Your favorite merc with a mouth is back for round three
With almost four million likes and counting on Instagram, Ryan Reynold’s latest announcement shook the fandom of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Through this clip, which was initially posted on his Twitter account, the beloved comedian was able to share some groundbreaking news about his upcoming movie, “Deadpool 3,” which is set to be the first R-rated film in the MCU. This is all made possible by the Disney-Fox merger back in 2019, where Disney gained the rights to “The Fantastic Four” and X-Men characters. (For a refresher on the merger, check out this article from NPR.)
If you’re itching to know what news was released by Ryan Reynolds, “Deadpool 3” director Shawn Levy and a familiar Marvel alum, then read on to see me break it all down!
First Clip Released on Sept. 28
“We’re extremely sad to have missed D23 (Disney’s biennial exposition event where new releases and sneak peeks are publicized), but we’ve been working very hard on the next “Deadpool” film for a good long while now,” Reynolds starts as he sits comfortably on a couch. “His first appearance in the MCU obviously needs to feel special.” He then speaks of finding new meaning for the character to stand out from the first two movies, but his sense of humor steals the show through scenes like him pouring his company’s Aviation Gin into a Deadpool coffee mug as the voiceover plays. “I have nothing,” Ryan Reynolds finally joked after this inspirational dialogue. “Just completely empty up here,” he admits as he taps his temple. “But we did have one idea.” An all-too-familiar Australian walks through the shot in the background as Ryan asks, “Hey, Hugh, you want to play Wolverine one more time?” “Yeah, sure, Ryan,” Hugh Jackman responds nonchalantly as if this isn’t a moment where millions of fans’ dreams are coming true.
For those of you just getting into Marvel, Hugh Jackman has played the fast-healing and claw-bearing mutant Wolverine across nine X-Men films, all produced by 20th Century Fox. He retired from the role after the 2017 movie “Logan,” where his character was killed saving the other protagonist and his clone, X-23. The video concludes with the chorus of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” with the captions cleverly replacing “you” with “Hugh” as the screen reads “Coming Hughn.” The last shot is of the recognizable Deadpool logo, which gets slashed with Wolverine’s adamantium claws, signaling the third movie in this action-comedy franchise. If all this put together isn’t peak advertising, I don’t know what is.
Second Clip Released on Sept. 29
As if that wasn’t enough to leave fans screaming, Reynolds, Jackman and Levy took to social media yet again the following day. This time, it’s Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds seated on that same couch. The first topic they bring up: how is Wolverine alive after his death? “Logan takes place in 2029,” the Deadpool actor acknowledges. “Totally separate thing. Logan died in “Logan”. Not touching that.” The two actors then begin to explain what will happen in “Deadpool 3” — which is conveniently covered up by the song “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” The “[???]” in the closed captions personally made me chuckle. Jackman and Reynolds are basically doing charades at that point, including Hugh stabbing Reynold’s head with Wolverine claws after Ryan mimes impaling him with a sword. “Thank you, Kevin Feige! Love you, Kevin Feige!” the pair ironically say to the president of Marvel Studios. This is because Feige is known for keeping his MCU movies under wraps and making sure leaks don’t slip through the mouths of any actors. (We see you, Tom Holland.)
What This Could Entail for the MCU’s Future
Other MCU stars have weighed in on the matter as well. John Krasinski, who played the elastic Reed Richards in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” commented on Ryan Reynold’s first clip across social media platforms. “Wait…is this our movie?” the comment reads. Fans quickly connected the dots to him again taking up the mantle of The Fantastic Four’s leader for “Deadpool 3.” He may just be further toying with the fandom, but after years of fan casting him for the role of Mr. Fantastic, I’d hope he wouldn’t let us down like that.
Elizabeth Olsen has also been asked about the “Deadpool 3” news. With mutants making their debut in the MCU, such as Namor the Sub-Mariner (the first ever mutant in the Marvel comics) in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Olsen is enthusiastic about more mutant crossovers in the future. In a recent interview with Variety, she said that “it would be cool to work with a lot of those people from the X-Men franchise. I guess Fassbender is my dad in some world?” Olsen is referring to Michael Fassbender, who played the younger Magneto in “X-Men: First Class,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “X-Men: Apocalypse” and “Dark Phoenix.”
Fan Theories Already in the Making
Mere hours after these clips were released, theories were already permeating the internet. One on ScreenRant’s site nods to the obvious: the multiverse will come into play here with all these mutants joining the MCU. This breaking news could have the storyline for the film set as well. In January of 2021, Ryan Reynolds tweeted that he wanted the third “Deadpool” installment to be a buddy-road trip with Wolverine and Wade Wilson. He also saw it having the theme of retelling the same event through multiple different characters’ viewpoints. Now that the mutant pair are confirmed to star in “Deadpool 3,” his dream could potentially come true!
Another theory contained in ScreenRant’s article is that it could be about killing off the rest of Fox’s X-Men to have a clean slate for the MCU. It would make sense, with Wade possessing the power to time travel after his run-in with Josh Brolin’s Cable in “Deadpool 2.” In 2011, there was also a comic to back up this idea. The four-part “Deadpool Kills the Universe” was written by Cullen Bunn and features Wilson doing just that.
I honestly love how they announced the news of Jackman’s return as Wolverine. Reynolds’ sense of humor is unmatched, and the friendly feud between him and Hugh Jackman is always entertaining to tune in to. It also gave the movie the chance to have its own spotlight outside of D23 without getting covered up by release after release. The only bad news is that this movie comes out on September 6, 2024. It will be difficult to twiddle my thumbs for almost two years before “Deadpool 3” hits theaters, but with more and more being revealed about its cast and ideas, I’m confident that it will be worth the wait.