Early Deadpool and Wolverine drafts featured Ghost Rider and Ben Affleck’s Daredevil, Ryan Reynolds confirms: “We did talk to Nic Cage”

The Deadpool and Wolverine cameos come thick and fast already, but, as it turns out, there could’ve been even more.

Deadpool and Wolverine sees Ryan Reynolds’s Merc with a Mouth team up with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, fighting to save the multiverse from Emma Corrin’s Cassandra Nova.

The duo, though, might have had some more allies on their side, if certain things had worked out. Some concept art from Rodney Fuentebella revealed that Ben Affleck’s Daredevil and Nicolas Cage’s Ghost Rider were almost part of the line-up.

“They were in early drafts,” Reynolds told Entertainment Weekly’s Awardist podcast. “We had versions of that [sequence], but then as it shook out, you’re sort of looking… We’re trying to make the movie responsibly, as well. It’s a big budget. It’s the biggest budget of any of the Deadpool movies, but you want to give yourself as much constraint, which really I think facilitates asymmetrical thinking and creativity. If you have too much time or too much money, it usually murders that kind of creativity. So, yeah, you’re shrinking things.”

“But we did talk to Nic Cage,” Reynolds added. “We tried to get him, but he was a no-go… I would’ve loved him.”

Ultimately, there are so many cameos in the movie – including Channing Tatum as Gambit and Jennifer Garner as Elektra – that these two would’ve been a fun bonus, rather than essential appearances. Still, it would’ve been cool to see them onscreen again.

For more on the Marvel Phase 5 movie, check out our verdict in the Deadpool and Wolverine review, our pieces on the Deadpool and Wolverine ending explained and the Deadpool and Wolverine post-credits scene, or see what else Marvel has in store with our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows.