Marvel fans went nuts last year when it was announced that Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds would finally be teaming up as Wolverine and Deadpool in Deadpool 3. Reynolds had been trying to entice Jackman for years, and now he finally has him exactly where he wants him, but how can this be when we saw Wolverine die in Logan?
Though fans were thrilled at the team-up and yet another chance to see Jackman in his most iconic role once more (despite the actor saying he was done after Logan), they also wondered what this meant for the events that happened in his last film. Logan, a very different breed of superhero film compared to other X-Men movies, was a phenomenal send-off for the character. Many, including Jackman, want to keep his involvement in Deadpool 3 from undoing the previous story or altering the timeline for the character. That version is dead and gone.
When the announcement was made that Jackman would be joining Deadpool 3, the two actors addressed that the timeline which led to Logan would not be messed with. The way they are getting around this is, as Jackman put it in a radio interview, “science.”
“It’s all because of this device they have in the Marvel world of moving around timelines, now we can go back, because, you know, it’s “science.” So I don’t have to screw with the Logan timeline which was important to me and probably to the fans too.”
Deadpool 2 used the MacGuffin of a time-travel watch, brought from the future by Cable (Josh Brolin). When Wade Wilson gets his bloody little mits on it, he journeys back in time to save his love and sweet Peter, shoot Ryan Reynolds before he can star in Green Lantern, try to assassinate baby Hitler (and fail), and notably, inserts himself into the climactic confrontation of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, dispatching his earlier version and confronting Wolverine with the memorable line,
“Hey it’s me, don’t scratch, just cleaning up the timelines. Look eventually, you’re gonna hang up the claws and it’s gonna make a lot of people very sad. But one day your old pal Wade is gonna ask you to get back in the saddle again, and when he does, say yes. Love you.”
We wonder if they will nod to this in the upcoming film, as Wolverine agrees to team up with the Merc With a Mouth. This event alone may have splintered the timeline, creating a new Wolverine to exist in a new timeline that does not interfere with the events of Logan. Many speculate that the events of this film could act as an impetus for how the X-Men franchise will cross over to the MCU. However, it is believed that the role of Wolverine in this instance will go to a new actor as Jackman isn’t up for continuing to play the character as long as the MCU needs him.
We don’t yet know exactly how they are going to pull this off, as in an unfortunate editing glitch, the explanation in the actors’ video was covered by the music of Wham! with ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ stopping us from hearing the details. How annoying! What we do know is that we are very excited to see him in that iconic Wolverine costume.
Everything will become clear when Deadpool 3 comes to theatres on May 3, 2024.