The first trailer for ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ confirmed earlier this year that Aaron Stanford would return as Pyro this summer. Stanford recently discussed reprising his role from Fox’s X-Men franchise 18 years later with Entertainment Weekly:
“I was shocked and thrilled.”
He recalled how Marvel Studios repeatedly called his agent with a role offer:
“They wanted to know what my availability was, but they wouldn’t say what it was in regards to. Then there was another phone call and another phone call and just more and more inquiries.”
The Actor Didn’t Take The Role Seriously At The Start
Stanford connected the dots after the studio made him talk with the new Deadpool film’s director, Shawn Levy:
“He said, ‘Yeah, you guessed correctly. We want to bring Pyro back after 20 years.’”
The actor played Pyro in 2003’s ‘X2: X-Men United’ and 2006’s ‘The Last Stand.’ But he didn’t think he could pass the auditions because the part was larger than it was in the first ‘X-Men.’ Stanford shared:
“I thought I had absolutely no chance at it, and so I didn’t take it as seriously as maybe I would’ve, which is probably the reason that I got it.”
There Are New Cast Mutants In The Film
Tyler Mane’s Sabretooth and other undisclosed X-Men came back along with Aaron Stanford’s Pyro, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine for ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’ The Marvel film also added new faces like Emma Corrin to the cast.
Corrin will play Cassandra Nova, though where they would fit in the story is unclear. According to Reynolds, the actor’s performance as Charles Xavier’s twin sister will bring a new energy to the upcoming movie:
“Emma brought a Gene Wilder energy to ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’ Mischief, danger, unpredictability—from their first scene onward, we understand the villain enough to know why she’s motivated to oppose our heroes. And that’s because Emma is so fucking excellent at humanizing even the most chaotic lines. The only thing we love more than hating a villain is loving one. And we love Emma’s Cassandra Nova from the jump.”
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is set for release on July 26.
