‘My worlds collided’: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ managed to keep its cameos a secret, and it’s all thanks to ‘Stranger Things’

You have to hand it to Marvel. Despite the intense scrutiny surrounding Deadpool & Wolverine, most of the blockbuster threequel’s big surprise cameos remained intact by the time it entered theaters. Sure, Jennifer Garner’s return as Elektra had been reported in the press and the studio itself spoiled Dafne Keen’s comeback as X-23 in the trailers, but… Wesley Snipes as Blade? Channing Tatum’s Gambit? Chris Evans as Human Torch? Those guys were total surprises.

It turns out that director Shawn Levy, star/producer Ryan Reynolds, and the rest of the team took some sneaky precautions in order to keep these secrets under wraps. The official script for Deadpool & Wolverine has now hit the internet, and it reveals some intriguing details about how the cameos remained under lock and key. Bizarrely, it seems the movie owes a debt of gratitude to *checks notes* Netflix’s Stranger Things?!

Deadpool & Wolverine script reveals surprising “Stranger Things” cameos

It’s true — Deadpool & Wolverine‘s script reveals cameos from all your favorite Stranger Things characters! Well, kind of. With the release of the film’s screenplay, as part of its For Your Consideration awards push, we now know that all of Deadpool 3‘s big surprise cameos were kept hidden by switching out the Marvel characters’ names with those of residents from Hawkins, Indiana.

In the script, (which you can read for yourself here), there is no mention of Elektra, with Garner’s heroine instead referred to as “Eleven.” Meanwhile, Snipes’ Blade is rendered as “Billy.” Cleverly, Chris Evans’ role gets not one but two Stranger Things pseudonyms. When he’s initially mistaken for Captain America, he’s called “Mr. Clarke” but then when he’s revealed as Johnny Storm he’s dubbed “Jonathan.” The funniest one, though, has to be Henry Cavill’s Wolverine, who is instead christened “the Hopper-rene.”

This might seem like an unlikely crossover of universes, until you remember that Levy is also a producer and director on the smash-hit Netflix series. As the filmmaker said when responding to this revelation on X, “For a brief while, my worlds collided.”

Not every cameo was given a Stranger Things alias, however. Laura Kinney aka X-23 is curiously referred to as “Lemon” while Tatum’s Gambit is hilariously called “Gatsby.” This extends to his iconic introductory line, which is somehow made even funnier. “Dey name’s F. Scott Fitzgerald,” the character says in the script, “but you canna call me da Gatsby.”

These codenames don’t exactly hold up to close inspection — “Gatsby” is still described as possessing a “barely understandable Cajun accent” and Kinney’s character is even called “Lemon from Logan” at one point — but they were clearly effective enough to confuse most people who got their eyes on the script. If any hardcore X-Men fans had managed to get a hold of a copy, there would’ve been trouble, however.

Despite the immense popularity of the series and its cast, it’s peculiar that David Harbour is the only Stranger Things star to crossover into the MCU to date (we’re waiting on you, Millie!), so fans of both can appreciate Levy attempting to manifest a proper incursion of the two universes. Make it happen, Avengers: Secret Wars.