Early in Shawn Levy’s new superhero trifle “Deadpool & Wolverine,” Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) learned that his entire universe will, within the next few thousand years, unravel and disappear from the multiverse entirely. It seems that every universe has an “Anchor Being” that, upon their death, brings about the end of their entire timeline. Of course, if the birth and death of a single being causes an entire timeline to end, that’s not so much an “Anchor” as a “Harbinger of Doom.” (It’s best not to think too hard about the concept of Anchor Beings.
Deadpool is told that Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) was his universe’s Anchor Being, and his death in the movie “Logan” started to make things unravel. Deadpool feels he can save his universe by replacing the dead Wolverine with another one, kidnapped from a different alternate universe. He steals a dimension-hopping widget, and begins looking for a suitable replacement. In an amusing montage, the antihero meets multiple Wolverines, all of them played by Jackman, in the hopes one of them won’t try to kill him immediately.
In one alternate universe, Deadpool approaches a Wolverine fixing a motorcycle in a dingy garage, and finds that he is played not by Hugh Jackman, but by British actor Henry Cavill. Fans of superhero cinema might know Cavill best from playing Superman in the now-dead DC Extended Universe, and Deadpool, being aware that he is in a movie, addresses this Wolverine as Henry Cavill. He even calls him “Cavillrine.”
Levy said Cavill was happy to provide a quick cameo, and said that the actor appeared for two simple reasons: One, the appearance was just playful fun, and two, it was amusing to skip from DC to Marvel.
The Cavillrine
Comic book readers, of course, will instantly know the significance of passing from the world of DC Comics into the world of Marvel Comics. The two companies have, for many, many decades, enjoyed a major, combative rivalry in the publishing world, with each one fighting for the lion’s share of comic book readers. DC, of course, is the home of heroes like Batman, Superman, Booster Gold, Ambush Bug, Snowflame, and that one Green Lantern that’s a planet. Marvel, meanwhile, oversees the Hulk, She-Hulk, Red Hulk, Planet Hulk, and at least four others that aren’t Hulk. DC and Marvel each have their own extensive universes, but it’s very rare that the two companies will cross over. And while there are kids who read both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, each one tends to attract very brand-loyal fans.
Hence, why seeing Superman playing Wolverine was such a coup. Cavill, of course, has ended his tenure as Superman, but his association with the role lingers. Levy was very aware of this when he asked Cavill to appear in one scene as Cavillrine:
“If we’re going to talk about him, we must call him by his actual credited name, the Cavillerine, which Ryan coined. I knew it was undeniable as soon as Ryan came up with that term. He said ‘yes’ right away because he knew it would be subversive and playful. It was also with a lot of affection for him and his body of work, and playing with his legacy as a DC hero now that he’s appearing as a variant of a Marvel hero.”
It was a cute industry-insider-friendly cameo in a film that feels like it’s comprised of about 85% cute industry-insider-friendly cameos.
Cavill continues to mine humor from the mustache saga
Playing into the insider-baseball gag even further, Cavill posted a picture of himself in his Wolverine getup on his Instagram account. He commented, “To be safe, I shaved the moustache off for this one. Just the moustache.”
This is in reference to Cavill’s work on Christopher McQuarrie’s 2018 actioner “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” wherein he sported a healthy mustache. Cavill grew the mustache specifically for the role, and was under contract to keep it for the length of the shoot; the filmmakers wouldn’t want to replace it with false whiskers should Cavill want to shave.
Infamously, Zack Snyder’s superhero film “Justice League” ran into dramatic problems during production, including a personal tragedy in Snyder’s life that forced him to step away from the production. Cavill played Superman in “Justice League,” and he thought his scenes were completed. The studio hired Joss Whedon to complete “Justice League” after Snyder’s departure, as well as to re-write large portions of the film. Whedon also had to film several new scenes to make sure “Justice League” was coherent.
By the time Whedon started shooting, however, Cavill was saddled with his “Mission: Impossible” mustache, which he wasn’t allowed to shave. This was an issue for shooting new “Justice League” footage, as Superman is notoriously clean-shaven. Whedon’s solution was film Cavill with the mustache, and then use CGI to remove it. The results are … noticeable. Cavill’s absent mustache was the cause of much online brouhaha.
All of that is backstory to Cavill’s crack about how he shaved his mustache to play Wolverine. “Deadpool & Wolverine,” and seemingly some of the surrounding marketing materials around it, will likely be a mystery to anyone who hasn’t been steeped in superhero movie journalism for at least a decade.
