Marvel Studios was careful not to give too much away about Deadpool & Wolverine before it arrived in theaters, though we did catch a glimpse of some familiar Variants in the trailers and officially released images.
Well, we thought they were familiar.
While the threequel did bring back plenty of iconic characters from the past, outside of Pyro, Cassandra Nova's army of villains was made up of recognisable characters played by unknown actors. There's a precedent for Variants looking different in the MCU, but for many fans, they'd have preferred to either see the originals or no one at all.
Vinnie Jones' Juggernaut, for example, was replaced by Free Guy's Aaron W Reed, a shame given how pivotal that villain was to the final battle (Jones is thought to have declined an offer to return over money).
Regardless, when an actor was spotted in the background of a scene wearing a black trenchcoat and wielding several weapons, it was widely theorised that it might be Kirk "Sticky" Jones, the star of The CW's short-lived Blade TV series.
Thanks to a newly surfaced behind-the-scenes photo from Deadpool & Wolverine, we can now confirm that actor Curtis Small was playing a Bullseye Variant. He has the same bullseye scar as the version portrayed by Colin Farrell in 2005's poorly-received Daredevil movie.
He's joined by Danny Ramos, the actor who suited up as Toad in place of X-Men star Ray Park. We've yet to identify the actors who suited up as the likes of Lady Deathstrike and Azazel as they didn't have speaking parts and weren't identified in Deadpool & Wolverine's credits.
In our review Deadpool & Wolverine earlier this month - which you can read by clicking here - we concluded by saying, "A contender for the best superhero movie ever, Deadpool & Wolverine is two hours of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman proving they were born to play these roles and, crucially, be part of the MCU. It’s a f***ing masterpiece."
Shawn Levy directs Deadpool & Wolverine, which stars Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Matthew Macfadyen, and Dafne Keen. The movie is written by Ryan Reynolds & Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick & Zeb Wells & Shawn Levy.
Kevin Feige, Reynolds, Levy and Lauren Shuler Donner produce with Louis D’Esposito, Wendy Jacobson, Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, George Dewey, Simon Kinberg and Jonathon Komack Martin serving as executive producers.
Deadpool & Wolverine is now playing in theaters.