Deadpool and Wolverine may be full of references to other Marvel properties, but there were also jabs at the actors themselves with Deadpool joking about Hugh Jackman’s divorce, as well as Jennifer Garner’s.
The movie isn’t shy about making fun of Jackman being very adept at performing musicals, and there was actually a reference that a lot of fans missed referencing Jackman’s time as Jean Valjean in 2012’s Les Miserables.
Shawn Levy Confirms Obscure Deadpool & Wolverine Easter Egg
Marvel fan @WolverSteve had pointed out online that the adamantium skeleton that Deadpool fights within the Bye Bye Bye sequence has the number “24601” on the roof of its mouth. The post also points out an easter egg from Deadpool 2 which also has a reference to ‘Prisoner 24601’.
Apparently, the easter egg was considered to be hard to find, and director Shawn Levy confirmed what they were referencing by retweeting the post:
For context, ‘24601’ was the prisoner number of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, and that’s what Russell Crowe keeps calling Hugh Jackman throughout the run of the movie:
Not to burst anyone’s bubble though, but someone had pointed out that New Rockstars had already spotted the Easter Egg a few weeks back. The main difference is that the post from @WolverSteve also calls back to a reference to the second Deadpool film—confirming that all three Deadpool movies feature Wolverine/Hugh Jackman in some capacity.
Though Deadpool and Wolverine has been dissected to death while it’s still showing in theaters, the digital home release should come with some more reveals. Even people involved in the making of the movie have been sharing all kinds of concept art and scrapped ideas that didn’t manage to make it to the film.
Wolverine’s Future in the MCU
Hugh Jackman may have said goodbye to Wolverine back in 2017’s Logan, and it was kind of expected that his appearance in Deadpool 3 was just going to be a one-off.
By the end of the movie though, it is implied that Jackman will be sticking around for at least a couple more movies. Some are guessing that his last appearance could be in Avengers: Secret Wars, which is rumored to bring everyone from outside the MCU into one movie—with Jackman and old Spider-Man Tobey Maguire being expected to interact with each other.
Nothing official has been confirmed so far, but seeing as how Marvel has been hyping up the Multiverse, this crossover between older Marvel heroes could be the studio’s way of trying to top the crossover event that was Avengers: Endgame.
After Secret Wars though, fans are expecting Jackman to officially bow out, and maybe this time, Marvel can do a ground-up reboot of the X-Men franchise, with a whole new cast taking over iconic characters—including a new face for Wolverine who’s expected to stick around for a couple more years.
As for Jackman and Reynolds, it does seem like they’re just resting on their laurels after the successful launch of Deadpool and Wolverine. Hopefully, fans don’t have to wait too long for an update on when they’ll be coming back.
Deadpool and Wolverine is still showing in theaters worldwide.