Deadpool & Wolverine toyed with Robert Downey Jr. cameo: 'We have the Downey draft'

Warning: This article contains spoilers from Deadpool & Wolverine.

The way Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy remembers it, pretty much "everybody we asked" to cameo in the movie "said yes and somehow made the time." That runs the gamut from Jennifer Garner (Elektra) to Henry Cavill (the "Cavillrine" Wolverine variant) to Wesley Snipes (Blade). But according to Deadpool franchise scribes Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, who co-wrote the movie with Levy, star Ryan Reynolds, and Zeb Wells, there was one not-so-tiny cameo that didn't work out.

"That’s true," Reese told The Hollywood Reporter in a new interview about rumors of a Robert Downey Jr. cameo. "That’s definitely something we were toying with."

"There is a script. We have the Downey draft," Wernick said.

Early in Deadpool & Wolverine, Reynolds' Wade Wilson shows up in flashback to interview with Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) for a spot on the Avengers team. According to the writer duo, an early draft of the movie did indeed leave room for Downey's Tony Stark/Iron Man, who died during the events of 2019's Avengers: Endgame, to be a part of that interview process.

Reynolds wrote a version of the script that included both roles. "The feeling was, if Downey either decides not to do it, or if Marvel decides not to have him do it, or for whatever reason it doesn’t work out, [it would then] be tailored for Happy Hogan," Reese explained.

"The MCU clearly had bigger plans for Downey, which we’ve just learned, which is the Doctor Doom thing," Reese continued. Downey's shocking Marvel return as the villain Doctor Doom was announced at San Diego Comic-Con on the eve of Deadpool & Wolverine's debut in theaters. Downey will now star as the famed comic book baddie in Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). "Ultimately, I think that’s why it didn’t happen, though I don’t have the real reason it didn’t happen," Reese added.

Two other key Avengers veterans did return, however: Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans. The first Hollywood Chris reprised Thor for a brief scene. He since joked on Twitter about the whole "why was Thor crying?" moment: "I can keep secrets too." Evans, meanwhile, did not return as Steve Rogers/Captain America, but his other Marvel role of Johnny Storm/the Human Torch from the Fox-era Fantastic Four movies.

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"I was so excited," Evans told Entertainment Weekly exclusively. "Ryan's a buddy. He just shot me a text saying, 'Listen, might be a long shot, but would you have any interest in reprising something from 20 years ago?' I said, 'Oh my God! Of course.' Honestly, Ryan might be the only guy that I would've done it for because he's just got the Midas touch."