Deadpool & Wolverine director says Taylor Swift role 'was never a conversation' (exclusive)

Warning: This article contains spoilers from Deadpool & Wolverine.

Taylor Swift and Marvel fans alike were so convinced that the Eras Tour headliner would make an appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine that you'd think they had some kind of inside scoop on the matter. Not so much.

The film's star, writer, and producer, Ryan Reynolds, and his wife, Blake Lively, are friends with the singer behind The Tortured Poets Department. The film's director, Shawn Levy, also has a relationship with Swift, having appeared in her short film for the "All Too Well" re-recording. Even some of the marketing for Deadpool & Wolverine utilized Swift-related imagery, including the friendship bracelets seen on attendees at the Eras Tour.

Entertainment Weekly debunked the rumor that she would make a cameo in the film, but questions lingered in the press. Fans have long dream-cast Swift in the role of mutant pop singer Dazzler, with the ability to turn sound into light, but then talk turned to a potential Lady Deadpool role. So many actors were rumored for parts in Deadpool & Wolverine that its lead stars resolved not to comment on any of them, letting the unconfirmed rumblings bolster the buzz.

"It was so very loud," Levy now admits to EW of all that chatter since Deadpool & Wolverine is playing in theaters and raking in the box-office dough. "I definitely had moments where I was worried I would disappoint people when they realized Taylor as Dazzler was not in the movie, but there's no controlling the internet and rumors spread like wildfire."

Levy confirms, "It was never a conversation. It was never even a seed of a discussion. Obviously, Ryan and Blake, and myself, to a far lesser extent, have our own relationships in real life with Taylor. But, yeah, those rumors were loud and slightly baffling, but nothing I said or did was going to make them quiet down until this movie came out."

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“Over the past few years, I have watched one of my best friends on this planet pour every bit of his heart, soul, sweat, time, energy, jokes, pain, joy, rebellion, darkness, and magic into this film,” Swift wrote in a statement published to her Instagram Stories. “He’s created the best work of his life, and this film feels like an actual joy portal, a wild escape from reality, and an abs sandwich. I don’t know how he did it.”

She included a troll for her friend by adding, "But that’s just Hugh for you!" instead of mentioning Reynolds.

Swift wasn't the only cameo fans were expecting that didn't happen. Percy Jackson and the Olympians star Walker Scobell was another dream cast for Deadpool & Wolverine, given how the 15-year-old actor worked with Reynolds and Levy on the 2022 film The Adam Project and has such a love of Deadpool that he notably recited a certain monologue from Deadpool 2 by heart. Levy says he would have absolutely cast Scobell in the role of Kidpool, the part fans assumed he would play, but his teenage growth spurt got in the way.

There are plenty of other high-profile cameos and guest stars for audiences to enjoy. EW spoke exclusively with Chris Evans about returning to his Fantastic Four role of Johnny Storm, Wesley Snipes about how a text from Reynolds led to his reprisal of Blade, and Dafne Keen about getting back into wild child mode as Laura/X-23.

Deadpool & Wolverine is now playing in theaters.