Deadpool isn’t joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, yet, but the Merc with a Mouth is giving a shoutout to Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel and, perhaps more importantly, his own Canadian heritage. A new Easter egg in Deadpool 2, hitting theaters May 18, has surfaced online, and it contains a reference to Alpha Flight, the Marvel super team that’s currently led by Captain Marvel in the comics.
On Tuesday, Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld pointed his Instagram followers toward an Easter egg seen in a shot of Dopinder’s taxi cab in Deadpool 2, which has an ad for an airline named “Alpha Flight.” “Are you digging the sweet Alpha Flight Easter Egg in this shot?” Liefeld wrote in the caption. “Pretty great right? Deadpool 2 ladies & gentleman!!! [sic]” Though it’s a cheap Canadian airline in Deadpool 2, Alpha Flight means so much more in Marvel comics. It even has direct ties to Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, who will be played by Brie Larson in 2019.
In Marvel comics, Alpha Flight was traditionally the name for Canada’s greatest superheroes, including Guardian, Northstar, Sasquatch, Snowbird, and more, who first appeared together in an issue of Uncanny X-Men in 1979. They spun off into their own series in 1983, which lasted a whopping 130 issues until 1994. Years later, in 2015, Captain Marvel started a new Alpha Flight, a non-Canadian team that functioned as a very literal “space force” to protect Earth from alien threats.
The Alpha Flight Easter egg has actually lingered around the internet a lot longer than Liefeld’s Instagram post. The first images of Dopinder’s cab surfaced from set photos posted online back in June 2017 during principal photography. Given that Deadpool 2 shot in Vancouver and that star Ryan Reynolds is a native Canadian, the Alpha Flight reference is more an homage to his heritage and the original Alpha Flight from the comics rather than a franchise crossover feat. Captain Marvel.
Because Alpha Flight is not a cool space program but a boring Canadian airline, Captain Marvel will not be in Deadpool 2. Especially because her own solo movie, Captain Marvel, premieres in 2019, and because Disney still needs to officially absorb Fox into its company portfolio.
Deadpool 2 will be released on May 18.
