Deadpool 3 is set to feature an (alive) Wolverine. Both will be making their official Marvel Cinematic Universe debut with this movie, which is pretty massive. Yet while Ryan Reynolds has been trying to bring Hugh Jackman back to play Wolverine for years now, we all thought it would never happen. After all, didn’t Wolverine die in the Logan film?
Let that sink in.
2017’s Logan was widely touted to be the last appearance of Hugh Jackman as the iconic character. However, notedly self-aware troublemaker Deadpool said “not so fast” in a tweet from his human counterpart, Ryan Reynolds.
Hey, Hugh: Deadpool 3 Needs You
[Image via Marvel Entertainment, LLC]
During the 81-second clip, Reynolds talked about Deadpool’s joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how that meant Deadpool 3 “needs to feel special.” Creating the third installment was “an incredible challenge that forced [Reynolds] to reach down, deep inside.” However, Reynolds then fell silent.
He concluded with his character’s classically hilarious anticlimax:
I have nothing. Yeah. Just completely empty up here.
Reynolds then asks an off-screen Hugh Jackman,
Hey Hugh. You wanna play Wolverine one more time?
To which Jackman, busy climbing up the stairs, casually responds:
Yeah. Sure.
Cue Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and the sound of millions of fans screaming. The words on the screen were then replaced with “I Will Always Love Hugh” in classic Deadpool style.
Into the Marvel Cinematic Universe
[Image via 20th Century Studios]
Hugh Jackman first starred as the mutant Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men. He went on to reprise the role in five more X-Men films. He also starred in three solo Wolverine movies. That’s nine total!
Soon, Deadpool 3 will make ten.
However, despite Marvel Comics writing the X-Men, Marvel Studios didn’t produce the original X-Men movies. Marvel didn’t start their cinematic takeover until Iron Man‘s release in 2008. They were instead the intellectual property of 20th Century Fox, which meant no crossovers were possible.
Then in 2019, Disney bought out 20th Century Studios. Hence, now Marvel Entertainment and the company that owns the rights to X-Men movies are being made under the same large mouse-eared umbrella.
Disney also acquired the rights to Deadpool with this takeover. Deadpool has had two films so far, one in 2016 and a sequel in 2018. It was widely believed that once Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, Deadpool movies would be impossible as each one so far has a hard “R” rating. Any future solo film with him would need to be given the same rating too.
Yet Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios overall, along with Disney, wanted to bring Deadpool into the MCU. That meant accepting future R-Rated Deadpool projects. A rating like this is problematic and is likely what kept the two solo films from reaching the normal billion-dollar mark at the box office, so adding Wolverine to the film only ensures it hits this.
Wolverine & Deadpool:
Reynolds actually first appeared as Deadpool in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the first of Jackman’s solo outings. Although, he was not quite “Deadpool” at the time but merely Wade Wilson. However, they haven’t reunited since.
Well, technically anyways.
In reality, 2016’s Deadpool did include a scene of the title character stapling a photo of Hugh Jackman to his face. For his part, Jackman responded by stapling a photo of Reynolds’ face to his own when he released a video congratulating Reynolds on gaining a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2016.
In fact, Reynolds has been advocating for a Wolverine-Deadpool crossover since 2016. He claimed:
“I want Deadpool and Wolverine in a movie together… What we’re gonna have to do is convince Hugh. If anything, I’m going to need to do what I can to get my internet friends back on board to help rally another cause down the line.”
With this announcement, fans can look forward to Reynolds’ dream coming true and a reunion in Deadpool 3.
Deadpool 3 & Timelines
[Image via 20th Century Studios, Inc.]
With this in mind… how is Wolverine gonna work as a living character in Deadpool 3? He died at the end of Logan. Honestly, it was a fitting send-off for the character too.
In fact, James Mangold, who directed Logan, tweeted a clip of Wolverine’s death scene in response to the news about Wolverine’s role in Deadpool. He clarified that it was not a dig and was instead an irreverent joke, much in the vein of Deadpool’s sense of humor:
LOGAN will always be there. Multiverse or prequel, time warp or worm hole, canon or non-canon or even without a rationale, I cannot wait to see what maddness [sic] my dear friends @VancityReynolds and @RealHughJackman cook up!
Fear not. Reynolds is well-aware of the speculation and put out a video addressing all your questions alongside Hugh Jackman himself. Reynolds explained:
Logan takes place in 2029. [It’s] totally a separate thing. Logan died in Logan. Not touching that.
He then went on to explain that in their film, the—
[redacted]
Apologies. Much like what happens in the tweet, loud music began playing and drowned out all thoughts and comments. In conclusion, we’ll have to see the film to find out!
Deadpool 3 Continuity
[Image via DC Entertainment]
No need for concerns, though. After all, Deadpool’s well-aware of contradictions and retcons. In fact, Deadpool 2 even ended with the character killing the more serious version of the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Deadpool also killed Ryan Reynolds before he could star in 2011’s panned Green Lantern.
For these, we thank you, Deadpool. Much like Hollywood, we forgot there even was a Green Lantern movie.
That does mean that Deadpool has precedent for time travel, so they’re not necessarily limited to pre-2029 material. Keep in mind also that this movie is set to release in 2024. Interestingly, 5 years before the 2029 death of Wolverine. Hey, did you guys know the MCU is set 5 years in the future? Really worth thinking about.
Plus, the MCU is full of characters and, for that matter, iterations of the same character (see: Spider-Man: No Way Home), crossing over into each others’ universes.
Whether Deadpool 3 will pull some MCU alternate-timeline multiverse or whether Deadpool 3 will be set in a prior year, or something else entirely we’ll have to wait and see. Whatever it ends up being, it’ll probably poke fun at the audience as much as it will the characters.
After all, Deadpool constantly wise-cracks and breaks the fourth wall in Deadpool movies. Wolverine’s solo movies, however, tend to be more serious. The two together are sure to be hilarious. Especially knowing how well Reynolds & Jackman play off of one another.
Deadpool vs. Wolverine
[Image via 20th Century Studios, Inc]
Reynolds and Jackman, as actors, have a long-running war. Not a feud, a war. Except, much like Deadpool‘s facetious tone, their feud is a faux feud, marked by social media antics, jokes, and tongue-in-cheek hilarity. They’ve even brought K-Pop stars into their antics before too. Although, Jackman conceded that battle.
In fact, Reynolds has brought up Wolverine appearing in Deadpool before in the context of their hilarious war. On The Ellen Show in 2018, Reynolds claimed:
I would love to do a Deadpool/Wolverine mashup at some point, some kind of Logan thing… I can’t seem to bring him back to the violence and mayhem. I’m trying. I talk to him every other day. Every other, other day he takes the call. But yeah, no, it’s not really a rivalry. It’s war.
Clearly, Reynolds yet again expressed his desire to produce a Wolverine-Deadpool movie here. If Deadpool 3 references the best fake feud in entertainment, it wouldn’t surprise anyone. Whether allies or enemies or something in-between, the film looks to bring fans of the two iconic characters together.
Deadpool 3 is currently set for release on September 6, 2024. Again, the timing of this release date is likely going to become very important. We’d be surprised if nothing comes out of it, especially with this being Deadpool’s debut in the MCU.
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