Deadpool 3 is on everybody’s minds as Ryan Reynolds made a huge announcement for the film: Hugh Jackman would be returning as Wolverine. The internet exploded after their announcement. Reynolds’ TikTok video was being shared all over the place, and major news outlets were publishing articles like crazy. Fans had a lot of questions, the biggest being, didn’t Wolverine die in Logan? But Reynolds and Jackman answered that in a follow-up video the next day. Right now, the hype for Shawn Levy’s first Deadpool movie in the MCU is at an all-time high.
But Ryan Reynolds might have made a bigger announcement than he realized. Wolverine and Deadpool have had a long relationship in the comics, though it’s mostly been Deadpool’s one-sided rivalry with Wolverine while he dealt with bigger issues. Even though Reynolds hid the movie plot in his latest TikTok, fans are starting to put together threads leading all the way back to before Disney bought Fox, when Reynolds hinted at a Wolverine and Deadpool “road trip.” Fans have also debated John Krasinski showing up due to a tweet from the actor, but this was just some confusion caused by a different movie Reynolds is working on with Krasinski. But beyond all the confusion and fan theories, it looks like one thing is for certain: Deadpool 3 will be the movie to introduce another one of the X-Men into the MCU.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Introducing X-Men to the MCU
20th Century Fox
Once Reynolds got on TikTok with his Deadpool announcement, fans of the franchise scrambled quickly to figure out how Wolverine would be worked into the movie. The biggest question seemed to ask how Wolverine would come back. Well, the answer is that he hasn’t died yet! In Reynolds’ second TikTok, which had Hugh Jackman sitting next to him on the couch, the two stars explained that Logan takes place in 2029. With the MCU only having gone so far as 2025, it’s not an issue to have Wolverine be factually alive. Even though the X-Men timeline became notoriously complicated after Days of Future Past, for Deadpool, things work well enough.
Getting Hugh Jackman to play Wolverine in Deadpool is quite a big deal. Jackman had said that he wanted his performance in Logan to be the last one he did for the character. So, getting him back for an MCU introduction of the X-Men must have been no small feat. Although it does also mean that we will probably expect to see him die again, be changed by the multiverse, or be turned into a younger version of himself by Kang. Any number of things could happen, but something to remember is that Hugh Jackman won’t be playing the part forever. And getting a new Wolverine using some wibbly wobbly timey wimey methods might be part of the MCU’s plan to bring in a larger team of X-Men.
So far, we’ve only seen an alternate universe version of Professor X, and apparently, Ms. Marvel is a mutant now. But it seems that recently, it’s been Marvel’s plan to introduce the X-Men quite gradually. Deadpool 3 will be the first MCU film to center on canonically mutant characters and star some of our favorites. It’ll be the X-Men’s big debut in the MCU. Though how they’ll fit in the narrative is still uncertain. In Deadpool 2, our star complained that Professor X’s mansion was completely devoid of mutants. Now it seems he’ll have nothing to complain about with access to the complete world of the X-Men, with his favorite one standing right beside him.
Seeing Wolverine vs. Deadpool Yet Again
Marvel Comics
Having Wolverine in Deadpool 3 could open up the possibilities for a good storyline. Outside just having the X-Men return, Deadpool and Wolverine have had a long relationship in the comics and a bit of a (one-sided) rivalry. Both superheroes have the greatest healing factors in the Marvel universe, making them virtually invincible.
Even when Deadpool was ripped in half in Deadpool 2, he still managed to regrow the lower half of his body. Both characters have fought Hulk in the comics and been significantly damaged in the process, but never killed. And it’s been a longtime debate amongst fans who would win if Deadpool ever fought Wolverine.
They’ve done it several times in the comics and the movies, and the two are more or less tied. Deadpool is usually the antagonist since it’s more likely he will debase himself for money, fame, or just plain fun. When they first fought in the comics, it was mostly for Deadpool to prove himself as a competent mercenary. And he ended up besting Wolverine since Wolverine’s healing factor was slightly slowed at the time.
And although we all like to pretend it never happened, the two did fight in Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where Wolverine was the winner. Whether they’re fighting against each other or fighting a common evil, Deadpool 3 is sure to be a movie to remember.
