Ryan Reynolds was gutted to cut his pal Rob McElhenney's cameo from 'Deadpool and Wolverine'.

Although his brief appearance ended up on the cutting room floor, the 47-year-old actor - who plays the Merc With The Mouth aka Deadpool in the Marvel blockbuster - is "grateful" that his fellow Wrexham AFC co-owner, also 47, supported him on set.

Ryan spilled on Threads: “So, @robmcelhenney kindly did a cameo in D and W.

“The sequence wasn’t working and Rob is why it stayed in the cut for so long. Even under a TVA mask, you can feel him smoldering with a raw, untapped reservoir of intensity. Don’t get me started on Wrexham. I wouldn’t know a love like that if it weren’t for Rob.

“It feels good when friends are nearby. And even though I’m mortified he flew to London for me, I’m grateful [I had] my friend on that set. Rob shows up for people. It’s why he’s the absolute best. (sic)”

He added in another post: “Even as he begged for his life before Alioth snatched his unsuspecting body into the air, swallowing him whole, eventually digesting and converting him into Alioth-poo. RIP TVA Soldier.”

The cameos included Chris Evans as The Human Torch/Johnny Storm, plus Wesley Snipes (Blade), Jennifer Garner (Elektra), Channing Tatum (Remy LeBeau/Gambit), Matthew McConaughey (Cowboy Deadpool) and Ryan's wife Blake Lively.

Ryan recently revealed the flick nearly featured more cameos from the cast of the 2015 film ‘Fantastic Four’, however, the plans were dropped due to budget concerns.

When Collider asked Ryan if the ‘Fantastic Four’ cast - which included Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell - were considered for a ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ cameo, he said: "Yeah, that was a part of it. But like that, you're never going to get the mislead with like, Chris Evans, you know, with him doing it and the kind of license to thrill after that, with Chris.

"So you know, and also, we were trying to be mindful of the budget. We were trying to make the movie.

"We always understood it's rated R, you know. It isn't a blank check, and part of our responsibility is to return the investment that they're making in us. So I never want a budget that I don't feel like I can make good on.

"And the more kind of toys you start asking for and the more kind of characters you start wanting to license, the deeper in that sort of point of no return becomes."