The films in Marvel and Fox’s Deadpool trilogy are X-Men stories in all but name. Ryan Reynolds’ merc with a mouth is, after all, a mutant — and even if he isn’t a member of Professor X’s super-team, he frequently partners with them to fight the forces of evil. X-Men like Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) have popped up in all three Deadpool films, and his latest adventure in Deadpool & Wolverine featured a crossover of epic, multiversal proportions. Hugh Jackman returned as Wolverine, as did other villains from Fox’s classic X-Men franchise. The film even pulled Channing Tatum’s Gambit (who we never got to see in action) from the fringes of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.
Deadpool & Wolverine notably stopped short of bringing the eponymous duo into the MCU proper, a choice that continues to puzzle fans. While Tatum’s Gambit will play a role in Doomsday alongside Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Cyclops (James Marsden), Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), Deadpool and Wolverine’s future remains uncertain. It may be a disappointment for those who’ve waited years to see Reynolds properly join the MCU and play opposite the Avengers — but the actor may have something else planned for his next outing as Deadpool.
