it and wondered how it was overlooked.
- #035
(At about 1 hour 24 minutes) Juggernaut says the reason he wears his helmet is that his brother can read his mind. This is a nod to Juggernaut being Professor X's stepbrother in the comics.
- #044
Zeitgeist has the number 116 tattooed on his left shoulder. This is a nod to X-Force #116, his only comic book appearance.
- #047
Cable's gun has a dial resembling the one on the amplifier. The dial goes from 0 to 11. This is a nod to the famous "these go to 11" scene in This Is Spinal Tap (1984).
- #051
(At around 35 minutes) Matt Damon wore facial prosthetics and a fake belly as a cameo to make himself unrecognizable.
- #053
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At around 1 hour 45 minutes) When Cable tells Deadpool about his daughter, he says her name is Hope; this references Hope Summers, the mutant messiah Cable protects in the X-Men comics.
- #056
In the film the orphanage is named Essex. This is a nod to Mr. Sinister, also known as Nathaniel Essex, a long-time X-Men villain. At one point Mr. Sinister ran an orphanage that he used to manipulate young mutants.
- #061
(At around 37 minutes) [Super Duper Cut only] Deadpool is seen reading "The Canadian Mounted." This is the same book John Candy reads in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) when Steve Martin sees him at the airport. Both John Candy and Ryan Reynolds are also Canadian.
- #067
(Around 1 hour 22 minutes) [Super Duper Cut only] After Deadpool puts his head back on, they cut the line where he says "Suck it Mel Gibson" - a reference to the dislocated shoulder joke in Lethal Weapon (1987) - but it was added back into this extended cut.
- #075
(Around 1 hour 30 minutes) This is the only X-Men film that references Colossus's Russian nationality.
- #085
Contains a major spoiler — show
Most of Deadpool's X-Force team is killed during their first mission in the film. This is a nod to the relaunch comics, in which most of the new members, including Zeitgeist, who appears in the film, were killed during their first mission in issue 116.
- #087
Ryan Reynolds hoped that Hugh Jackman, the Wolverine star of the X-Men films, would join him and his Deadpool co-stars in the planned X-Force film, but not in his famous role as Marvel Comics' most popular mutant. BuzzFeed asked the entire cast of Deadpool 2 this question. Their answers ranged from the Blob to Howard the Duck, from Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990) to Captain Planet, and to Céline Dion. But Reynolds' eyes are only on Jackman. "I'm just going to double-down on Hugh Jackman," Reynolds said. "But not as Logan. Just as Hugh Jackman." This could be a clever solution since Jackman has said he is done playing Wolverine, though perhaps it technically does not cover appearing in an X-Men film as someone other than Wolverine. Reynolds' friendship with and admiration for Jackman can be seen in both Deadpool films, which are packed with Easter eggs referencing the time Jackman played Wolverine at 20th Century Fox. One such hidden reference is a music-box recreation of Jackman's Wolverine death scene in Logan (2017) that Reynolds took home from the set of Deadpool 2. Deadpool was expected to return in Drew Goddard's X-Force film, but 21st Century Fox's acquisition by The Walt Disney Company unfortunately put an end to those plans and left the future of the X-Men series uncertain, even though X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019) and The New Mutants (2020) were still to be released. Disney eventually greenlit Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), and even Jackman agreed to reprise the role of Wolverine.
- #101
In the "Meet Cable" trailer, Deadpool yells at the visual effects department, "It's a metal arm! It's not like we're trying to remove a mustache!" — a reference to Henry Cavill's infamous CGI mustache removal in Justice League (2017). Deadpool dresses the action figure like Woody from Toy Story (1995); one of the action figure's feet says "Wade," just as Woody's boot says "ANDY." Deadpool shouts, "Fuck it, I'll do it myself!" and tells the Cable action figure that "stones" help him, a reference to Josh Brolin, the actor playing Cable, who had played Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) a month before this film's release.
- #102
Contains a major spoiler — show
As in the previous film, Ryan Reynolds pokes fun at his Canadian heritage several times. When Wade says he wants to find a planet where people are worse than him at everything so he can be their Superman, Weasel replies, "Isn't that Canada?" and annoys Wade. And in the epilogue, when Deadpool travels back in time to kill Ryan Reynolds before he agrees to appear in the ill-fated Green Lantern (2011), he caps it off with "You're welcome, Canada."
