‘Deadpool 2’ Director David Leitch on That Surprising Vanisher Cameo: ‘It Was One Take’

Also, that’s a Robert Downey Jr. doppelganger in an early scene

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(Spoiler alert: Do not read on if you haven’t seen “Deadpool 2.”)

Fans all over the nation were surprised when a familiar face popped up for three seconds in “Deadpool 2.” But did he, or didn’t he, actually film the sequence?

When the X-Force is coasting through the air on their mission to rescue the young mutant Russell (Julian Dennison), an empty backpack is seen soaring through the sky. It’s none other than Vanisher, a mutant whose superpower is invisibility. However, when Vanisher meets his end with a live electrical wire, we see Brad Pitt sizzle on the screen.

“We did have him on set for about eight minutes,” director David Leitch told TheWrap.

“We had sort of locked him in and we made a window for him, and shot him on the lot during postproduction,” Leitch said. “He drove in, went to touch-ups, came out, hung on the wires and did his little face and that was that. We were just like, ‘Thanks man, great job.’ It was really fun. He had this instinct of the face he wanted to make, and it was one take.”

But how was the character of Vanisher even filmed? Leitch said there was no actor involved that was digitally removed after — it was all CGI.

“We never had anyone there at all, and that’s the joke in the interview in the end,” Leitch said. “It’s just the backpack. We had a great CGI team, headed by Dan Glass.”

Speaking on the Empire podcast on Monday, Reynolds joked that they paid Pitt with a latte.

Another cameo in the film was also questionable to fans. At the beginning of the movie, Wade Wilson jumps out of a casket at a funeral in Sicily, and in the front row, there’s a man that looks like strikingly like Robert Downey Jr

Sorry to have to break it to you, but it wasn’t the “Iron Man” star doing another Marvel crossover.

“It’s actually a veteran stunt performer, Pete Antico,” Leitch said. “It wasn’t supposed to be a nod to Robert Downey Jr. — he just looked like him when he got into the costume. It was like, wow!”

“Deadpool 2” stars Ryan Reynolds as the Merc With a Mouth, as well as Josh Brolin, Zazie Beetz, T.J. Miller and Morena Baccarin. The Fox sequel opened to $125 million domestically this weekend.

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