Summary
Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine are officially joining theMCUinDeadpool & Wolverine, but theirX-Mencontinuity and canon status aren’t as straightforward as they seem. Deadpool and Wolverine are the two latest non-MCU characters to enter MCU canon, following Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, Kelsey Grammer’s Beast, Anson Mount’s Black Bolt, Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, and Jon Bernthal’s the Punisher, as well as Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men and their respective villains.Deadpool & Wolverine’s titular heroeswill also bring with them a bunch of characters from theX-Menmovies, if not into the MCU’s main timeline, then at least into the Void.
Shawn Levy’sDeadpool & Wolverinewill officially connectFox’sX-Menmovie franchisewith the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and theX-Men’s two most popular heroes will be the ones to headline such a landmark event. But as popular as they are,the Deadpool and Wolverine who star in the MCU’sDeadpool & Wolverinearen’t exactly the same characters fans have seen in every previousX-Menmovie. Thanks toFox’s complicatedX-Menmovie timeline, some of the events Deadpool and Wolverine experienced in previous films don’t fit within the background of Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds' heroes.
How Deadpool & Wolverine Connects To The First 2 Deadpool Movies
The X-Men Franchise’s Second Deadpool Variant Has Vague Connections To Other Movies
Within Fox’s franchise,Deadpool’sX-Menmovie continuityis much easier to understand than Wolverine’s. Yet, there are a few complicated details that stand out. Ryan Reynolds' Wade Wilson was first introduced in 2009’sX-Men Origins: Wolverine, where assassin-for-hire Wade is killed by Victor Creed and his corpse is transformed into a mindless, mute killing machine by William Stryker. AlthoughX-Men Origins: Wolverine’s post-credits scene teased a rematch between this version of Deadpool and Wolverine,2016’sDeadpoolcompletely disregarded Deadpool’s first movie appearance and opted for a more comic-accurate adaptation in a different timeline.
InDeadpool 2’s post-credits scene, Deadpool travels to different points in time, seemingly altering various events in different timelines.
Deadpool and Deadpool 2are set in theX-Menmovie universe, but their connections to the rest of theX-Mentimeline are left ambiguous. Colossus isn’t the same version of the character seen in the firstX-Mentrilogy andX-Men: Days of Future Past, andX-Men Apocalypse’s 1980s X-Men team makes a cameo inDeadpooldespiteDeadpool’s modern-day setting. Taking place shortly afterDeadpool,Deadpool 2introduces time travel through Cable, whose time-traveling device is stolen by Wade. InDeadpool 2’s post-credits scene, Deadpool travels to different points in time, seemingly altering various events in different timelines.
Time travel seems to change the course of each timeline inDeadpool 2, whereas it explicitly branches every timeline in the MCU’sAvengers: Endgame.
Is Logan Canon To Deadpool & Wolverine?
Deadpool & Wolverine’s Wolverine Variant Is A Brand-New Version Of The Character
Unlike Deadpool,Wolverine’sX-Menmovie timelineis complex and often self-contradicting. TheX-Menmovies featured at least three different Wolverine variants. The Wolverine introduced in the originalX-Mentrilogy is the same character who travels back in time to the 1970s inX-Men: Days of Future Past. However, various inconsistencies betweenX-Men Origins: Wolverineand the rest of the franchise suggest that the 2009 prequel’s Wolverine is a different variant altogether. Meanwhile,James Mangold has stated thatLogantakes place in its own timeline, andDeadpool & Wolverine’s trailers have reveal that Hugh Jackman is playing a new version of Wolverine.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Original trilogy, apocalyptic 2023, and rewritten 2023 timelines
X-Men,X2: X-Men United,X-Men: The Last Stand, andX-Men: Days of Future Past.
2029 timeline
Comic-accurate suit Wolverine
Deadpool & Wolverine(MCU)
Fan theories posit thatDeadpool & Wolverinewill deal with a Wolverine variant who experienced similar events toLogan’s older Wolverine, but that in his case, he overcame the adamantium poisoning and continued to work as a mutant hero. While theDeadpool & Wolverinetrailers have revealed thatHugh Jackman’s new Wolverine"let down his entire world"similarly toLogan’s variant, his comic-accurate suit and younger appearance confirm that there’s no connection between them. Wolverine’s powers seem to be waning inDeadpool & Wolverine, but he appears to have had a much different backstory.
How Deadpool & Wolverine Connects To Fox’s X-Men Movies
Deadpool & Wolverine Will Likely Affect The X-Men’s Complicated Timelines
Not only willDeadpool & Wolverine’s multiversal plot integrate the titular heroes into the MCU proper, but it will also acknowledge several timelines presented by previousX-Menfilms and othernon-MCU Marvel movieslikeElektra.Characters from every point in theX-Mentimelines can appear regardless of their connection to Deadpool or Wolverine’s previous appearances. For instance, the villains from the originalX-Mentrilogy Pyro, Lady Deathstrike, Toad, and Sabretooth will appear in the Void, probably as pruned variants who join forces to escape from Alioth.
Deadpool himself could doom everyX-Mentimeline and force a few survivors to take refuge in an MCU timeline
Deadpool & Wolverinemay also go one step further and make definitive changes to Fox’sX-Mentimelines. The 20th Century Fox sign spotted in the Void suggests that theX-Menmovie universe (or universes) will all meet a tragic fate in what would be an in-story metaphor for Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox and the definitive end of Fox’sX-Menmovie franchise. By the end ofDeadpool & Wolverine, Cassandra Nova, the TVA, or Deadpool himself could doom everyX-Mentimeline and force a few survivors to take refuge in an MCU timeline such as the Avengers' Earth-616.
Is Deadpool & Wolverine MCU Canon?
Deadpool & Wolverine Is The First Proper MCU X-Men Movie
From a multiversal point of view, every Marvel movie is part of the MCU. However, only a few timelines and character variants are directly acknowledged by MCU movies and shows. The Deadpool and Wolverine variants featured in Shawn Levy’sDeadpool & Wolverinefall in the latter category, being the first versions of both characters to star in a Marvel Studios project. Similarly toSpider-Man: No Way Home’s multiversal Spider-Men,these Deadpool and Wolverine variants aren’t the only ones in the multiverse, but they will likely be the only ones who will be able to appear in future MCU projectssuch asAvengers 5andAvengers: Secret Wars.
Every Deadpool Variant Confirmed To Appear In Deadpool & Wolverine
Deadpool & Wolverine is dealing heavily with the MCU multiverse, likely prompting several variants of the Merc with a Mouth to appear in the film.
A large part, if not most of,Deadpool & Wolverine’s plot takes place outside the MCU ’s main timeline. The story begins in Deadpool’s home universe and quickly moves to the TVA headquarters, previously seen inLokiseasons 1 and 2. The TVA headquarters are located outside all space and time, and they overlookLoki’s new Sacred Timeline.Deadpool & Wolverine’s main conflict will likely take place in the Void, and both heroes may end up traveling to the MCU’s Earth-616 — or a neighboring universe, like Beast’s timeline fromThe Marvels' post-credits scene or the Illuminati’s timeline fromDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
