Imagine being told you’re too ugly to be special.
Now imagine becoming a movie star because of the very thing that made you different.
That’s the unbelievable story of Peggy.
She’s a little rescue dog with a big personality, a tongue that refuses to stay inside her mouth, and a face that helped turn her into one of Marvel’s most unexpected stars.
Today, millions of fans know her by another name:
Dogpool.
And her journey to the big screen is almost as entertaining as the movie itself.
Meet Peggy
Peggy is a pug and Chinese Crested mix with a very distinctive appearance.
She isn’t the kind of dog you’d expect to see walking down a Hollywood red carpet.
And that’s exactly what makes her unforgettable.
Before she became Dogpool in Deadpool & Wolverine, Peggy was rescued by a family and eventually became something of a celebrity for a very different reason.
In 2023, she was crowned Britain’s Ugliest Dog.
It sounds like an insult.
But Peggy’s people saw something completely different.
They saw a dog who was funny.
Unique.
Lovable.
And impossible to forget.
Her unusual appearance eventually caught the attention of the people searching for the perfect dog to play a very unusual Marvel character.
And suddenly, Peggy’s life was about to change.
From Rescue Dog To Marvel Star
Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine introduced audiences to Dogpool, the canine counterpart to Wade Wilson.
In the movie, Deadpool encounters Dogpool while traveling through the multiverse.
And naturally…
He becomes attached to the little dog.
The character even goes by the hilarious alternate name Mary Puppins.
But there was one important question:
Who could possibly play her?
The filmmakers searched.
And searched.
Then Peggy came along.
Ryan Reynolds reportedly became an advocate for casting her after seeing what she could do.
Director Shawn Levy joked that Peggy beat out plenty of other contenders because of her “sheer ugliness.”
But the joke actually points to something important.
Peggy didn’t need to look like a traditional movie star.
She had something better.
Personality.
She Had To Learn The Hollywood Life
Being adorable isn’t enough to become a movie dog.
Peggy had to learn how to work on a film set.
And according to her trainer, Jules Tottman, that wasn’t always easy at first.
Peggy was initially nervous.
So her training started at home, where she could build confidence in a familiar environment.
Then came the transition to the much bigger and busier world of movie production.
Lights.
Cameras.
People.
Equipment.
And plenty of distractions.
But Peggy had one secret weapon:
She loved treats.
That made training much easier.
And little by little, she became comfortable enough to perform in front of cameras.
One of her standout moments required weeks of practice.
Peggy had to jump into Ryan Reynolds’ arms.
It took approximately eight weeks of training to perfect the move.
And once she nailed it?
She had another unforgettable movie moment.
Then She Stole The Show
Peggy didn’t just perform her assigned tricks.
She developed her own personality on set.
Her antics made the cast laugh, and she reportedly formed a particularly strong bond with Reynolds.
That’s part of what makes animals so unpredictable—and so entertaining—on camera.
They don’t care about becoming famous.
They don’t care about reviews.
They aren’t trying to impress anybody.
They’re just being themselves.
And Peggy’s personality was impossible to hide.
She was funny.
She was affectionate.
She was a little diva.
And according to her trainer, she became a “little legend.”
The Dogpool Fans Didn’t Expect
When Deadpool & Wolverine arrived, Dogpool quickly became one of the movie’s most talked-about four-legged characters.
And Peggy’s journey didn’t stop at the movie.
Marvel’s Dogpool character has a much longer history in the comics.
The comic-book Dogpool comes from another reality and eventually becomes part of the Deadpool Corps alongside alternate versions of Deadpool. Marvel describes him as fiercely loyal and loving toward his friends and teammates.
The character became popular enough that Marvel later announced a Dogpool Infinity Comic featuring Dogpool alongside Catpool and Mousepool.
But perhaps the most heartwarming part of Peggy’s story isn’t the superhero costume.
It’s where she started.
She was a rescue dog.
She had an unusual face.
She had a tongue that stuck out.
She was once given a title that sounds cruel on paper.
And yet those same features helped make her unforgettable.
Maybe “Different” Was Always Her Superpower
That’s the lesson Peggy seems to leave behind.
Sometimes the thing that makes a dog different is exactly what makes them special.
The crooked smile.
The oversized ears.
The funny walk.
The goofy expression.
The tongue that never seems to stay put.
Those aren’t flaws to the people who love them.
They’re the things that make them them.
Peggy didn’t have to become a different dog to become a star.
She simply had to be Peggy.
And somewhere between a rescue story, a dog show title, months of training, and a Marvel movie set…
Peggy went from being known as Britain’s Ugliest Dog…
to becoming Dogpool.
Not bad for a little rescue dog who never needed to look like everybody else.
Because sometimes, the face everyone else overlooks…
is the face the whole world ends up remembering.
