‘Deadpool 2’: Does The Final Trailer Reveal Firefist?

The final trailer for Deadpool 2 was released Thursday morning and it gave a formal introduction to many of the X-Force characters that were previously shown coming together. It also gave a likely answer as to who “The Kid” is going to be in the film.

Julian Dennison of Hunt for the Wilderpeople was shown in the initial trailer and subsequent TV spots without a true identity, putting the guessing game to his role at a fever pitch. In the second clip, it was revealed his name was “Russell”.

With the formation of the X-Force, and introduction of Cable, it is a logical connection to assume that Dennison will be playing Firefirst, confirming the speculation that ComicBook.com Marvel expert Jamie Lovett came to on Monday.

Firefist — for those that aren’t up on their 80s comics — is a fire-generating mutant that got his start 1986s X-Factor No. 1. He ultimately was killed off in the 1995 book X-Men No. 42. However, combining the name of Russell with the powers that were shown in the clips, it makes it an obvious candidate.

Russell “Rusty” Jones was a brainchild of Bob Layton and Jackson Guice. He was part of the aforementioned X-Force, but also bounced to other collectives, like the New Mutants, Acolytes, and the Mutant Liberation Front. Like many of the other characters that the initial Deadpool film took from, the sequel is cobbling together some of the lesser known characters from the Marvel vault and placing them front and center.

As for Firefist specifically, we should expect some character variation from this canon where he was much older — and a Naval officer — but the lack of faithful Firefist followers is likely to lead to little controversy that they are de-aging the character. Additionally, the comedic chops of Dennison will likely be a compelling compliment to the darker side of Cable and combine nicely when he and Deadpool meet up.

The conclusion that Dennison is Firefist ends some of the speculation as to who “The Kid” is that has been teased in the previous spots.

Some those that this would be a twist on the Hope Summers — Cable’s daughter that is presently missing and his MacGuffin, for lack of a batter turn — but that seems to have been squashed. The other theory for what “The Kid” was going to be was Kid Apocalypse, largely due to his pyrokinetic abilities and ties to Nathan Summers.

You can watch the full Deadpool 2 trailer, in all of its ridiculous, foul-mouthed glory, in the video at the top of the page! Tickets for the film are now on sale, so you can grab your tickets for opening weekend nearly a month in advance.