Ryan Reynolds worked for years to get a Deadpool movie off the ground. He’d previously played the role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but he was relegated to a supporting role and the Merc with a Mouth had his mouth sewn shut, so it wasn’t particularly faithful to the source material. The long-awaited solo film was given a conservative budget (at least for a comic book movie), because it didn’t seem conceivable that an R-rated fourth-wall-breaking superhero comedy could be a hit. Of course, when the movie finally hit theaters, the gamble paid off. It broke all kinds of blockbuster records for R-rated movies and launched a lucrative franchise.
In the Deadpool movies, Wade Wilson has battled some of the most iconic villains from the Marvel Comics universe. From Cable to the Juggernaut, the Deadpool films have given fans plenty of memorable live-action portrayals of beloved baddies. But the franchise also has some forgettable villains, like Ajax (a.k.a. Francis) and Black Tom Cassidy.
Ajax
Better known by his real name Francis, Ajax is the main villain of the first Deadpool movie. He’s responsible for Wade Wilson’s mutation, as he takes him in, promises to cure his cancer, and turns him into an invincible killing machine. This, of course, turns out to be a big mistake as Wade commits himself to using those newfound powers to track down and kill Francis.
Ed Skrein couldn’t replace Jason Statham in the Transporter franchise and he couldn’t make for a memorable villain in Deadpool. While the movie itself was a refreshing change of pace, Francis is the same one-note, generically evil bad guy seen in countless other comic book blockbusters. His enhanced strength is a pretty common superpower and his characterization is one-dimensional and mediocre.
Black Tom Cassidy
Black Tom Cassidy only appears briefly at the mutant prison in Deadpool 2. He confronts ‘Pool in the cafeteria, which inspires Firefist to use violence to solve his problems. This take on the character is very thinly drawn, so there’s not a lot that Jack Kesy can do with the material. His role in the sequel was so drastically reduced that he might as well have been cut from the script entirely.
This role could’ve been filled by pretty much any villain. The fact that it’s Black Tom Cassidy just sets up yet another tired gag making fun of a comic book character’s name. The character’s function in the plot is to influence Firefist’s burgeoning villainy, but his friendship with the Juggernaut already established that.
Juggernaut
One of the many things that the Deadpool 2 trailers managed to hide from audiences was the appearance of the Juggernaut. The iconic X-Man becomes a secondary villain in the sequel’s final act as he teams up with Firefist to take down the abusive head of his old mutant academy. On top of playing the Merc with a Mouth (and himself in a mid-credits scene), Reynolds voiced the Juggernaut.
With brute force and dry humor, this incarnation of the Juggernaut finally did the character justice after Vinnie Jones’ much-maligned performance in X-Men: The Last Stand.
Angel Dust
Although Ajax is the main villain in the first Deadpool movie, his top henchwoman is a much more interesting baddie than he is. Like Ajax, Angel Dust has been artificially mutated.
Gina Carano brings an authentic badass edge to this character, much like her role as Cara Dune in The Mandalorian. Angel Dust is so strong (and such a proficient fighter) that she can take on Colossus in hand-to-hand combat and still get the upper hand.
Firefist
Wade slowly learns to be a better person after taking Firefist under his red-spandex-clad wing in Deadpool 2. Just as Wade believes in his own capacity for change, he believes that there’s a way to prevent Firefist’s future killing spree without offing him as a child.
Julian Dennison brings the same delightfully dry comedic sensibility to Deadpool 2 that he brought to his role in Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople. That movie similarly saw Dennison embarking on a dangerous journey with a dysfunctional father figure.
Cable
As a time-traveling cybernetic soldier determined to murder a child who Deadpool is determined to protect, Cable takes the traditional role of a villain in Deadpool 2. But he’s more of an antihero, because he has a sympathetic motivation for wanting to kill Firefist. In the future, he will grow up to become the genocidal mutant who murders Cable’s family. He comes back in time to kill him as a child to prevent the deaths of his family. He wants to do a bad thing, but he has a good reason.
Josh Brolin brought a ton of nuance to the role. He’s not just a grieving husband and father because his backstory says so; the pain can be seen under Brolin’s stern-faced facade in every scene. Brolin also shares hysterical on-screen chemistry with Reynolds as a “straight man” to Deadpool’s antics. The “buddy cop” dynamic between Cable and Deadpool is one of the best parts of the sequel. Hopefully, they’ll team up again in the upcoming threequel.