Deadpool 2: Why Matt Damon Was Credited As "Dickie Greenleaf"

Some well-known actors make cameo appearances in Deadpool 2, but Matt Damon's was particularly hard to spot, despite the full monologue that he delivers, as his name in the credits was changed. The first Deadpool film was massively successful and was largely viewed by the industry as an affirmation of the viability of R-rated superhero movies, which have since enjoyed regular releases and critical appreciation with Logan, Birds of Prey, and Joker, among others.

Staying true to its fourth wall-smashing comic book origins after backlash to the character's portrayal in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the Deadpool film franchise has laid claim to an irreverent meta-humor that other big-budget studio superhero films have been hesitant to emulate. As a result, Deadpool 2 makes use of cameos in a way that is a bit more impactful than your garden variety sighting in the MCU, including a glimpse of the entire cast of the new X-Men films, archival footage of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and Brad Pitt in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo as the visible form of the Vanisher.

When time-traveling mutant Cable arrives in the present day on his Terminator-esque mission, he comes across two men having a heated discussion about toilet paper. One is genre-favorite Alan Tudyk, while the other is a heavily made-up, barely recognizable Matt Damon, whose appearance is made even more inconspicuous by the fact that he is listed under the pseudonym "Dickie Greenleaf" in the end credits. Rather than just a random name, this is a reference to The Talented Mr. Ripley. Based on a Patricia Highsmith novel, the film follows Damon's titular character as he steals the identity of a wealthy young man named Dickie Greenleaf.

This Deadpool 2 drop-by actually wasn't Matt Damon's first goofy cameo in a Marvel movie. A year prior, he also appeared momentarily in Thor: Ragnarok as an actor portraying a fictionalized version of Loki in an Asgardian play, a role that he is, bafflingly and wonderfully, set to reprise in Thor: Love and Thunder. Just as the melodramatic Loki-actor role played off of Damon's reputation as a lauded actor, Deadpool 2's credits recall one of his more critically acclaimed performances in order to accentuate just how silly it is for him to be cast to pontificate about toilet paper.

Interestingly, Damon has recently been openly critical of the impact that superhero movies are having on cinema as a whole, an impact which will surely only intensify in the future as the MCU and the Disney+ Marvel shows continue to blur the boundaries between media. It is perhaps not surprising then that he has noticeably eschewed any high-profile caped roles and that his appearances in Thor and Deadpool are more than slightly parodic. So, as more and more actors become fixtures of one superhero franchise or another, Matt Damon seems content to be a jester, popping up every now and then to say hello, be goofy, and bring things down to earth while the world-saving goes on around him.

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