8 Burning Questions We Still Have After Watching Deadpool 2

Deadpool 2 is here and, thankfully, it's proven to be a worthy follow-up to the surprise smash hit original from 2016. Yes, the reception to it has been somewhat more divisive than its predecessor, as some fans think it's inferior to the last film while others see it as an improvement, but generally speaking, it has been another commercial and critical success for Fox. But what's next for the franchise after this? And where does Deadpool 2 leave things to be picked up in future installments? These are just a couple of questions we have after watching the sequel. What with introducing Cable (Josh Brolin), Domino (Zazie Beetz) and X-Force, the movie does a lot of heavy lifting to set up what's to come, which means that it leaves us craving answers. There's a lot we're still left wondering about, but we've boiled it down to eight of the biggest burning questions we have on our minds now after watching Deadpool 2. As always, if you have any others, be sure to let us know about them in the comments section down below. Are We Ever Going To Get A Proper Wolverine Cameo? Deadpool 2 opens by sending up the tragic end of Logan, as Wade Wilson's introductory narration mocks Wolverine's death with a music box sporting a grisly tableau of a dying Wolvie as seen on screen. That seems to be it for the X-Men leader's role in the film... until the post-credits scene. In a hilarious unexpected throwback, Deadpool travels back in time and murders the terrible version of himself from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Jackman appears again but this time via archival footage from that movie, which allows it to look like DP is interacting with him. These references are a lot of fun, but they do leave us wondering whether we'll ever actually get a proper Deadpool/Wolverine crossover? Ryan Reynolds has talked about how much he wants it to happen ever since the first film came out in 2016 but unfortunately, the franchise seems to have surfaced at the wrong time, as Jackman has already hung up his adamantium claws. According to the actor, "that ship has sailed." It's not just Jackman who's putting the kibosh on this, either. X-Men exec producer Simon Kinberg has said that he feels like Logan was "the best goodbye" for the character and a further appearance would just cheapen Wolverine's grand exit. In other words, as badly as we want it to happen, we wouldn't hold our breath. Does Fox Have A Plan For Mr. Sinister Or Not? Major X-Men villain Mr. Sinister's influence can be felt in Deadpool 2. Russell's horrible mutant orphanage, run by Eddie Marsan's creepy mutant-hating headmaster, is called The Essex Home For Mutant Rehabilitation. This must be a nod to Nathaniel Essex, the real name of the supervillain. This is, of course, the second reference to Mr. Sinister after X-Men: Apocalypse saw a representative of EssexCorp pinching a vial of Wolverine's blood from Alkali Lake. We assumed at the time that this was a clever set-up for Logan, but that didn't turn out to be the case. So, is Fox playing the long game with Mr. Sinister here? With the references in Apocalypse and Deadpool 2, it feels like the studio is setting him up as the X-Men universe's own version of Thanos - he'll be teased across several movies before finally making his grand appearance. But is that really what's going on? Or was the Essex namedrop just inserted by the Deadpool 2 production team independently of Fox? We're leaning towards that option, as it doesn't sound like the studio knows what it wants to do with Sinister. We previously learned that Jon Hamm had been cast as the villain for a post-credits scene in The New Mutants, but this was scrapped during the movie's reshoots and Antonio Banderas was brought in as another villain. Will Cable’s Parentage Be Explored In Future Movies? Josh Brolin's Cable makes his long-awaited debut in the X-Men movie universe in Deadpool 2. With everything else going on in the sequel, though, the story only pays lip service to his ridiculously complicated history in the comics. One major part of his backstory which is skipped over is the matter of his famous parents. You see, Cable's real name on the page is Nathan Summers, as he's the son of Scott Summers AKA Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor, the clone of Jean Grey. But will this be included in future films? Brolin has revealed that he has three more movies as Cable on his contract, and also teased that those additional appearances would flesh the character out some more, which does suggest it's on the cards. Obviously, it might be a bit confusing to introduce the idea of Jean having a clone, but you could easily just swap Madelyne out for Jean herself as Cable's mother. As Deadpool 2 alluded to the equally complex familiar ties between Juggernaut and Professor X (more on that in a moment), we're inclined to believe they intend to explore Cable's family tree at some point, too. Though seeing as the X-Men team probably won't feature in a major role in a Deadpool film anytime soon, the reveal of Cable's dad will probably just be used as a joke. No doubt DP will have a lot to say about the cyborg being the son of a character who's usually been portrayed as a bit naff in the movies. Will Juggernaut Ever Not Be Treated As A Laughing Stock? Juggernaut makes his first appearance in an X-Men movie since 2006's The Last Stand in Deadpool 2. It was a welcome return for the character, as well, with the villain looking much closer to his comic design than Vinnie Jones' atrocious portrayal back in Brett Ratner's disappointing threequel. However, despite the effort from Ryan Reynolds to imbue Juggernaut with some respect - the Merc talks a lot about how much he loves the villain, even going so far as to break the fourth wall and call him his "favorite X-Men character" - we have to admit that he's still a little rubbish. There's not much texture to this Juggernaut and his final battle ends with a humiliating defeat as he gets a cable stuck up his bare backside. Sure, that's just the movie's style, but it's still a shame that Juggernaut has been portrayed as a big dumb jerk rather than a legitimate threat or three dimensional character in both of his appearances on screen so far. As we mentioned before, they even managed to allude to him being the brother of Charles Xavier, which showed