Deadpool officially joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe this summer, and he’s bringing Wolverine with him (even if only, potentially, temporarily). But there’s a lot more happening with this movie.
The threequel is set to be Marvel’s only major movie release this year, after pretty much the rest of its slate got shifted thanks to the 2023 Hollywood strikes. But odds are, it’s going to make a lot of money. In order to become the highest grossing film in the series, which originated at 20th Century Fox, “Deadpool & Wolverine” needs to make more than $785 million worldwide.
Given years of anticipation and the fact it brings back Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine — this time in the classic yellow and blue X-Men uniform — this doesn’t seem exceptionally hard, especially considering how few superhero projects it’ll be competing with.
But still, there’s even more to know. So, we’ve run it all down for you below.
When does “Deadpool & Wolverine” come out?
Though Marvel’s movie and TV slate had almost every project on it shifted over to 2025 thanks to Hollywood’s double strike combined with typical production delays, “Deadpool & Wolverine” survived the moves.
It will hit theaters on July 26, 2024 and be Marvel’s only major movie release this year.
Who stars in “Deadpool & Wolverine”?
Well, as you likely guessed from the title of the film, “Deadpool & Wolverine” does indeed star Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, each reprising their respective characters.
We also know that Morena Baccarin returns as Vanessa, as well as Stefan Kapicic as Colossus. Rob Delaney and Brianna Hildebrand are returning to the franchise as well, and Jennifer Garner is back as Elektra, a character she originated in Ben Affleck’s “Daredevil.” Emma Corrin will play Cassandra Nova (in the comics, she’s an X-Men villain, who happens to be Professor Charles Xavier’s sister).
What will the story be about?
Marvel is being extremely on-brand and as such, the specifics about the story are being kept under tight wraps. But, we have gotten bits and pieces.
For one, we know what the story won’t be. In a recent interview with Empire Magazine, star Ryan Reynolds and Marvel head Kevin Feige revealed that Reynolds’ first pitch for the film — a sort of “Rashoman” story told from three perspectives — was shot down by Feige. The story was unlocked thanks to help from Hugh Jackman.
In footage played exclusively for CinemaCon goers this year, it was revealed that, at the start of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” Wade Wilson isn’t Deadpool anymore and appears to be going through a midlife crisis. He teases that “It’s been a challenging few years” before the Time Variance Authority (TVA, first introduced in the Disney+ series “Loki”) arrives to take him away.
It seems this will be the bridge into the MCU, though it’s hard to say for sure what universe this will be taking place in within that (since, thanks to “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, we know that there’s a multiverse in the MCU. It’s a lot).
At the very least, some portals that are definitely from “Doctor Strange” — though who’s conjuring them is unknown — appear in the trailer. And there’s also a scene with what appears to be the shell of a supersized Ant-Man suit.
Wade hints that he’s about to lose his whole world and everyone he cares about, which leads to him teaming up with a very reluctant Wolverine — who apparently already lost his. Beyond that? The story is anyone’s guess.
Will any other MCU heroes appear in the movie?
We don’t know this for sure just yet, but Marvel has trained us all to expect crossovers and cameos, so the odds are pretty good that yes, you’ll see some familiar MCU heroes.
At minimum, the appearance of the TVA makes it easy to guess that characters from “Loki” might show up — though it’s unlikely we’ll see Tom Hiddleston himself, considering he literally turned into the MCU’s version of Yggdrasil at the end of that series.
To be clear, we’re just speculating. But if we were placing bets, director Shawn Levy has made it known that he would love to do a team-up between Deadpool, Wolverine and Thor. So who knows, maybe he managed to pull in Chris Hemsworth.
Will Deadpool still break the 4th wall?
This one’s a given, since talking directly to the audience is kind of Deadpool’s whole thing. But because this is an evidence-based breakdown, the hard proof is overflowing in the full length “Deadpool & Wolverine” trailer released back in April.
There’s the moment when Deadpool excitedly talks about a “big, slow motion action sequence.” And near the end, when his roommate Blind Al (Leslie Uggams, another returner) asks for some, he whispers “Hey, cocaine is the one thing that Feige said is off limits!”
But we’ll leave you with this image of the 20th Century Fox logo half-buried in the apocalyptic world where Deadpool tracks down Wolverine — which is probably also a reference to another 20th Century Fox franchise, “Planet of the Apes.”
RIP to one of the greatest studios in Hollywood history.
Will Deadpool still be the “merc with a mouth” now that he’s in the MCU?
Of f—ing course he will. Just like “Deadpool” and “Deadpool 2,” “Deadpool & Wolverine” will be rated R. It’ll be Marvel Studios’ first R-rated film, in fact.
Unfortunately, Deadpool won’t be responsible for the first F-bomb in the MCU; that honor went to Chris Pratt in “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3.” Still, Deadpool will definitely up the count. If you had any doubts of that, the trailer should have already shut them down.
Sexual innuendos? We got “whisky dick of the claws,” “I’m soaking wet right now,” and the tagline is literally “There’s nothing like coming together.” So yeah, check.
Incredible violence? Check also. The trailer makes it look like this film has rivers of blood. And don’t sleep on Wolverine shoving his metal claws right into Deadpool’s genitals.
And, to fulfill that promise of him upping the count, we tally 5 separate f-bombs and one appearance of the profanity that rhymes with “spit” and refers to poop. (Which, granted, Tony Stark uttered long ago in “Avengers: Age of Ultron”). So, yeah.