Ryan Reynolds confirmed in a recent interview with Collider that he contacted Nicolas Cage and asked him to reprise his role as Ghost Rider in Deadpool & Wolverine. The record-breaking Marvel blockbuster features a handful of actors reprising their comic book characters from yesteryear, from Jennifer Garner’s Elektra to Chris Evans’ Johnny Storm to Wesley Snipes’ Blade. Reynolds wanted Cage to join the film’s epic list of cameos.
When asked if Cage had been approached for a revival of Ghost Rider, Reynolds replied, “Yes.” The actor added, “There was definitely a conversation. Yes, but no.”
Cage played Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider in two comic book adaptations: Ghost Rider (2007) and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011). The films were released by Sony, while Deadpool & Wolverine featured cameo appearances by actors who had starred in Marvel films developed and distributed by Fox, which is now owned by Disney.
While Cage was on the list of actors wanted for Deadpool & Wolverine, Patrick Stewart was not. Many fans had expected Stewart to appear as Charles Xavier, as he has appeared in many X-Men films alongside Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine since the 2000 original and recently reprised the character for a cameo in Marvel’s 2022 blockbuster Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
“Never discussed,” director Shawn Levy said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast about Stewart’s return. “And it was explored. Emma Corrin explored it in depth because we find the Cassandra sibling relationship with Professor X really interesting. But no, never discussed. Never, never considered.”
The actors returning for “Deadpool & Wolverine” have expressed their gratitude to Reynolds and Levy in the days following the film’s record-breaking opening weekend. Evans wrote on social media that it was “a dream come true to play Johnny Storm again and he will always hold a special place in my heart.” The actor hadn’t played the “Fantastic Four” superhero since 2007’s “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”
Channing Tatum appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine as Gambit, a character he never got to play in a movie despite trying to get a Gambit movie off the ground for several years at Fox. Tatum thanked Reynolds in his own social media post for finally giving him the chance to debut as the comic book character.
“I thought I had lost Gambit forever,” Tatum wrote, noting that Reynolds “fought for me and Gambit and I’ll probably owe him forever. Because I’m not sure how I could ever do anything that could equal what that meant to me. I love you, buddy.”
Disney’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” is now in cinemas nationwide.
