'Deadpool 2' Casting Leaks: Is Kerry Washington The First Domino To Fall?

It's hard to believe that Deadpool first aired only a year ago. The film was a tremendous success, pushing the boundaries of superhero movies beyond even the fourth wall, and nobody was surprised when Fox greenlit a sequel. One year on, rumors are swirling about the new characters set to appear in Deadpool 2; Pierce Brosnan, for example, looks to be pretty much a dead cert for Deadpool's iconic "straight man," Cable!

But one other major character is hotly anticipated: Domino, a probability-manipulating sex bomb of a mercenary who's been a love interest to both Deadpool and Cable. Now, YouTubers That Hashtag Show has just aired exciting news about the character — they've managed to get their hands on both an apparent character breakdown and they've even announced who's in the running. That Hashtag Show is proving to be a pretty reliable source of news for this kind of casting information, so these rumors should be taken seriously...

According to That Hashtag Show, both Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Free State of Jones, God Particle) and Sienna Miller have passed on the role. Miller's interest in the role has been rumored for some time, with Collider reporting that she was on a shortlist, along with names such as Eve Hewson (The Knick), Ruby Rose (John Wick 2) and Sylvia Hoeks (Blade Runner 2049). But if That Hashtag Show is right, none of these previous names have panned out.

No, That Hashtag Show believes the current actress who's catching Fox's eye is none other than Kerry Washington. She is no stranger to superhero movies, having played Alicia Masters in 2005's Fantastic Four and the 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Say what you will about those particular movies; they certainly introduced some major stars to superhero films, with Chris Evans going on to become Captain America! More recently, you'll have seen Washington in Django Unchained and playing the character of Olivia Pope in ABC's Scandal.

It's worth noting that, according to the report, Kerry Washington doesn't have the role, just that she's currently testing for it. Still, Washington is clearly a name to watch.

But wait — there's more!

Domino's Character Breakdown

If there's one thing That Hashtag Show specializes in, it's character breakdowns — and they've proven to be fairly reliable with this kind of rumor, so it's exciting news. No surprise, they've also gotten their hands on the official character breakdown for Domino! Here's what they've got:

FemaleAll ethnicitiesLate 20s – early 30sSexy, lithe and athleticShe has a witty personality."Neena is a no-nonsense badass who rarely shows her feeling. Highly capable, supremely confident and armored in . . . well ARMOR . . . and bullet-proof sarcasm. But beneath her shell she’s still and vulnerable and some soft, beating remnant of her humanity remains intact.In this scene we need to see both sides. When she can’t get what she needs with insults, bluster and threats we need to see some of that vulnerability. It’s hard for her to let down her guard, and in the mercenary community she grew up in showing compassion is almost embarrassing. We should feel like she’d be more comfortable killing Silberman than saying “Please”."

You'll notice straight away that this doesn't mention Domino's probability-manipulating powers, but that's par for the course for superhero casting; an ability to ensure the odds work in Domino's favor is a very subtle one, not exactly requiring a lot of CGI. That said, no #XMen fan will have any doubt that this is a description of Domino. We know the character is set to appear in Deadpool 2, and as a result Fox hasn't even bothered to pretend otherwise; in the comics, Domino's real name is Neena Thurman.

Perhaps the most exciting detail about this character breakdown is that Deadpool 2's Domino will clearly be comic-book-accurate. Fans are always eager for the films to honor the source material, and Deadpool had been a strange one — with its star rendered so accurately, but other characters, most notably Negasonic Teenage Warhead, changed radically. Domino, it seems, will not be undergoing the Negasonic treatment; the description is spot-on for the comic book character.

All in all, this is exciting news for X-Men fans. Whether Kerry Washington gets the role or not, Deadpool 2 is clearly taking shape, and we can X-pect a comic-book-accurate portrayal of one very popular character. Even better, of course, is the fact that Deadpool 2 is taking us on the road to X-Force, meaning that whoever finally gets the role of Domino should be sticking around for some pretty exciting future movies.

Sources: Collider, That Hashtag Show