The Following Contains Spoilers forDeadpool & WolverineMarvel’s casting announcements tend to be a big deal. One of the weird little drawbacks of Marvel’s continuity gimmick is that it makes recasting characters or shifting actors around very difficult. A Marvel performer could be in the role for a decade or more.Deadpool & Wolverinedemonstrates the studio’s willingness to bring back anyone who has ever been attached to a comic book movie. However, that film’s excesses brought beloved performers like Nathan Fillion into roles like Headpool, unbeknownst to a lot of viewers.
Deadpool & Wolverinewants to be20th Century Fox’s swan songin a way. The film franchise still exists as a bucket of toys for its spoiled younger brother to slap together until they break, but Ryan Reynolds wanted to send some of his stablemates off with respect. As a result, it lands somewhere betweenThe FlashandAcross the Spider-Versein terms of meta appeal. It’s smarter than the DCEU’s disastrous final note, but it barely manages to find something to say about the universe Wade risks his life to save.
Nathan Fillion Plays Headpool inDeadpool & Wolverine
Fans will hearNathan Fillion’s voicebehind the floating severed head,Headpool. The character appearsbriefly in the third act. Headpool is one of countless Deadpool variants who pop up throughout the film. This plot beat comes up relatively early. After the original Deadpool and the version of Logan he snagged from a bitter alternate reality briefly escape Alioth, they run into an unmasked Wade Wilson. This Ryan Reynolds sports a more heavily-armored costume, long hair, and an omnipresent smile. He’s Nicepool, a generally pleasant version of Wade Wilson who warns Prime Wade and Logan to stay away from the Deadpool Corps. Over an hour later, the heroes encounter the Corps. Cassandra Nova convinces the Corps to stall Wade and Logan while she ends the universe. Headpool can be seen floating near the front of the army. His face is skeletal, his mask is tattered, and he can only move thanks to a working propellor on top of his skull. Fillion gets a couple of lines in the role, including this one in which he voices the group’suniversal love for Dogpool:
Hold your fire! Sweet little puppy.
Who is Headpool in Marvel Comics?
Headpool is one of the many alternate versions of Wade Winston Wilson from across the multiverse.Deadpool & Wolverinedoesn’t give him a lot to do, but he has a backstory in the comics. Headpool comes from Earth-2149, betterknown as the Zombiverse. An alternate version of Sentry infected Earth-2149 with a nightmarish zombie plague that quickly swept through the superhuman community. He first appeared inMarvel Zombies#3 in 2006. He initially seems like a very competent warrior with a wide array of knowledge. Wade’s healing factor likely kept elements of the plague at bay, but it also gave him a new version of his awful appearance.
Headpool somehow escaped Earth-2149 and attacked Earth-616. This version of the character defeats Jennifer Kale’s magic with his insider knowledge, but the alien superhero Wundarr quickly pushes him into a boat motor, chopping his body into dust. Only his head survived. Headpool would serve as a minor antagonist for a while, consistently working to infect others and claim a new body. He wasn’t especially successful at either task. Deadpool would later invite him to join thenascent Deadpool Corps, where he briefly fought the zombified Avengers. He would face his final death when the Evil Deadpool Corps execute him as part of their mission to wipe out all Deadpool variants.
Who else appears in the Deadpool Corps?
The Deadpool Corps scene is an opportunity to pack in aton of alternate Deadpools. Most of them blend into the background, but here’s a short list of standouts:
Deadpool & Wolverinepacks in a lot of different versions of both title characters. TheDeadpool variants feel abit like action figure concepts. There are versions of him representing different time periods, countries, ages, and points along the gender spectrum. Nathan Fillion provides the voice of the long-dead zombie Headpool. It is fascinating to see him join the cast while still being far from the weirdest addition to the list.
