[Source: Entertainment Weekly]

The “Superman” star recalls the time he voiced a floating zombie head in “Deadpool & Wolverine” — and the other roles that didn’t happen.

Most actors are lucky to play one character in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nathan Fillion played four to date!

The star of Firefly, Castle, and The Rookie played an alien inmate at the Kyln, a high-security space prison, in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). He then played fictional actor Simon Williams, the alter-ego of comic book hero Wonder Man, in a deleted scene for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (2017); Master Karja, head of security at the Orgoscope biotech company, in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023); and lastly Headpool, an alternate-reality version of Deadpool that exists as a floating zombie head, in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).

That number could’ve been even higher. While speaking with Entertainment Weekly about his new role in DC Studios’ Superman (in theaters now), Fillion talks about the other Marvel roles he tried to make happen in previous Deadpool movies.

“I was actually in the first Deadpool,” Fillion says. “My scene got cut out.” Fans can still find what remains of that character in the bonus features of the home release for that 2016 R-rated action-comedy starring Ryan Reynolds. He played the towel guy at the strip club where Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa worked.

“You’ll have to remember I was filming Castle at the time,” he recalls. “It had to be a very small part, and I requested that I be unrecognizable. It’s in a deleted scenes thing. I think you can get it if you buy the movie digitally.”

According to Fillion, Reynolds, also a writer and producer on the Deadpool films, kept trying to get him into the sequels over the years. “He asked me to come in and audition for something in the second Deadpool, which was very generous of him,” Fillion says of the Free Guy and Red Notice actor. “We’re still in touch. He’s a very generous man, and he’s very interested in sharing the wealth, honestly. He’s got so many incredible opportunities, and he likes to remember his friends and spread those opportunities around.”

When Deadpool & Wolverine came about, Reynolds remembered his efforts to get Fillion into the mix. “Ryan would text me and say, ‘Hey, would you do me a favor?’ Like I’m doing him a favor,” Fillion continues. “We recorded a bunch of different stuff. We started at one character, then we moved over to being Headpool, and then we were futzing the jokes.”

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