Remember when Hugh Jackman said he was done playing Wolverine? Well, turns out there’s one thing that could bring him back: Ryan Reynolds. In a teaser for Deadpool 3, Reynolds casually reveals that Jackman will return to play the iconic Mutant one more time as part of Deadpool’s debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Yes, this is a huge deal — assuming it’s not some elaborate prank — but it could also have even huger ramifications for Deadpool 3 and the MCU at large. Let’s dive in.
Is Deadpool 3 a multiverse movie?
Hugh Jackman won’t be the first X-Men actor to reprise his role in the MCU. Patrick Stewart did the same thing as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The loophole there was that it happened in a different dimension from the mainline Marvel movie universe, meaning Stewart’s version of Charles Xavier isn’t necessarily the version we’ll eventually get in a marquee X-men movie.
The same could be true for Hugh Jackman. Marvel Studios has made it clear the plan is to cast new actors to play the X-Men, but until that happens, the rules of the multiverse free the MCU up to do pretty much whatever it wants. This means Marvel can have their cake and eat it too, where the cake is Hugh Jackman and the too is recasting Wolverine for a new generation.
Beyond the fun of seeing Jackman play Logan one more time, this also solves a major problem for Marvel when it comes to Deadpool himself. Ryan Reynolds has done such a good job with the character that recasting was never an option, but how can the studio explain the fact that Deadpool already exists but no one else in the MCU has ever heard of him?
The answer, again, is the multiverse. If Deadpool (and the rest of the Fox-era X-Men) are from another dimension, then that solves all of Marvel’s problems. Deadpool can leap over into Earth-616 and join the Avengers while leaving his old friends and enemies behind. And if Wolverine decides to follow along for one last adventure, who’s going to stop him?
Deadpool origins?
Finally, it’s worth remembering that Fox actually introduced Reynolds as Deadpool in the incredibly bad 2009 movie X-men Origins: Wolverine. That means the two characters have a history, but it also means Deadpool 3 will likely be full of jokes about the character’s truly terrible first cinematic appearance.
Deadpool 3 hits theaters on September 6, 2024.
