Where You've Seen Hugh Jackman's Stunt Double From Deadpool & Wolverine Before

To say that the latest installment in the "Deadpool" franchise is doing well in theaters is an understatement: "Deadpool & Wolverine" has been blowing everyone away at the box office, breezing past the $1 billion benchmark after only a few weeks. While some may attribute this success to the hard work of director Shawn Levy, the star power of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, or even the plethora of fun cameos in "Deadpool & Wolverine," special attention must be paid to the film's array of dazzling — and often disgusting — fight scenes.

From the minute the film begins, fans know they're in for a stylish slash fest, with Reynolds' Wade Wilson slaughtering a Time Variance Authority squadron. The viral scene (all set to "Bye Bye Bye" by NSYNC) features various versions of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. It's a long sequence, but it never gets old — in fact, despite this being an action-heavy film, the fighting always feels fresh. That's thanks in no small part to the talented cast of stunt performers that brought all the technically challenging moments to life.

A leader among them is Daniel Stevens, an award-winning stunt performer with over 130 credits to his name, many of them Marvel movies. Though this stunt double doesn't look much like Hugh Jackman in real life, his body type is a great match, and with the right haircut (and often beard) it's hard to tell the difference during all those big action set pieces. While you probably didn't notice him (that's part of his job, after all), you've likely seen Stevens in action before.

One of Daniel Stevens' earliest roles as a stunt performer came in 2002, when he worked on the highly anticipated film "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones." In addition to performing stunts as needed, Stevens served as the double for Hayden Christensen, who famously starred as Anakin Skywalker. The stunt performer returned for "Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith" in 2005, though it is unclear whether or not he continued doubling for Christensen in that film. We do know that, at the very least, Stevens' stunt duties included playing one of Emperor Palpatine's (Ian McDiarmid) iconic Imperial Royal Guards.

In the scene where Yoda enters Palpatine's chambers for their final showdown, Stevens — alongside fellow guardsman Philip Partridge, who worked on the Marvel movies "Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" and "Thor: Love and Thunder" — gets thrown up against the wall almost immediately and knocked unconscious. Stevens shared a screenshot of the moment on his Instagram page on May 4, 2020, reliving one of his earliest achievements in the stunt game. He captioned the image with: "#maythe4thbewithyou @philpartridge and me getting forced by #Yoda in @Starwars Episode III Revenge of the Sith."

Of all the characters he has played in his career, Daniel Stevens has doubled for none as much as Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. His first shot at the character came in 2009's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which — despite being trashed by critics and audiences alike — featured some incredible stunt work. While Stevens took on Jackman's role, Sam Hargrave stepped in for Liev Schreiber's Victor Creed/Sabretooth (if Hargrave's name sounds familiar, that's probably because he went on to direct the popular "Extraction" films starring Chris Hemsworth for Netflix).

During the film's final battle between Wolverine, Sabretooth, and the newly-formed Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds in his first outing the character, albeit a very different version of him) they're actually not working Ryan Reynolds at all, but stunt performer and actor Scott Adkins, best known these days for playing Killa in "John Wick: Chapter 4." Stevens has posted footage of the trio rehearsing the three-way fight on his Instagram feed, showcasing the huge amount of prep that went into making this moment possible.

Stevens continued doubling for Hugh Jackman in "The Wolverine," "X-Men: Days of Future Past," "Logan," and, of course, "Deadpool & Wolverine." He has also stepped in to do stunts for Jackman in a number of non-Marvel movies, including doubling for the notorious pirate Blackbeard in the family fantasy movie "Pan" and the private investigator Nick Bannister in the sci-fi thriller flick "Reminiscence."

The burgeoning community of comic book filmmakers who would ultimately give Daniel Stevens a large chunk of his work welcomed him right away, with Stevens landing stunt work in both 2006's "Superman Returns" and 2008's "Iron Man." The latter saw him double for leading man Robert Downey Jr., and not for the last time (more on that shortly). After a steady stream of high-profile work, Stevens was tapped to double for Jemaine Clement in "Men in Black 3," the actor who portrayed the film's central antagonist, Boris the Animal.

Thanks to the heavy amount of facial prosthetics and costuming used to transform both Clement and Stevens into Boris, the latter was able to perform some scenes directly facing the camera. In one sequence in which Boris attacks an office, Stevens is pretty much indistinguishable from Clement. He jokingly referred to this moment as his "most dangerous stunt work" on TikTok (all he does is enter through a window, pretend to shoot some deadly needles from his hands, and then leave via the same window).

