Former The Punisher Actor Addresses Whether a Deadpool & Wolverine Cameo Was Considered

Deadpool & Wolverine has easily been one of the biggest movies of this year, grossing over $1 billion at the worldwide box office and renewing a lot of hype in the Marvel Cinematic Universe along the way. In addition to continuing the madcap journey of Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson / Deadpool, the film folded in characters from a number of previous Marvel movies and television shows — but now we know one that was not in the running. Thomas Jane, who previously portrayed Frank Castle / The Punisher in 2004’s The Punisher, recently confirmed he was not approached for a Deadpool & Wolverine cameo in a new interview with The Direct.

“Nope,” Jane revealed, before adding, “I like [Jon] Bernthal’s Punisher. I think, you know, for me, it was always a little bit of a stretch. Frank Castle is supposed to be an Italian American. I’m not. I’m an Irish American. So for me, I had to dye the hair and sort of take on a persona, but Bernthal wears it so well, so I think they should stick with him.”

Who Cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine?

Among the many Marvel cameos of Deadpool & Wolverine, the biggest standouts were Wesley Snipes as Blade, Jennifer Garner as Elektra, and Dafne Keen as X-23, as well as Channing Tatum as Gambit from his never-produced Gambit solo movie. As director Shawn Levy revealed shortly after the film debuted in theaters, the biggest priority when choosing these cameos was playing off of the legacy of the larger Marvel universe.

“The vibe on set was a party. We wanted to play with this theme of ‘legacy.’ So, we started thinking of characters we knew who never quite got their ending,” Levy revealed. “When we had all these characters together and you have X-23, and you have Blade, and you have Gambit and Electra. Everyone was so happy and grateful.”

What Is Deadpool & Wolverine About?

In Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) will change the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). The film also stars Matthew Macfadyen as Paradox, and Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova, with the return of Deadpool alums Morena Baccarin as Vanessa Carlysle, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Stefan Kapičić as Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Rob Delaney as Peter, and Lewis Tan as Shatterstar, and Aaron Stanford returning as Pyro from the X-Men film series.

Kevin Feige, Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy and Lauren Shuler Donner produce with Louis D’Esposito, Wendy Jacobson, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, George Dewey and Simon Kinberg serving as executive producers. Deadpool & Wolverine is written by Ryan Reynolds & Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick & Zeb Wells & Shawn Levy. Deadpool & Wolverine was released exclusively in theaters on July 26th.