Deadpool & Wolverine Villain Has Surprising Inspiration

Deadpool & Wolverine's Cassandra Nova draws inspiration from a popular Quentin Tarantino movie.

By Aaron Perine

Deadpool & Wolverine's Emma Corrin revealed what popular film bad guy inspired their Marvel villain. Harpers Bazaar profiled the Deadpool actor and talked about stepping into the MCU. Corrin says that Cassandra Nova was directly influenced by Inglorious Basterds' Hans Linda. In the Quentin Tarantino film, the Nazi colonel is played by Christoph Waltz. The menace from the character comes from a calm demeanor that belies a true monster under that ghastly uniform. (There's also the possibility that Nova shares a commonanlity with Waltz's villain as they could both be hunting vulnerable populations…) At any rate, it's an interesting choice to be sure. Check out how Corrin describes the Tarantino bad guy.

"Because he's in that uniform, that says everything you need to know," they told the outlet. "He can sit down at the table and just chat like we're doing now, be animated, very pleasant. It's so unnerving because he's as evil as they get, the worst person on the planet. … He is the opposite of a scary villain; he lets his physicality do the talking, and then he flips the other parts on their head."

Deadpool & Wolverine Takes Things To 11 With Cassandra Nova

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(Photo: Marvel Entertainment)

Cassandra Nova is going to ignite a ton of fan speculation when it comes to Deadpool & Wolverine. But, Emma Corrin really sunk into this role and that should excite everyone without seeing another second of her twisted bad guy. In the same profile for Harper's, both Ryan Reynolds and Jackman commended their co-star for bringing a sort of lurking danger to the X-Men baddie. Nova is focused, and decidedly evil, but it seems like her character motivations make a ton of sense! And, that's probably not going to bode well for Deadpool & Wolverine.

"It felt like working with a skin-covered Swiss Army knife," Reynolds shared. "Emma brought a Gene Wilder energy to Deadpool & Wolverine. Mischief, danger, unpredictability—from their first scene onward, we understand the villain enough to know why she's motivated to oppose our heroes. And that's because Emma is so fucking excellent at humanizing even the most chaotic lines. The only thing we love more than hating a villain is loving one. And we love Emma's Cassandra Nova from the jump."

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Jackman also had to give Corrin some props for that wild performance. "Emma has an ability to so subtly change—to turn on a dime," Jackson added. "There was an effortlessness, a sense of danger."

Are you intrigued by Cassandra Nova in Deadpool & Wolverine? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

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