Ryan Reynolds revealed that he wanted Nicolas Cage to reprise his role as Ghost Rider in "Deadpool & Wolverine." Although Cage was approached, he ultimately did not appear in the film. Reynolds told Collider, "Came to a conversation for sure. Yeah, but no."
Despite Cage's absence, the film features numerous Fox superhero alums. Chris Evans returned as Johnny Storm, Jennifer Garner as Elektra, and Wesley Snipes as Blade. Channing Tatum also finally portrayed Gambit after years of delays. Henry Cavill played a Wolverine variant, replacing Hugh Jackman in some scenes.
Director Shawn Levy explained to Variety that casting decisions were made personally by him and Reynolds, often before involving agents or lawyers. Levy said, "With pretty much no exceptions, every surprise casting in this movie came down to Ryan or I reaching out to the actor... it literally was us asking and invariably people saying ‘yes.’"
Additionally, Ben Affleck was considered for a cameo as Daredevil, a role he previously played opposite Garner’s Elektra. However, these discussions did not progress beyond initial conversations.
Levy also shared his excitement about Tatum’s role, noting that Tatum had long been interested in playing Gambit. "I am obsessed with Channing as Gambit in this movie. What went into this, first and foremost, is a decade of Channing wanting to play this part," Levy said.
Nicolas Cage had previously expressed that an R-rated version of "Ghost Rider" could have been more successful, akin to "Deadpool." In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Cage stated, "Had 'Ghost Rider' been made in R-rated format... I’m fairly certain it would be enormously successful."
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