Cameos in superhero movies are common in the age of cinematic universes. Some cameos are easy to recognize while others fool the eyes of the audience, one such is the cameo of Dickie Greenleaf in ‘Deadpool 2’!
Highlights —
- An abundance of cameos in MCU movies
- Cameos in MCU’s ‘Deadpool 2’
- Why Matt Damon is credited as Dickie Greenleaf
Cameos and Pop-Culture
Marvel Cinematic Universe movies have always been filled with surprising cameos by some of the already famous and well-established actors. Be it Elon Musk in ‘Iron Man‘, Miley Cyrus in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’. or Ken Jeong in ‘Avengers: Endgame‘; actors and non-actor celebs have always wanted to star in their favourite superhero movies, and Marvel profits from their wishes. While it helps the celebs fulfil their wishes, it helps the movie, as well as the audience, appreciate a good surprise cameo.
Although some cameos go unnoticed as these are comparatively subtle or in a “blink-and-you-will-miss-it” form. One such cameo was that of Matt Damon in Ryan Reynolds starrer ‘Deadpool 2’. He plays one of the two men having a heated discussion about toilet paper that Cable comes across. It is not the first time that the ‘Deadpool’ movie had a cameo in it. It had a glimpse of the entire cast of the new ‘X-Men’ films, archival footage of Hugh Jackman’s ‘Wolverine’, and Brad Pitt in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as the visible form of the Vanisher.
Who is Dickie Greenleaf?
What makes Matt Damon’s cameo goofy and unique from the rest of the cameos is that Matt Damon is credited under the pseudonym “Dickie Greenleaf” in the end credits instead of his own name. Hence, a lot of people did not know and some still are not aware of the fact that he had a cameo in ‘Deadpool 2’. What makes it more interesting is that Dickie Greenleaf is not just a random name. It is a reference to Damon’s 1999 crime thriller movie, ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’. The movie is based on a Patricia Highsmith novel and follows Damon’s titular character as he impersonates a wealthy young man named Dickie Greenleaf, played by Jude Law in the original movie.
This was not the first time Matt Damon doing a funny cameo in a Marvel movie. He did a goofy cameo in the Taika Waititi-directorial ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, where he played an actor portraying a fictionalized version of Loki in an Asgardian play. Damon played the goofy role quite amazingly keeping up with his reputation as a versatile actor.
Although Damon doesn’t shy away from being openly critical of the influence that superhero flicks are having on the art of the cinema as a whole, an impact which will surely only intensify in the future as the MCU and the Disney+ Marvel shows continue to blur the boundaries between media. That is the reason why it is not surprising that he has noticeably abstained from taking up any high-profile superhero roles.
Do let us know in the comments if you ever want to see Matt Damon play a full-fledged superhero role in the future.
