Deadpool Star Ryan Reynolds Went to Great Lengths to Keep The Golden Girls References a Secret

Fans recently had the chance to rewatch the original Deadpool film with Deadpool’s creator Rob Liefeld as part of ComicBook.com’s Quarantine Watch Party, and along the way, they learned quite a bit about the making of the movie. During the pre-show, Liefeld touched on one of the many pop culture references that Ryan Reynolds snuck into the movie, which included a subtle but amazing Golden Girls reference. Reynolds wears a Bea Arthur shirt at one point during the movie, and as Liefeld revealed to CB’s Brandon Davis, Reynolds went to great lengths to keep as many references, including the Golden Girls reference, a secret until the movie hit theaters.

“When I was on the set during this sequence, they were very careful,” Liefeld said. “Ryan did not want anyone to see the Bea Arthur on his shirt. He wanted the Golden Girls, all those references obscured, like I took some photos with him and he’s like ‘just make sure that the Golden Girls cannot be seen. Again they did a lot of, they were very careful in how they presented this in the way that they hid that people would go crazy over and obviously the Golden Girls is just one of them.”

Liefeld then shared the original photo he was referring to, which had Reynolds in the Bea Arthur shirt.

“When I originally shared this pic on social media in 2015, I had to crop Bea Arthur from the shot! #QuarantineWatchParty #Deadpool,” Liefeld wrote.

You can check out the photo above.

As those who saw Deadpool 2 know, Reynolds managed to fit in a few more Golden Girls homages into the franchise before all was said and done, and we can’t wait to see what he comes up with for Deadpool 3.

As for the original Deadpool, you can find the official description below.

“Based upon Marvel Comics’ most unconventional anti-hero, DEADPOOL tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life.

Bonus Features:

– Deleted/Extended Scenes with Optional Audio Commentary by Director Tim Miller
– Gag Reel
– From Comics to Screen…to Screen
– Gallery (Concept Art, Costumes, Storyboards, Pre-vis, Stunt-vis)
– Deadpool s Fun Sack
– Audio Commentary by Ryan Reynolds and Screenwriters Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick
– Audio Commentary by Director Tim Miller and Deadpool Co-Creator/Comics Artist Rob Liefeld“

Which Golden Girls reference in the franchise has been your favorite? Let us know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MattAguilarCB for all things Marvel and Golden Girls!