Summary

• Deadpool & Wolverine featured a new multiverse Hulk, raising questions about which Marvel universe this Hulk belongs to.
• The appearance of an Age of Apocalypse Wolverine and other variants pays homage to Wolverine's comic history in the film.
• Viewers may speculate that the universe of Deadpool & Wolverine includes various Marvel heroes from older film franchises.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.A variant of The Hulk has a cameo appearance in Marvel universe this Hulk is native to. The film sees not only the return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, but also his and Deadpool’s respective introductions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the Wolverine of Deadpool’s universe having died in Logan, Deadpool goes on an ill-conceived quest to find another Wolverine variant to serve as his anchor being – a term used to describe the most important person in a reality.

In a montage, Deadpool travels across the multiverse, encountering Deadpool & Wolverine's cameos include a selection of alternate worlds.

Deadpool & Wolverine Featured A New Multiverse Hulk

It is unlikely that the Wolverine and Hulk in this scene are from the main MCU timeline – called 616 in-universe but also referred to as Earth-199999. While the main MCU reality has a well-established iteration of Bruce Banner, it has yet to reveal its version of Wolverine, and this cameo was most likely not meant to reveal him. Deadpool & Wolverine features a plethora of appearances from Marvel heroes of older film franchises, such as Wesley Snipes’s Blade and Chris Evans’s Human Torch, which might lead some to wonder if the Hulk is Eric Bana’s iteration from 2003’s Hulk.

This is also unlikely, since the 2003 Hulk universe never confirmed that it includes mutants. Fascinatingly, non-movie materials from the Sam Raimi Spider-Man universe acknowledge Bruce Banner and his Hulk alter ego. The X-Men are referenced as well, with Hugh Jackman nearly appearing in 2002’s Spider-Man. While this means it is possible that the cameo takes place in the Raimi Spider-Man universe, it's a tenuous concept, since Deadpool & Wolverine did not include any direct Spider-Man references in this scene. In all likelihood, the Wolverine and Hulk variants shown in the scene are simply new iterations of both characters.

Deadpool & Wolverine includes indirect references to Spider-Man with two props in Happy Hogan’s office: A photo of Tony Stark and Peter Parker (with Peter obscured) and the toy Iron Man helmet worn by Peter Parker in Iron Man 2. Deadpool also does the Spider-Man web-shooting pose in the movie.

Who Played Hulk In Deadpool & Wolverine?

The Wolverine variant in this scene is played by Hugh Jackman, but it's less clear who plays the Hulk. The Hulk’s face is only shown briefly as a reflection in Wolverine’s claws, and he appears to be depicted with archival footage from a previous MCU movie.

This would, presumably, mean that this Hulk variant is identical to the Mark Ruffalo iteration of the Hulk from the main MCU timeline. As shown throughout the MCU’s multiversal films, some character variants will look identical to their mainstream MCU counterparts, with multiple Doctor Strange variants being played by Benedict Cumberbatch, for instance.

How Hulk's Deadpool & Wolverine Appearance Honors The Comics

This brief moment in Deadpool & Wolverine is, unsurprisingly, filled with references to classic Marvel comics. As immediately noted by Deadpool, Wolverine wears one of his most iconic costumes from the comics – his “John Byrne brown and tan” suit introduced to the early 1980s X-Men issues. An early version of the yellow suit was Wolverine’s first costume in his Incredible Hulk issue 180 debut, which introduced him initially as an antagonist to the Hulk, but saw the two eventually become allies and team up against the villainous Wendigo.

Additionally, the shot of the Hulk reflected in Wolverine’s claws is also a comic reference, with the cover of Incredible Hulk issue 340 similarly featuring the Hulk’s reflection in Wolverine’s claws. This issue also, notably, sees Wolverine battling the Hulk while wearing the brown and tan suit. While Deadpool leaves their universe before viewers can see the fight itself, the Hulk wins the fight referenced in Deadpool & Wolverine, perhaps implying that he is also the victor in their live-action battle.