The official trailer for Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine was bulging more than Logan’s biceps with endless exciting X-Men and MCU cameos. One such cameo was that of the villainous mutant Azazel, and his inclusion could spell trouble for the eponymous duo.
Azazel previously appeared in Fox’s brilliant 2011 movie X-Men: First Class, as played by Jason Flemyng played him. It’s understood Flemyng will indeed reprise his role as the devilish red-skinned character in Deadpool and Wolverine.
In the trailer, Azazel can be seen among a group of mutants outside Cassandra Nova’s base, presumably in the Void, which appears to be made from the equipment and skeleton of a deceased variant of Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man, aka Scott Lang.
Other mutants in the scene (as seen in the image below) include Toad, Lady Deathstrike, Callisto, and Pyro. They all previously appeared in various movies in Fox’s X-Men franchise. Interestingly, it also looks like a variant of the Punisher villain the Russian is present — professional wrestler Kevin Nash previously played the character in 2004’s The Punisher.
But what does Azazel bring to the table?
Who is Azazel?
Anyone whose familiarity with Azazal ends with X-Men: First Class could be forgiven for thinking his powers are a little limited. That iteration of the character boasted his classic demonic appearance, could teleport, had a prehensile tail, and was a competent close-quarters fighter. However, there’s so much more to the character than that in Marvel’s comic books.
The comic version of Azazel is the father of X-Men superhero Nightcrawler (or used to be, anyway) and can do everything his First Class counterpart could do — teleport (across dimensions, no less), use his tail in various valuable and offensive ways, and fight to a decent standard — but he also has many additional abilities.
Perhaps most pertinently, Azazel has an abundance of psionic abilities. Not only can he read the minds of others, enabling him to predict their next moves and extract information from them, but he can also mind-control his opponents. Although these telepathic powers aren’t up to the standards of fellow mutants like Professor X or Emma Frost, they’re still handy.
Azazel also possesses the ability to shapeshift, project powerful bolts of paralyzing energy, and see clearly in the dark. He also has an extended lifespan to the point of being nigh-immortal.
His most surprising ability, however, is his ability to cast magic spells. His connection to the mysterious Brimstone Dimension and demonic blood give him mystical abilities. These abilities are greatly enhanced when he’s in the Brimstone Dimension, which he can manipulate the very fabric of.
Given the multiversal nature of the current MCU, Azazel could play a big part in traversing himself and other characters across realities — taking Cassandra Nova to the prime MCU timeline could give the Avengers themselves a powerful new foe, for example. Given his versatile powerset, he could also prove to be a real handful for Deadpool and Wolverine.
We only have to wait until July 26 for the world to see the MCU’s potentially lethal version of Azazel in action. How very exciting!