Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.
Well, folks, we’ve arrived; Deadpool & Wolverine has finally hit theaters after what’s seemed like months of relentless marketing and promises of a massive gear shift for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But, despite a tremendously solid critical reception (the film boasts an 80 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing), this could go on to be one of the franchise’s most explosively divisive entries yet.
Indeed, rather than do much in the way of showing the MCU where it’s been going wrong this last little while, Deadpool & Wolverine doubled down on the franchise’s misguided battle plans with a surplus of edge and snark on account of Ryan Reynolds’ trigger-happy protagonist. Fox cameos and self-deprecation were the currency of Deadpool & Wolverine.
Nevertheless, it looks like that currency is very well going to translate into real-life, record-breaking currency for Marvel Studios at the box office, and speaking of records, Deadpool & Wolverine has the distinction of having the most Wolverines ever stuffed into a movie; here they are now.
Cavillrine
For context, all of the variants you’re about to read about appear in a montage at the beginning of the film, when Deadpool sets out to recruit Logan for his impromptu quest to save all of existence as he knows it. He cycles through a variety of candidates before eventually landing on the Wolverine we know from all the set photos and teasers.
Anyway, Deadpool’s initial venture unthinkably leads him to “Cavillrine,” a Wolverine variant portrayed by Henry Cavill, which telegraphs exactly how out-of-control Deadpool & Wolverine gets with its superhero meta-anarchist identity.
Cavill, of course, is regarded by many as comic book movie royalty thanks to his time as Superman in the ill-fated DC Extended Universe, and he’s since become a prominent fancast for the Wolverine originating on the MCU’s Earth-199999. And hey, for all we know, that’s precisely where Deadpool was when he came across Cavillrine.
Shorterine
Wolverine’s height in the comic book canon is five feet, three inches (or roughly 160 centimeters), and a variant of Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman, as all the variants sans Cavillrine are) that conforms to this particular detail is visited by Deadpool.
This Wolverine is the most gung-ho of them all, and appears all but ready to throw down alongside Deadpool in order to save the world. The only problem? A five-foot-three Hugh Jackman looks far too hilarious for anyone—be it an audience member or Deadpool himself—to take seriously, and Deadpool promptly moves on to the next Wolverine as a result.
Patch
Deadpool later comes across a Wolverine variant sporting the Patch alter-ego, whose defining traits are an eyepatch, a knack for gambling, and a supremely casual impulse to stab anyone who bothers him during a round (anyone, in this case, including sarcastic Canadian mercenaries who are capable of having homoerotic friendships with just about every adult they come across).
Old Man Logan
The remainder of the Wolverine variants that Deadpool tries to recruit are all reminiscent of famous comic book iterations of the character, one of them being Old Man Logan, who the majority of us will liken to the version we saw in 2017’s Logan, who was chiefly inspired by this variant.
In the comics, Old Man Logan resides on the reality of Earth-807128, where he’s one of the few surviving superheroes after the rest were wiped out by the Earth’s villains.
Uncanny X-Men
Deadpool later encounters a variant of Wolverine inspired by one of the most striking Uncanny X-Men covers ever; no later does the Merc With the Mouth faceplant on a mountain of bloody skulls does he peer up and spot Hugh Jackman chained to a giant X, crucifixion style.
In the comics, this Wolverine is tormented by one Donald Pierce whilst experiencing a myriad of hallucinations, and is later rescued by Jubilee. In Deadpool & Wolverine, however, Wade appears to literally eave him hanging.
Age of Apocalypse
Far and away the most tubular of the Wolverine variants is the Age of Apocalypse-esque version, complete with glam-rock hair and a black leather exterior. This variant immediately attacks Wade upon spotting him, and is probably responsible for most of the Merc’s blood loss during this side-excursion.
Age of Apocalypse takes place in an alternate timeline where Professor X was killed by his son Legion; a death that lets the mutant known as Apocalypse run free on Earth, and subsequently shape it in his image.
In this continuity, Logan is known as Weapon X, and, like his Deadpool & Wolverine equivalent, is missing one of his hands.
Brown and tan
Lastly, as if that iconic yellow and blue uniform wasn’t enough, Deadpool & Wolverine decided to give us the also-iconic brown and tan costume too, albeit with a fraction of the screentime.
This suit first appeared in Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #139, released in August 1980, and was the go-to color scheme for the character up until the early 90s.