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Of all the many cameos and surprise supporting characters in Marvel Studios’ massive hit Deadpool & Wolverine, the only one that was confirmed prior to the release of the movie was Jennifer Garner returning as Elektra, which was officially reported by the trades.
Garner’s Elektra wound up being one of the scene-stealing elements of Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Fox universe reunion, as the long-clowned-on character was portrayed as quite a bad—, partially thanks to 52-year-old Jennifer Garner training so hard she looks as though she hasn’t aged a day since the Elektra spinoff was released in 2005.
Elektra wasn’t only a weapon used in the film’s action sequences, though, as they also used her as a source of comedy courtesy of a clever line about Garner’s real-life marriage to and divorce from Ben Affleck.
According to director Shawn Levy, while Affleck wasn’t given a heads-up about the gag, it was vetted with Garner, who was married to Affleck from 2005 to 2018.
“No, we vetted it with Jen,” Levy said during an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “That joke was not, as far as I know, vetted by Ben.”
“I later spoke with Ben because the end credits have this tribute reel to the legacy of FOX Marvel movies and so that gave us the occasion to speak to everyone because we needed and wanted everyone’s permission… But we made clear to Jen — as we made clear to everyone — everything’s on the table in Deadpool.”
Warning: The rest of this article will contain MASSIVE spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.
The joke, which comes in the second half of the film, happens when Deadpool and Wolverine meet the former 20th Century Fox heroes that are residing in The Void: Dafne Keen’s X-23, Wesley Snipes’ Blade, Channing Tatum’s Gambit, and Garner’s Elektra.
Upon finding out that Affleck’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil, who featured in the 2003 film Daredevil, isn’t there because he died, Deadpool offers condolences to Garner’s Elektra, who coldly quips “It’s fine.”
This week, following the lifting of Marvel Studios’ self-imposed spoiler embargo, Ryan Reynolds has been sharing heartfelt messages about the Fox universe Marvel actors he was able to recruit. Here’s what he had to say about Garner.
“This Jen Garner person. She has a black belt in kindness but has inside her: an unblinking hurricane of vengeance,” Reynolds said.
“I’ve worked with Jen twice now. She brings a completely different scope of skills to each movie but can’t hide one detail: I don’t care how talented someone is… you can’t hide humanity. She’s not only one of my favorite performers, she’s one of my favorite people. I love her and I will now and always, owe her one. Five. What a baller.”
Deadpool & Wolverine, which is now playing in theaters, is set to cross $1 billion at the global box office in the next week or so.