The Real Reason Juggernaut Was Recast In Deadpool & Wolverine
The Juggernaut can break through walls with ease, but he can't seem to find a reliable actor to play him. Here's why Vinnie Jones didn't come back to play the iconic villain — and who they got to replace him.
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00:00The Juggernaut can break through walls with ease, but he can't seem to find a reliable
00:04actor to play him. Here's why Vinnie Jones didn't come back to play the iconic villain,
00:08and who they got to replace him. And watch out for spoilers!
00:11Along with being the MCU's first R-rated feature and Hugh Jackman's triumphant return to the
00:15world of superheroes, Deadpool and Wolverine is a farewell celebration of Fox's Marvel
00:20Universe. That meant bringing back lots of characters from movies of years past, from
00:24Wesley Snipes' Blade to Jennifer Garner's Elektra.
00:27One favorite character, Juggernaut, also makes an appearance, but not the same CGI
00:30behemoth that ripped Deadpool in half during his last solo outing.
00:34What do they call you? Juggernaut. I can't imagine why.
00:39This Juggernaut is based on the version of the character from X-Men, The Last Stand,
00:43but he's not played by actor Vinnie Jones like he was in that film. Even though numerous
00:47former Marvel actors returned to give their characters proper goodbyes, Jones had his
00:51own reasons for declining to return to the uncomfortable uniform. As he told Variety,
00:55Funnily enough, I just got asked to do Deadpool, the new one now, and I spoke to the director
01:00and I just said it's such a drama putting that suit on, mentally and physically. It
01:03had its mental toll as well, because you're in it and you can't do anything all day. You
01:07can only drink through a straw. So we couldn't strike the deal for Deadpool and Wolverine."
01:11So who's wearing the metal helmet this time around? That would be Aaron W. Reid, an actor
01:15who has a bit of a history working with Ryan Reynolds. In an Instagram post revealing his
01:19casting, Reid seemed incredibly excited to be joining the MCU. He wrote alongside a poster
01:24of his character,
01:25Get your ass to the theater and grab your popcorn. This movie is one you don't want
01:28to miss. I'll be viewing the movie from city to city. Do you want to see more of the juggernaut?
01:33Juggernaut is definitely Reid's biggest role to date, but it's not his first time on the
01:36big screen. A former wrestler and bodybuilder, Reid has made inroads as an actor with smaller
01:41television roles, but he broke into Hollywood and connected with Reynolds with the 2021
01:46action-comedy Free Guy. Reid plays Dude, a more sinister and more muscular version of
01:50Reynolds' heroic guy.
01:52Reynolds' face was digitally superimposed over Reid's, making for a somewhat uncanny
01:56but admittedly unique visual.
01:58There are three things I love in life. Kickin' ass, TBD, third thing you hear.
02:05Not only was Reynolds the lead actor in Free Guy, but Sean Levy, who would go on to helm
02:10Deadpool and Wolverine, was the director. They both saw what Reid was capable of, and
02:14that he certainly had the look and size for Juggernaut, without requiring dozens of hours
02:18of visual effects work, like the version voiced by Reynolds in Deadpool 2.
02:22At the time, Reynolds said of his decision to become the Juggernaut,
02:25"...we settled on that because we just didn't have more budget left for other actors to
02:28jump in."
02:29So when it came time to find a new person to play a variant of Juggernaut in Deadpool
02:32and Wolverine, Reynolds and Levy went with a more obscure actor that they had clearly
02:36enjoyed collaborating with before.
02:38Loyalty seems to be a bit of a theme for Reynolds, as he helped get Levy the job directing the
02:42third Deadpool movie and fought hard to set up a proper team-up with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine.
02:47It's pretty unlikely that Reid's Juggernaut will return in future installments of the
02:51MCU, considering his fate in Deadpool and Wolverine, but if he does, Reynolds will probably
02:56have something to do with it.