Unsurprisingly, it was Stevens performing as Boris during the film's final fight scene between himself and Agents K (Josh Brolin) and J (Will Smith). The scene involved dangling from pipes and walking along narrow pieces of the set. Stevens shared some behind-the-scenes snaps from the scene in a throwback Instagram post in 2022, giving a shout out to veteran special make-up effects creator Rick Baker for designing the prosthetic mask he's wearing.

Before the Arrowverse became so vast, it was actually a rare treat that characters from one show would appear on another. The prospect of a shared DC Universe on television still seemed distant when "The Flash" first premiered, as it felt completely separate from "Arrow" most of the time. But as the roster of super-powered characters across the two shows grew, the CW gave audiences a taste of what could be through one of the most memorable promos they've ever run — the Superhero Fight Club.

This short saw Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen introduce Grant Gustin's Barry Allen to the titular club, an underground fighting ring where Arrowverse heroes came to spar with their current enemies. The promo was so popular that they even made a sequel to introduce Supergirl and Martian Manhunter. In the first short, Stevens doubled for Amell, donning the Green Arrow costume to fight Ra's al Ghul (the big bad for that season of "Arrow," played by Matt Nable). As momentous as this moment was in superhero pop culture, it would soon be outshone by another massive superhero battle — one which Stevens also helped create.

If you can cast your mind back once more to "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" (for the last time, we promise), you might remember the first fight scene between Logan and Victor, which saw the former get thrown face first into a metal cylinder. After executing this stunt in 2009, Sam Hargrave and Daniel Stevens did something very similar many years later for "Captain America: Civil War," with the cylinder replaced by a concrete pillar. This time around, Stevens was portraying a Crossbones henchman storming a Nigerian scientific facility, and Hargrave was stepping in for Chris Evans' Steve Rogers to stop him. This was the first of many characters played by Stevens in the film.

Having already suited up as Iron Man for his debut Marvel Cinematic Universe outing in 2008, Stevens was brought back to double for the character in "Civil War." Though you won't be able to spot his face, he provided the motion capture and practical stunt work for Iron Man during the film's iconic airport battle sequence. Stevens then switched from Team Iron Man to Team Cap for the film's final fight scene, taking on the role of the Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier as he attempts to escape Iron Man's wrath in Siberia. Given that Iron Man is mostly flying around during this sequence, it seems Stevens was freed up to take a few punches and falls on behalf of actor Sebastian Stan.

Adding another Avenger to his resume, Daniel Stevens doubled for Chris Hemsworth in the 2017 Marvel Cinematic Universe entry "Thor: Ragnarok." The sequel made director Taika Waititi a household name and its title character a fan favorite (even if their eventual follow up "Thor: Love and Thunder" went on to upset fans, burning some of that goodwill). Stevens plays Thor in the film's opening scene, which sees the Asgardian held captive by the demon lord Surtur (voiced by Clancy Brown, one of many actors who played more than one role in the MCU). To capture the moment of Thor being dropped and dangled from a large chain, production strapped Stevens into a harness and shot the fall practically. He called it his "best impression of a yo-yo" when sharing some behind-the-scenes footage on Instagram.

The experienced stuntman stepped back into the title role for some of Thor's scenes on Sakaar, and he was there to wrestle his "friend from work" The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) during their gladiator battle on the planet. Stevens worked with a life-sized bust of the character for the memorable scene, which no doubt helped him get into the moment. He also got to embody Thor more fully during pre-production on "Avengers: Infinity War," playing the character during a filmed pre-visualization of his entrance in Wakanda. This early version of the scene saw the God of Thunder taking more advantage of his new weapon's teleporting powers.

When Daniel Stevens arrived on set of "Deadpool & Wolverine," Hugh Jackman wasn't the only one there welcoming back a beloved collaborator. The performer had already worked extensively with both director Shawn Levy and producer-star Ryan Reynolds on the 2021 action comedy movie "Free Guy." In case you missed the film (which dropped during the height of COVID-19 restrictions), it features Reynolds as a happy-go-lucky NPC who becomes self aware within a violent, massively multiplayer online game not unlike "Grand Theft Auto."

As Reynolds' Guy becomes more popular among the game's fanbase and allies himself with Jodie Comer's mistreated rogue developer Millie, shady studio executive Antwan (Taika Waititi) sends in digital threats to dispatch with the hero — one of them being a hulking, muscle-bound version of Guy named Dude (portrayed by both Reynolds and bodybuilder Aaron W. Reed). Stevens stepped in for regular Guy during the drawn-out brawl (which pulled off a number of surprising cameos), nailing the moment where Dude sends Guy spinning in the air by throwing a moped at his legs.

Though much of the remaining action was seemingly accomplished via standard weapon work and CGI, Stevens also helped line-up a few of the shots before Reynolds stepped in front of the camera — most notably Dude's fist making contact with the Captain America shield. At another point in the film, Stevens and Comer's double Hayley Wright (who also doubled for Anya Taylor-Joy in "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga") throw themselves over a ledge and free fall several stories through the air.

