Matt Damon is continuing on his quest to have a cameo in every Marvel movie. After his surprising and hilarious turn as an Asgardian actor in Thor: Ragnarok, he has returned to the superhero genre yet again, but this Matt Damon Deadpool 2 cameo is one you probably missed. In Thor: Ragnarok, even wearing a black wig and Loki's elaborate royal costume, Damon was still recognizable. But in this new movie, the actor's movie-star good looks are completely obscured by prosthetics and dark lighting. So, if you missed the Damon cameo in Deadpool 2, don't worry, you're not alone.
Small spoilers ahead. Damon is unrecognizable in Deadpool 2 as a hillbilly who encounters Cable when he travels back in time from the future and winds up in the middle of nowhere. Damon only appears briefly, his character engrossed in a conversation about toilet paper with another hillbilly played by Alan Tudyk, who starred in Firefly opposite Deadpool 2 star Morena Baccarin. Unlike Tudyk, who can be easily spotted by fans, Damon is covered by a scraggly beard, prosthetics, and a baseball hat, all rendering him pretty unrecognizable. It doesn't help that he is credited as "Dickie Greenleaf," although fans familiar with the actor's repertoire will recognize the name as one his character uses in The Talented Mr. RIpley.
But even armed with this knowledge it's possible the use of the name could have been a misdirect. (Deadpool is nothing if not tricky.) Thankfully, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have confirmed that it really is Damon in the role. "You'll have to put 'spoiler alert' on this, but that was Matt Damon as the redneck in the Cable introduction scene," Wernick told Vulture. Reese added that fans shouldn't feel bad if they didn't recognize the actor, noting, "Nobody's figured it out. Literally nobody's figured it out. You're not the only one. Not a single person has spotted him."
"He disappeared so deeply into it," Wernick elaborated in an interview with Fandango. "We had him out on set and he was in heavy make-up, done by Bill Corso, so you could never tell it was him. That's why nobody notices him." Perhaps most surprising about the Deadpool 2 cameo is that Damon did a bit of a celeb-inspired accent for the role. "He did a little riff on Matthew McConaughey's voice," said Wernick. "It almost sounds like it was McConaughey doing the cameo — you'd never know, he's so good. He just falls into the character, and you'd never know it was Matt."
Neither Damon nor any one involved in Deadpool 2 have revealed how the actor's cameo came about, but it seems likely that it has something to do with director David Leitch. Before he transitioned into directing, Leitch worked as a stunt performer in The Bourne Ultimatum, which starred Damon. (He was also Brad Pitt's stunt double in Fight Club, Ocean's Eleven, Troy and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which explains why Pitt also has a cameo in the film.)
That said, Reese did reveal that Pitt signed on to appear as the Vanisher after star and co-writer Ryan Reynolds reached out to him personally. His only request: that Deadpool himself be present on set to deliver him one cup of coffee for his troubles. "Brad's kids loved the first movie, and so he jumped at the chance. He did it for scale, and a cup of coffee," Reese told Fandango. In the same interview, Reese added that Reynolds was more than happy to meet Pitt's demand. "That these massive A-list stars wanted to come on and play in your sandbox — that's a real treat for us, and for Ryan."
Now that two of the big three stars of the Ocean's Eleven franchise have appeared in Deadpool, there's only one logical conclusion: keep your eyes peeled for George Clooney for Deadpool 3.
