27 Easter eggs, callbacks & references in 'Deadpool & Wolverine' you may have missed

For Marvel movie fans, the 20th Century Fox "universe" has always existed in a kind of a weird limbo alongside the main Marvel series (or Disney universe, if you prefer).

You see, before the iconic "Iron Man" kickstarted the Marvel Studios universe in 2008, there had already been a number of movies made that were based on Marvel superheroes, from a number of different studios.

The most famous was the "X-Men" series from 20th Century Fox, but there were others too, like "Daredevil", "Blade" and the "Fantastic Four."

While some Marvel fans would prefer that all the characters exist in the same universe, others have fond memories of these older movies, who gave us our first look at a super-powered world.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" is a love letter to those movies, and to the fans.

Spoilers ahead

1. Deadpool sings along to the famous Marvel movie intro theme.

2. The wooden "X" at the head of a grave is from the 2017 movie "Logan", which starred Hugh Jackman and was said to provide a definitive end to his Wolverine character.

3. The soldiers Deadpool slaughters (along to the tune of "Bye Bye Bye" from '90s boyband *NSYNC) are from the Time Variance Authority (TVA), an extra-dimensional bureaucracy charged with maintaining the stability of the multiverse.

The TVA debuted in the Disney+ Marvel series, "Loki".

4. There's a reference to "Gossip Girl", a drama series that ended in 2012. It starred Blake Lively, who happens to be the wife of Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds.

5. Jon Favreau appears as Harold "Happy" Hogan, Tony Stark's friend. Unfortunately Robert Downey Jr himself does not make a cameo.

6. Hogan's office is littered with artifacts and mementoes that call back to previous Marvel movies, like the half-finished "Captain America" shield and the suitcase briefcase from "Iron Man 2", and Stark's arc reactor that made a poignant appearance at his funeral in "Avengers: Endgame".

7. Shatterstar (the guy in a white suit with a red braid) makes an appearance at Wade Wilson's party.

He previously appeared in "Deadpool 2" and is portrayed by Lewis Tan.

Tan's father Phillip happens to be a Singaporean martial artist and stunt coordinator. So we have Singaporean representation in this movie!

8. There are comic book references galore when Deadpool jumps across various universes trying to find a suitable Wolverine.

Those I spotted include "Old Man Logan", a Wolverine on the cover of this famous issue, a "comic-accurate" short Wolverine (he is officially 5 feet 3 inches tall, which is about 160cm), a Wolverine with an eyepatch, and the very first comic in which Wolverine appeared, an issue of the Incredible Hulk. The Hulk himself makes a very brief cameo.

9. There's a special cameo by Henry Cavill, better known as the actor for Superman in the DC universe movies.

Cavill is a popular choice among fans as a potential actor for Wolverine once Hugh Jackman retires from the role. He is credited as "Cavillerine".

10. Deadpool calls Wolverine "Honey Badger", the name of another heroine in the comics, who is a younger female clone of Wolverine.

11. Deadpool snarks that it took "20 years" for Wolverine to don his famous blue-and-yellow costume, a reference to the very first X-Men movie by Fox in 2000, where the X-Men (dressed in black) quip about "yellow spandex".

12. There's a Secret Wars comic book lying next to Deadpool when he wakes up in Limbo.

Some have speculated that the Disney Marvel Avengers movies will use a version of the Secret Wars storyline for their next phase.

13. Were you expecting Captain America?

Lest we forget, Chris Evans played another superhero in the Fox movies, Johnny Storm/Human Torch of the Fantastic Four.

14. There are a whole host of villainous characters from previous Fox movies, some with their original actors, and some with new actors.

Look out for:

• Pyro and Toad from "X-Men"
• The Russian from "Punisher"
• Lady Deathstrike from "X2"
• Juggernaut from "X-Men: Last Stand"
• Blob from "Wolverine: Origins"
• Psylocke from "X-Men: Apocalypse"
• Azazel from "X-Men: First Class"

15. Dogpool is a reference to the comics, but it is portrayed by the actual winner of Britain's Ugliest Dog contest for 2023, Peggy the pug-ese.

15. When Deadpool and Wolverine fight in the car, you can hear a short snippet of "The Greatest Show", from Hugh Jackman's musical "The Greatest Showman". It also happens to be another 20th Century Fox movie.

The pair also listen to an Avril Lavigne song while travelling, as all three of them are famous Canadians.

16. The appearance of Blade, Elektra and Gambit! This was the moment that had the whole theatre hollering with joy.

While the X-Men series is perhaps the most famous of the non-Disney movies, there were other movies starring Marvel characters that fans remember fondly to this day.

Blade, played by Wesley Snipes, first appeared in the titular 1998 movie. Elektra, played by Jennifer Garner, appeared in a 2005 film, which was a spin-off of the 2003 Ben Affleck "Daredevil" movie.

Gambit, played by Channing Tatum, was supposed to get his own movie (starring Tatum), but it never came to fruition. There are many jokes about this.

17. X-23 appears, played by Dafne Keen. Keen was last seen in "Logan", and was widely-regarded as one of the movie's highlights despite her young age.

18. Blade boasts that there are multiple Punishers (true, with actors like Dolph Lundgren, Thomas Jane and Jon Bernthal), but there's only one Blade.

This is a reference to the troubled production of the Disney Marvel remake of Blade, with actor Mahershala Ali recently expressing his frustration over the delay.

19. When Cassandra Nova gets injured, the blood running down her chin in three streaks makes her resemble Veranke, Queen of the Skrulls.

Veranke featured in the comic book storyline "Secret Invasion", which was explored in the titular Disney+ series.

20. One of the TVA agents we see is played by Rob McElhenny, star of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" and Ryan Reynold's partner in buying and making a TV show about Wrexham Football Club.

21. The store that Deadpool and Wolverine walk in front of is a shoe store called "Liefeld's Just Feet".

This is a reference to Rob Liefeld, a popular comic book artist who has been criticised for being unable to draw a human foot properly.

22. One of the many Deadpool variants has a Welsh flag on his chest, another reference to Wrexham, who play in Wales.

23. Another Deadpool variant is Ladypool, a female Deadpool with long blonde hair, who is played by Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds's wife.

24. The bus that the Deadpool variants fight on has an ad with Stan Lee's face on it, keeping up the tradition of having the Marvel legend make a cameo.

25. Deadpool jokes that Wolverine's suit allows him to move his neck, which was something that Michael Keaton's suit in the first Batman movie did not enable him to do.

26. The scene where Deadpool locks himself in the chamber and taunts Wolverine from behind the glass window is a satire of "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan", where Spock does the same to sacrifice himself for Captain Kirk.

27. Deadpool and Wolverine eat shawarma, just like in the first Avengers movie.

Top image from Disney.