- #116
In a deleted scene, Deadpool drinks bleach with "Agent K" written on the label, a reference to Men in Black, in which Josh Brolin played a young Agent K in Men in Black 3 (2012).
- #117
Contains a major spoiler — show
At around the 23rd minute, in the scene where the other X-Men can be seen in the background, Quicksilver is wearing a Nirvana T-shirt, a reference to the next X-Men film, which is said to be set in the 90s.
- #121
At around 1 hour 15 minutes, Deadpool tells Domino, "Zip it, black Black Widow." This is a reference to Scarlett Johansson, who plays Black Widow and is Ryan Reynolds's ex-wife in real life.
- #126
At around the 27th minute, Ryan Reynolds and director David Leitch revealed a story in the Deadpool 2 commentary in which the Merc With the Mouth, now living at the X-Mansion, accidentally breaks Cerebro. And it wasn't just a scene in a film; it actually happened. "It always appealed to us, the idea of him misusing Cerebro essentially, not knowing what it's actually for," Leitch said. "That was an actual accident on the day," Reynolds responded. "I didn't mean to do that at all. It just snapped." "It was funny, we actually… That's from the archive of stuff," Leitch added. Reynolds said they found it in the archives at the last second, which proved it was ultimately damaging to the mutant-seeking piece of technology. "So you actually broke a historical X-Men prop," Leitch joked. "Oh great. Great!" Reynolds said, laughing. "I'll get a strongly written letter from Patrick Stewart." "We were shooting [X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)] and we said, 'Okay, we're going to do something quick for Deadpool 2.'" X-Men star Evan Peters said of the scene while speaking to CinemaBlend. "I was like, 'Oh, that's great!' I thought it would be like a funny hidden reference thing in the credits at the end of the film. And when they opened that door and turned to us, we had many different versions. But the method they used was pretty cool, and in the first half of the film I said, 'Oh, God, this is a little weird.'".
- #131
(About 16 minutes in) Director David Leitch's opening credit joke reads "One of the guys who killed the dog in John Wick". His credit is also synchronized with stacks of coins falling in the background, a nod to these films' use of a special metal coin currency.
- #142
Contains a major spoiler — show
(About 1 hour 27 minutes) Colossus's transformation for the final fight mirrors the scene in the first film where Wade and Vanessa are reunited: something sharp is stuck in Wade's head, a love song plays in the background, everything is in slow motion, and Wade makes an inappropriate sexual gesture.
- #166
In the music video for the film's original Céline Dion song "Ashes," Wade references Titanic (1997) and, after seeing that Céline is probably too good for his stupid film, suddenly realizes "God, I should have asked N Sync." Céline also mistakes Deadpool for Spider-Man. Céline can only count up to eleven.
- #172
In the "With Apologies to David Beckham" promo, David Beckham lists to Wade the films of actor Ryan Reynolds: Green Lantern (2011), R.I.P.D. (2013), Self/less (2015), Blade: Trinity (2004) and the Frankenstein comedy Boltneck (2000). Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" also plays in the background.
- #181
Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick preferred to use jokes in the film that only certain members of the audience would understand, but Ryan Reynolds would not allow some of them to be used if he thought enough people would not enjoy them (including a reference to golfer Davis Love III).
- #187
In the scene where the X-Mansion is shown, there are several Velcro name tags on a plaque referring to several X-Men, one of which is labeled "Wheels." This is a reference to what Wolverine called Professor X when they first met in X-Men (2000).
- #200
Contains a major spoiler — show
At roughly 1 hour 1 minute, as the team parachutes down, there is a This Is Spinal Tap (1984) reference. Deadpool lands on a billboard that reads "Puppet Show At Noon." This is a nod to Spinal Tap's puppet show being second-billed in the mockumentary. Deadpool looks like a puppet on strings (the parachute cords). Immediately afterward, a wood chipper is shown with the name 'Gepetto' on it, a reference to the puppet maker in Pinocchio.
- #210
At around 1 hour 14 minutes, Deadpool describes wearing a shirt and no pants as going "Full Winnie-the-Pooh", a reference to the fact that Pooh is mostly shown wearing only a red shirt and no pants.
