Free Guy hit theaters, and only theaters, last week, offering up a completely new take on the video game movie genre. Not a movie based on a video game like Detective Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog, or Tomb Raider, but a movie set inside of a video game that doesn't already exist. That game Free City, which has a lot in common with Grand Theft Auto, but the movie isn't directly connected to the series.
Early indications suggest Free Guy has continued what is becoming a very good run for video game movies. A welcome change to what was the status quo for a number of years as various studios and filmmakers failed to nail the landing. Look no further than Super Mario Bros. and Assassin's Creed for evidence of that. Free Guy raked in $51 million during its opening weekend, more than The Suicide Squad managed to do the week before.
If you're yet to see Free Guy and plan on checking it out, be warned that there are some pretty heavy spoilers from here on in. The movie includes a number of homages to various video game series, and thanks to technically falling under the Disney tree, a few Star Wars and Marvel references too. Ryan Reynolds wields a lightsaber towards the end of the movie, and even uses Captain America's shield. It seems Free City has the same kind of crossover pull as Fortnite in this alternate universe - fitting, since Free Guy itself had a crossover with Fortnite earlier this month.
The use of Cap's shield comes with a pretty neat cameo - a very brief appearance from the man who wields the shield in the MCU. Chris Evans, the original Captain America before Anthony Mackie took over, is one of the many people watching the stream of Guy trying to save Free City while also trying to prove Antwan, played by Taika Waititi, stole the code on which to build his game. Channing Tatum also makes a number of appearances as Revenjamin Buttons, and an array of famous streamers including Pokimane and Ninja also pop up from time to time as themselves.
Those are some pretty cool cameos out there for all to see. However, there are some even more impressive appearances made by actors in the movie that most people probably completely missed. There are four of them, all of which I didn't clock at all while watching the movie myself. It wasn't until Ryan Reynolds posted photos from the set after Free Guy had been released that I realized I saw yet failed to acknowledge some huge stars were up there on the big screen, hidden in plain sight.
One of the photos Reynolds posted thanks his fellow Hollywood starlets for stopping by to be in Free Guy is Dwayne Johnson. It feels like The Rock has been in just about every movie released so far this decade, so it makes sense he would be in this one too. If you're anything like me, the first place your mind went upon hearing The Rock is in Free Guy is Dude, the jacked-up, upgraded version of Guy. That Johnson supplies the body on which Reynolds' face has been superimposed. Not the case. The Rock actually plays the bank robber Guy confronts early on when he is trying to become one of the sunglasses people.
Perhaps the most fun cameo, and the one I'm kicking myself most about for missing, is Reynolds' longtime best friend/bitter enemy, Hugh Jackman. That's right, Wolverine is in Free Guy. When we first meet Molotov Girl, she is shown getting information from a fellow gamer decked out in a mask. Turns out Jackman is the man under that mask, something I feel like I should have caught from his voice.
30 Rock and The Office stats Tina Fey and John Krasinski were also in the movie, but both of their parts will have been harder to pin down, even if you were on the lookout for them. One of the people playing Free City yells at their mom for interrupting. Even though you never see the mom's face, the voice that yells back is Fey's. As for Krasinski, he is the silhouetted gamer, which is also how his Free Guy credit reads, that appears during the movie.
Free Guy's early success has already resulted in Disney requesting a sequel, which is a pretty big deal for a brand new IP not rooted in decades of history like most other Disney projects. It's unclear where the story can go in future installments, but perhaps some of the stars who made cameos in part one will return for bigger roles in the future.