A few days ago, we learned that Deadpool 3Â will be a prequel set earlier in the MCU timeline. Although little is yet known about the project – save for the fact that the character’s creator Rob Liefeld is seemingly being left out of the production by Disney – we’ve now heard that not only will the film be a prequel, but it’ll change the antihero’s origin story a little bit as well. Or at least, change it from what we saw in the Fox movies.
That story, for the record, was first laid out in the original Deadpool. Released in 2016, it presented a version of the character who after discovering he suffers from an aggressive and seemingly incurable cancer, agrees to undergo an experiment that ends up changing his life for better and for worse at the same time. For his entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, things will be a bit different.
Set several years before the present-day MCU, Deadpool 3 will reportedly see the Merc actively “working as a mercenary/assassin for the Weapon X program.” At least, that’s according to sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us Ahsoka Tano will be in The Mandalorian season 2 and Ryan Reynolds had a secret cameo in Hobbs & Shaw.
Changing up his origin to tie it more closely into Weapon X only makes sense, too, as it brings the character closer to his comic book beginnings and also connects him more with an organization that has ties with many other heroes. As such, we imagine fans will be happy with this decision, especially since we’re told that eventually, the MCU’s Deadpool will turn into more of the antihero we’re familiar with from the previous films.
Ever since Disney acquired the rights to the character, developing a movie based around him has proven problematic. First and foremost, the raunchy, vulgar and at times plainly obscene Merc with a Mouth doesn’t exactly fit the company’s family-friendly brand identity, which upholds universal themes of love, kindness and respect.
Incorporating Deadpool into the Marvel Cinematic Universe – a thing which many fans have wanted to see happen for years – has also proven difficult as his films are first and foremost spoofs of Marvel efforts. As such, featuring the character in a story which he’s designed to parody is difficult, to say the least. In fact, it may just be impossible.
Interestingly, though, Hollywood has tried to make a serious, non-parody version of Deadpool before. Of course, this version was played by Ryan Reynolds as well, several years before he would reinvent the character on the big screen. In 2009, X-Men Origins: Wolverine saw Deadpool join the X-Men cast, but for whatever reason, the producers decided to literally remove his mouth.
Let’s hope Deadpool 3 finds an approach that does the character some justice and also carries over what fans loved about him from the Fox movies.