- #216
When Deadpool and the X-Force perform a free-fall jump from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to rescue Firefist, AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" plays in the background; according to former British Army Captain and former member of the 16th Air Assault Brigade's elite Pathfinder Platoon David Blakely, the same song is also played whenever the Pathfinders perform any jump.
- #234
Many of the locations used for shooting in Vancouver, British Columbia, can be viewed using Google Maps. Dopinder in his taxi was filmed in an alley northeast of the Vancouver Art Gallery (the domed building in the background); Deadpool drives while leaning over and cutting a bullet with a sword at the intersection of West Georgia Street and Thurlow Street near Trump Tower; Cable leaps over colliding vehicles at the intersection of West Hastings Street and Burrard Street, and at the intersection of West Hastings Street and Hornby Street punches Bedlam on a motor scooter and races Deadpool.
- #245
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At about 1 hour 3 minutes) After the parachute and prison truck chase, Deadpool stands next to a van bearing the company name Pryor. This may be a playful reference to the X-Men/X-Factor mutant Madelyn Pryor… Jean Grey's clone, Scott Summers's former wife and Cable's mother. It may also be a reference to comedian Richard Pryor's 1981 cocaine-fueled act of setting himself on fire, since the camera moves to reveal Vanisher's burning body in the street next to the truck.
- #253
(At about the 53rd minute) When Russell talks with Juggernaut in his cell and leaves a tray of food, he suggests making a "secret code." He mentions a "Kaw-kaw" bird call and says to himself that it would be "stupid." This is a reference to Pixar Animation Studios' Up (2009), in which Russell's crazy call is a "Kaw-kaw Roar." Both characters share the same name, are "chubby" and mostly wear yellow.
- #260
When Wade and Russell arrive at the refrigerator, one of the first prisoners shown is old, has a long beard and has the word mutant tattooed on his forehead; this may be a reference to cult leader Charles Manson, who was in prison from the late '60s until his death and had a huge swastika tattooed on his forehead and a long gray beard.
- #262
(At about 16 minutes) Wade tells Weasel the Yentl (1983)/Frozen (2013) theory and says "but nobody fucking realizes it." In the director and writers' commentary track, Ryan Reynolds mentions that someone always expects the punchline that will never see the light of day. This refers to a joke that was originally there and was reportedly offensive enough that Fox Studios "forced" its removal. "I was so heartbroken when they made us take it out," says Reynolds, but he later admitted in an interview that 20th Century Fox supported the Deadpool films incredibly and allowed them to do things probably no other studio could, meaning "conceding on this one thing was not the end of the world for me." The content of the joke was never revealed, but Reynolds said it referred to a "sore spot" for him and came at the expense of The Walt Disney Company, which was then in the early stages of acquiring Fox.
- #264
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At about 13 minutes) In the chase sequence after Vanessa's death, a business called Haru Korean Kitchen can be seen in the background. It is a real place in Vancouver, Canada.
- #269
Cable is shown stealing ammunition and weapons along with an electric guitar from an Army Navy store. He takes the knob from the guitar and attaches it to his gun. This is a reference to "This is Spinal Tap," in which the amp is later shown being turned up to 11.
- #284
Deadpool regrowing his legs mirrors the previous film, in which he regrew his hand.
- #286
Deadpool kills a man named "Red Lotus," a possible hidden reference to an X-Men name from the comics.
- #289
The neon lighting found in David Leitch's previous films John Wick (2014) and Atomic Blonde (2017) can also be seen throughout this film.
- #306
At around 1 hour 16 minutes, the scene of Wade Wilson (as a baby) crossing his legs is a reference to Basic Instinct (1992), with Cable asking "Is that really necessary?" and Weasel replying, "It's his basic instinct." Josh Brolin had previously appeared in Hollow Man (2000), directed by Paul Verhoeven, who also directed Basic Instinct (1992).
- #308
At around the 53rd minute, Russell says he is a gangster like Tupac. It also serves as a nod to the actor's previous role in Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016).
- #315
Contains a major spoiler — show
Hidden reference: the Hawaiian shirt Wade wears in the "full Pooh/baby legs" scene is exactly the same shirt Chunk wears in The Goonies (1985).
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