For stunt performers, working with directors with knowledge of the stunt industry must be a dream come true. Such was the case for Daniel Stevens on 2022's "Bullet Train." The Brad Pitt-led ensemble action flick was directed by David Leitch, who has been a stunt and/or action coordinator on dozens of films over the years, including "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." "Bullet Train" is essentially two hours of non-stop fight sequences and stunt work kept within the confines of a speeding train — save for a few special circumstances, one of which centers on a rare solo acting role for Stevens.

Though Michael Shannon appears toward the film's end as White Death (a ruthless Russian crime boss who looms over the story), Stevens plays the character in a flashback sequence, albeit behind a mask. The sequence shows how White Death came to take over the Japanese Yakuza by force, descending on one of their strongholds and beating several members of their ranks in hand-to-hand combat all at once. 

On his Instagram, Stevens shared a behind-the-scenes look at how he and four other stunt performers were able to execute a large portion of the fight in a single sequence, with Stevens using only a baton to fend off warriors armed with swords. "Pretending I could beat these 4 bad-asses in a fight," he captioned the video while tagging his collaborators in the scene: Jeff Imada, Yoshi Sudarso, Yoshio Iizuka, and Tsuyoshi Abe.

In the same year that he appeared in "Bullet Train," Daniel Stevens reunited with Ryan Reynolds on the set of the Christmas musical comedy "Spirited." In the movie, Reynolds plays a morally bankrupt media consultant styled as a modern day Ebenezer Scrooge who needs to be spiritually saved by the Ghost of Christmas Present (Will Ferrell). As they travel through time periods trying to motivate the bad man to become good (or, at least, less bad), they encounter a surprising amount of danger. This required the close supervision of Stevens, who served as the film's stunt coordinator.

Though Stevens had previously served in this role on a few smaller projects or during second unit/additional photography on larger sets, "Spirited" was seemingly his biggest challenge yet in terms of responsibility. To add to his workload, Stevens also resumed his "Free Guy" duties and stepped in as Reynolds' stunt double for several scenes. One of these saw him thrown from several feet in the air onto a stylish but not-so-cushy couch ("Dropping into something like a metaphor," he captioned a behind-the-scenes video of the stunt on Instagram), while another had him zip-lining through the air, landing and then briefly skating on an ice rink before finally falling onto his back. It's all in a day's work for a top Hollywood stunt double.

In a full-circle career moment for Daniel Stevens, the stunt performer got to return to the "Star Wars" universe almost two decades after it arguably launched his career in the blockbuster stunt world: He played various Mandalorian warriors in the Disney+ series "The Mandalorian." Stevens has portrayed at least three different Mandalorians on the show, which explores the colorful history and various competing quasi-religious factions of the beloved "Star Wars" civilization popularized by Boba Fett in "Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back" and Dave Filoni's animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars."

Though we can't tell for certain which ones are Stevens exactly (constantly wearing a helmet is "the way" for many Mandalorians, after all), photos posted on his Instagram show him wearing a red and green suit of armor, a dark green suit of armor (though seemingly not the same one worn by Fett), and the blue and gray armor characteristic of Bo-Katan Kryze's (Katee Sackhoff) unit. Stevens also had his own unmasked role in one episode of the series directed by the late Carl Weathers — In "Chapter 12: The Siege," he plays a security officer working at an Imperial base being infiltrated by Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his crew.

Daniel Stevens has performed dozens of memorable stunts over the years, but there's one in particular that really stands out for him. The Australian daredevil doubled for Chris Pine in 2010's "Unstoppable," a film about an unmanned runaway train. In one heart-pounding scene, Pine's character jumps from a moving pick-up truck onto the train at 40 miles per-hour. The stunt coordinator wanted Stevens to wear a safety line for the jump, but he opted to go without. "I was like, 'I'd rather just do it myself without any lines,'" he said on the Life in the Credits podcast. "If I'm safetied to the truck and I jump off and something happens, like if the truck gets a tire blowout, that safety line now becomes a liability."

Another stunt involved Stevens falling between train cars and grabbing onto a railing on the way down. The helmet he wore during his practice run actually made contact with the train tracks, but he still performed the stunt without it. His efforts on the film were praised by Pine, who was blown away by what Stevens was able to do. In a behind-the-scenes featurette, the actor recalled seeing Stevens perform the truck-to-train jump five times. According to Pine, Stevens "slipped off the first time" and his feet were dragging along the ground for a moment. "He had to use his upper body strength to get up," Pine said, adding that Stevens did a "tremendous, tremendous job."