The Marvel Cinematic Universe (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription) has once again expanded with Deadpool & Wolverine, which feature a ton of wild cameos throughout its runtime. Those of us who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order have been waiting for mutants to join the fun, and a number of X-Men alum got to reprise their roles. That includes Aaron Stanford, who recently reflected on Pyro’s journey throughout the X-Men movies.
Deadpool 3 is breaking records at the box office, and serves as a tribute to Fox's superhero movies, including X-Men. Aaron Stanford played Pyro in two X-Men movies before returning as part of Deadpool & Wolverine's cast list, and spoke to ComicBook about his time as the villainous mutant. He offered:
I do think, like Pyro through all these movies, they're all very different right? so, the portrait that was drawn and X2, in my opinion, is the most interesting, the most complicated and complete picture. They really took a lot of pains to sort of interweave these little moments of him. Him at Bobby's house, staring at a picture of someone else's happy family. And, there's complicated emotions happening there. So that hints at a backstory to Pyro. What happened to his family? What is the deal here? And then, the moment between him and Magneto. For the very first time, this person is making him feel good about himself. You're not a freak, you're not an outcast, you're a God among insects. you're special.
He's not wrong. Stanford made his debut in the franchise in X2: X-Men United, playing John Allerdyce / Pyro, a bad boy at Xavier's school who eventually turns to the dark side by joining Magneto's Brotherhood. This was quite the arc, that the actor still seems to connect with all these years later.
Pyro ended up returning for X-Men 3, which was the controversial finale to the original trilogy. While fans took umbrage with how Cyclops and Professor X were killed off, Stanford wasn't as happy with Pyro's characterization. In his words:
So there was all that kind of stuff going on and quite honestly, in the next X-Men movie that stuff just kind of vanished. It really wasn't there. It became a more simplified portrait and he was just kind of a bad guy. He was just sort of a villain and he was ready to get it done and ready to kill Professor X.
Points were made. While Pyro got to be a full-fledged villain in X-Men 3, he had less character development than his previous appearance. Aaron Stanford seemed disappointed in retrospect, even if he got to be a bigger badass during actions sequences in the film.
When we see the character again in Deadpool & Wolverine, he'd been living in The Void and working for Cassandra Nova after being pruned by the Time Variance Authority. He explained how this influenced his performance in the acclaimed threequel, saying:
So, it became a very different portrait and then obviously in Deadpool it's a completely different thing, because Deadpool is a totally different universe. So I really had to be much bigger, much more broad, more tuned into the fact that this is a satire of Pyro. Imagining him and what Pyro would be like after he's been ripped out of his universe and thrown into this limbo.
Deadpool & Wolverine was filled with returning faces, and Stanford's Pyro was one of the more significant roles. While the Deadpool 3 trailers confirmed his role, there were plenty of other surprises, including Jennifer Garner's Elektra, Wesley Snipes' Blade, Channing Tatum's Gambit, Dafne Keen's X-23, and Chris Evans' Human Torch.
Fans are super interested in how the X-Men fill factor into upcoming Marvel movies, and when the team will finally be introduced. Another appearance by Stanford's Pyro seems unlikely, but it's clear that just about anything could happen.
The next Marvel movie hitting theaters is Captain America: Brave New World on February 14th. In the meantime, check the 2025 movie release dates.
