After almost 20 years, Aaron Stanford will soon return as the fire-manipulating mutant Pyro in Deadpool & Wolverine. The X-Men actor, last seen in Brett Ratner’s 2006 X-Men: The Last Stand, was one of the first confirmed cameos in the third Deadpool movie, as seen in the first trailer. So, now that fans are about to see him on the big screen again, Stanford reflects on the changes Pyro has gone through after over a decade.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Stanford teased that Deadpool & Wolverine would unveil a more evolved Pyro as he would join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This time, compared to his previous appearances as the mutant villain, he finally had the chance to wear a proper superhero costume. Not only that, but viewers would also see a different Pyro this time.
“So, when I went for the fitting, they showed me what it was going to be. I was thrilled,” he said. “It's from a specific [run]. I think it's influenced mainly by this one specific run where it's the Ultimate X-Men run, and it's this different version of Pyro.”
Stanford continued that Pyro’s face is “horribly burnt” in Ultimate X-Men, and he has used all of his powers back then. He ends up burning himself and dons a firefighter-like outfit. So, for him, this vibe that Deadpool & Wolverine opts for gives Pyro a much cooler appearance.
“It was like utilitarian and they had like the firefighter snaps on it and everything,” the 12 Monkeys star continued. “So yeah, putting it on, I felt like, 'Alright, I'm finally a proper superhero here!'”
In his first X-Men movie, Bryan Singer’s 2003 X2: X-Men United, the 47-year-old recalled a scene where a SWAT team invaded Professor X’s (Patrick Stewart) School for Gifted Mutants and attacked the mutants, resulting in all the kids running to escape. So, Pyro ended up running around in his pajamas at the time. When he had the chance to change his outfit, he wore sweatpants and a T-shirt, going from sleepwear to loungewear.
“That's what I'm wearing when I blow up all the cop cars and then progressed to X3,” Stanford added. “It wasn't really a proper superhero outfit; it was more just like an ensemble from Hot Topic. It just wasn't the real thing.”
Aaron Stanford Discusses the Differences Between Deadpool & Wolverine and His X-Men Movies’ Productions
Stanford also discussed the differences between the productions of Deadpool & Wolverine and his two X-Men movies. One thing he couldn’t help but notice was the “sheer scale of it.” As someone who had only done small roles before his first mutant film, the scale of Fox’s X-Men movies was already “jaw-dropping” for him.
“It’s just enormous,” he continued.
However, if he compares it to Deadpool & Wolverine, their scale becomes smaller, teasing that the scope of the threequel will be enormous. He also salutes director Shawn Levy’s dedication to using practical sets and locations for this year's only MCU film.
“We would go to these sets, and the cool thing about Deadpool was that, at least for the stuff I was involved in, there wasn't a ton of green screen,” he added.
Though there was an element of a green screen, the staff and crew made great efforts to create massive sets that made them feel like they were actually in real-life locations. One of these locations was the Void, seen in the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer. Filming these scenes made Stanford feel like he was transported to another place, and he was excited for the audience to finally see everything they had done for this movie.
There’s no denying that Stanford’s first appearance in the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer excites the X-Men fans. Thankfully, he’s not the only X-Men character who will appear in the film, as the recent trailers also feature other villains, like Sabretooth and Dafne Keen’s X-23. As it has been repeatedly teased that there will be a lot of cameos, more returning mutants may be seen.
Deadpool & Wolverine is set to release in theaters on Friday, July 26.