promise that the filmmakers know how to treat the villain. Still, director David Leitch has suggested that he would like to play around with Juggernaut some more in a future film. And he's now back in circulation, so let's hope he appears again. Third time's a charm, right? How Many, If Any, Of Those Dead X-Force Members Will Be Back? After much was made in Deadpool 2's marketing of X-Force, the team of militant mutants the Merc forms in the sequel, it was a surprise that the resulting group were killed off in various gruesome ways on their first mission in the movie. It's a bit of a controversial decision, too. Though X-Force's death resulted in one of the funniest and most memorable scenes in the film, it was a disappointment to many fans that this group of characters they'd been waiting to see be brought to the screen were treated as a bit of a joke. Still, the bright side is that an X-Force movie is on its way. What's more, Deadpool 2's time traveling post-credits scene opens the door for some of these ill-fated X-Forcers to return if the interest is there. The only one confirmed to have been saved by Deadpool so far is Rob Delaney's regular guy Peter, so clearly he'll be back to provide more comic relief. As for Terry Crews' Bedlam, Bill Skarsgard's Zeitgeist and Lewis Tan's Shatterstar, though, we'll just have to wait and see. So Vanessa's Alive Again? Will She Become Copycat Next Time? The biggest revelation of Deadpool 2's post-credits scene is that Wade manages to go back in time and save his beloved Vanessa, after she was murdered by mobsters in the film's opening sequence. OK, so this undercuts the movie's final scene, which saw Vanessa's spirit let Wade go so he could form a new family, but it has to be good news that Morena Baccarin will be able to return in the next film, right? But will she? The increasingly fourth-wall breaking nature of these post-credits scenes does cast doubt on whether Vanessa's resurrection can be considered canon. Thankfully, it's been confirmed by writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick that this is intended to be part of the overall narrative and she is indeed in the land of the living again. So now that Vanessa's back, does that mean she might finally be brought more in line with her comic book counterpart in the future? On the page, Vanessa isn’t a human but rather a mutant with the ability to mimic other mutant’s powers. Reese and Wernick have previously talked about how they considered introducing her abilities in the first Deadpool, but ultimately decided to simplify things. Recent comments of theirs, though, suggest they might now be thinking of exploring these facets of Vanessa’s character. If this does happen, it’s possible that she could even join the titular line-up of heroes in X-Force. Seeing as the group Wade forms in this movie were immediately killed off, he’ll need some new recruits. With that in mind, maybe his girlfriend will get to join in on the action? Let’s hope so, as it would certainly allow Morena Baccarin a better wedge of screen time. Where Does Deadpool 2 Fit In The X-Men Timeline? I know, this way lies madness, but as superhero movie nerds, it's our duty to try and work out where Deadpool 2 fits in as part of the wider X-Men universe. The first film carefully sidestepped the issue, even poking fun at it by having DP comment that "these timelines are so confusing." Deadpool 2, however, might have picked a side. In one of the movie's best moments, a bunch of X-Men make silent cameos behind an oblivious Wade at the X-Mansion. It's a hilarious scene but we're not sure it actually makes any sense. The likes of McAvoy's Professor X, Tye Sheridan's Cyclops and Alexandra Shipp's Storm all look just as they will in Dark Phoenix, which is set in the 1990s. Even though Deadpool 2 is, presumably, set in 2018. Another piece of evidence that supports Deadpool 2 being part of the prequel movie timeline is the fact that he travels back to X-Men Origins: Wolverine and comments that he's just fixing the timelines. On the other hand, Wade is also aware of the events of Logan, which happen in their own timeline in the near future. And, just to complicate things even further, Cable's future bears a strong resemblance to the original dystopian timeline depicted in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which would put Deadpool 2 on that initial timeline. Maybe the present day scenes of the sequel are set in the post-Future Past timeline, then, but Cable's time-spinner actually allows you to cross timelines, which is how the movie also references various other versions of continuity. Then again, maybe this is just a comedy film and we shouldn't think about things too much? Yeah, let's go with that. Our head's starting to hurt, anyways. Is There Going To Be A Deadpool 3? Deadpool 2 definitely promises more to come, but it won't necessarily be in the form of a third solo movie for the Merc with a Mouth. What we know for certain is that Fox's next priority in this corner of the X-Men universe is X-Force, written and directed by Drew Goddard, which will follow the team of mutants that's introduced in this film. Wade Wilson is set to play a major role in that project, of course, but it won't be the same as another fully-fledged Deadpool flick. Oddly, though, despite the massive amounts of money the brand has earned, it doesn't look like there's that much interest in doing a Deadpool 3 behind the scenes. Certainly not from star Ryan Reynolds, who's said a few times now that he thinks X-Force is essentially taking the place of the Deadpool franchise. This is a curious move from Fox as, even if the character will be involved, X-Force won't sport the all-important Deadpool name in the title. X-Men: Apocalypse's middling box office gross showed that people are potentially getting tired of the X-brand, so maybe it's not too smart for them to rely on X-Force to sell as well as Deadpool 3 invariably would. On the other hand, Rhett Reese has suggested that the Deadpool franchise is just on a break, as Reynolds wants to be able to have some room for other projects, rather than having come to an end. Although, maybe by the time that break is over, Deadpool will have switched hands and become a property of Marvel Studios, thanks to that Disney-Fox merger. And if that happens, well, then who knows what the future will hold for him.