Deadpool 2 saw the title character organizing a team called X-Force, which included a very special member called Vanisher, who was completely invisible… until he electrocuted himself and was revealed to be Brad Pitt. It was a very brief cameo appearance, but it’s one viewers won’t forget – and here’s the story behind it. In times where superhero films are the ones dominating the industry through connected universes, Deadpool arrived to shake things up and bring a darker, rawer type of humor to the mix.
Deadpool’s big-screen debut happened in 2016 under the direction of Tim Miller and with Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool. The film was a big financial and critical success, making way for a sequel that arrived in 2018. Simply titled Deadpool 2 (and now directed by David Leitch), it followed the same tone and sense of humor as the first film and introduced new characters, such as Domino (Zazie Beetz). Deadpool 2 also saw a version of the X-Force team, which included Bedlam (Terry Crews), Shatterstar (Lewis Tan), Zeitgeist (Bill Skarsgård), a regular human named Peter (Rob Delaney), and Vanisher, who was played by none other than Brad Pitt.
As the name suggests, Vanisher was invisible, and so viewers never got to see him every time he was (supposedly) on screen. Sadly, the X-Force team didn’t last long, and they all die at the beginning of their first mission (except Domino because she’s lucky). Bedlam crashes on a bus, Shatterstar is killed when he lands on a helicopter’s moving blades, Zeitgeist lands on a wood chipper and when Peter tries to save him, he vomits acid all over him, killing him. Vanisher has the same luck as his colleagues, as he crashes on the cables of a street lamppost and electrocutes himself. This unfortunate event allowed viewers to see Vanisher’s face for the first time, who turned out to be played by Brad Pitt. This is the briefest cameo in his career, and being a big name in the film industry, it seems strange that he agreed to it, but he actually wasn’t difficult to convince.
Brad Pitt could have ed Deadpool 2 in a different role as he was considered to play According to Deadpool 2 co-writer Rhett Reese, Pitt agreed to play Vanisher (whose actual appearance lasts less than two seconds) “in return for scale, which is a very, very low number, a low low salary, and a cup of coffee”, delivered to him by Ryan Reynolds.
This wasn’t the first time that Brad Pitt worked with director David Leitch, as the latter was his stunt double for years in films like Fight Club, Ocean’s Eleven, Troy, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which most likely also influenced his decision to play Vanisher. It looks like Brad Pitt was meant to appear in Deadpool 2 one way or another, and although his cameo is the shortest from an A-list actor in film history, it was an unforgettable one that fitted perfectly with the film’s sense of humor.
