How Deadpool And Wolverine Managed To Keep Chris Evans’ Marvel Return A Secret

Chris Evans might be best known as Steve Rogers, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first Captain America, but most fans will know this was not his first foray into superhero movies. In fact, it wasn’t even his first experience playing a Marvel character. Prior to playing Cap, Evans appeared as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in 2005’s “Fantastic Four” — a much maligned effort from the days when 20th Century Fox owned a chunk of the Marvel portfolio, only for the studio itself to be subsumed by Disney in 2019.

But when it comes to “Fantastic Four,” one thing that you can’t fault director Tim Story for is the casting, especially in Evans’ case. The actor did a fine job as Johnny Storm, bringing a cocky yet endearing energy to the role, and seemingly maintaining a personal affection for the character ever since. Evans spoke about returning as Johnny Storm in 2022, saying it would be an “easier sell” than reprising the role of Steve Rogers/Captain America. At the time, the “Knives Out” star responded to MTV News‘ question about once again suiting up as the Human Torch by saying, “Wouldn’t that be great? No, no one’s ever come to me about that.” Then, someone did come to him about that: Ryan Reynolds.

The “Deadpool & Wolverine” star managed to get Evans onboard for the third of his “Deadpool” films, which obliterated the box office upon its debut. But keeping this long-awaited return a secret was never going to be easy in an age where superhero movies have more trouble than ever keeping cameos and plot-points under wraps. Thankfully, Reynolds and director Shawn Levy got lucky this time.

Unless you’ve been recently banished to an alternate dimension by the Time Variance Authority, you might have noticed that “Deadpool & Wolverine” just became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, smashing box office records and making more than a billion dollars in the process. Part of the reason for this gargantuan success is the absolute onslaught of cameos contained therein, with everyone from Henry Cavill as an alternate Wolverine to Wesley Snipes’ Blade showing up. Among these guest stars is Evans as Johnny Storm, who shows up after the titular duo find themselves banished to a Mad Max-style wasteland known as the Void.

This particular cameo is noteworthy for the way in which the film subverts viewer expectations. When the character first shows up, Deadpool, and pretty much everyone watching, is under the impression that Evans is reprising the role of Captain America. But that impression is quickly shattered once he delivers his “Flame On” line and ascends into the troposphere of the Void as the Human Torch.

Such a misdirect was always going to be tough to keep under wraps, especially considering the Void scenes mostly had to be shot outside at the 25-acre Pitstone Quarry in Buckinghamshire, England. Just a few years prior, “The Batman” proved to be about as leaky a production as they come, with the press managing to get several candid shots of the movie during its UK-based shoot. Even “Spider-Man: No Way Home” couldn’t keep Andrew Garfield’s cameo entirely under wraps, and that was all shot on a soundstage. So, how were Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds going to hide Evans from the British press and their telephoto lenses on a wide-open set in the English countryside? Put simply, they weren’t.

Evans’ return as Johnny Storm was actually a major element of “Deadpool & Wolverine” that was always in the script — before even Hugh Jackman was onboard to reprise the role of Logan. As director Shawn Levy told the New York Times, the co-writers of the first two “Deadpool” movies, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, actually pitched the idea of Evans’ cameo early in the film’s development:

“I remember Wernick and Reese […] pitching this idea of a Chris Evans misdirect very, very early: What if we could get Chris Evans and the audience thinks it’s Cap, but he’s actually coming back as Johnny Storm? It was such an A-plus idea that it survived every iteration of the story line.”

Unfortunately, in December 2023, the emergence of several “Deadpool & Wolverine” set photos revealed the big Logan vs Wade brawl in the wasteland, and spoiled several cameos, including two returning X-Men characters from the 20th Century Fox era of Marvel movies. Suddenly, it seemed as though Evans’ cameo was in jeopardy of suffering a similar spoilerific fate. But according to “Deadpool & Wolverine” actor Aaron Stanford, the fact that this particular guest appearance wasn’t ruined came down to pure luck.

In “Deadpool & Wolverine,” Aaron Stanford reprised his role as John Allerdyce/Pyro, a mutant who can manipulate fire, from 2003’s “X2” and 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand.” He was on-set for Evans’ cameo, and in an interview with ComicBook, spoke about the Void set being hard to secure “because it was outside,” revealing that “all the paparazzi set up outside like half a mile away with telephoto lenses and got the shots.” He continued:

“I think the reason you didn’t see Chris in that scene is because that particular scene was split up pre-strike and post-strike, so we were in there shooting that scene the very first day I worked and that was the day Chris worked. We all went for however many months it took to settle the strike, and when we came back we shot the backend of that sequence. That was the day the paparazzi showed up and Chris wasn’t there.”

“Deadpool & Wolverine” had to stop shooting in July 2023 due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, and resumed in November of that year. It seems Evans was on-set prior to the strike but didn’t return when filming picked back up. So that was it. The day Evans shot his cameo, before the strike got going, was the day the press decided not to show up. In that sense, Levy and his crew were never going to be able to ensure the actor’s return was kept under wraps, and simply got lucky this time around.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” is currently playing in theaters.