‘Deadpool & Wolverine is the beginning’: Marvel is officially starting a brand-new era for the MCU after Multiverse Saga implosion

Deadpool & Wolverine is being hailed as the perfect remedy the flagging MCU needs to revitalize itself after over half a year out of cinemas and a string of releases of varying quality. As per original plans, the long-awaited threequel should mark something of a late-stage midpoint for the ongoing Multiverse Saga, but it’s just possible Marvel has quietly altered its strategy to make Deadpool 3 a new “beginning.”

Kevin Feige had some intriguing comments to say when asked about the importance of D&W to the future shape of the MCU by The Playlist. The Marvel Studios chief initially played things coy, merely saying “Every film is important,” but he then went on to emphasize that the big deal about this one — just as we already knew — is that it marks the characters of Fox’s X-Men universe crossing over onto Earth-616 for the first time. In fact, Feige went so far as to say that this is the opening salvo of what he’s calling the franchise’s “Mutant era.”

“Also, the ‘after’ is clearly—now that we have characters from the X-Men world, the Mutants—we haven’t had access to before,” Feige stated. “So, this is the beginning of that, and every [movie] post Deadpool & Wolverine will be the Mutant era coming into the MCU.”

It’s important to note that Feige uses the word “era” rather than “saga,” which is Marvel’s preferred term to describe the differing chapters of its never-ending narrative, but it certainly seems like the studio prez is hinting that Deadpool & Wolverine marks a sharp pivot towards something fresh. A pivot, it’s just possible, towards a whole new final destination for this current saga.

Is Deadpool & Wolverine the secret start of the Mutant Saga?

For the longest time, it’s been widely believed that once the Multiverse Saga — which began with 2020’s WandaVision and is set to conclude with 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars — ends, Marvel would usher in the Mutant Saga, which is where the X-Men would really make their mark. However, Feige’s words seem to imply that things might’ve been shifted forward now that the MCU really needs a shot in the arm to get audiences to pay attention again.

With almost everything about Avengers 5 in flux — it has no villain, no director, and it just found itself a new writer to redraft the script — it would be theoretically easy for Marvel to ditch the whole Kang angle and to refocus the climax of the Multiverse Saga around the arrival of the X-Men. Perhaps even by rebranding Avengers 5 as Avengers vs. X-Men , as Feige himself and even Hugh Jackman appearing to be teasing.

Whether Marvel is truly accelerating its intentions or not, it’s clear that Deadpool & Wolverine serves as a major checkpoint in the leveling-up franchise. The not-so-distant future, to coin an X-Men phrase, is nigh.