Will Henry Cavill be the MCU’s new Wolverine?

Warning: The following article contains mild spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.

As with any MCU movie before it, Deadpool & Wolverine was chock-full of surprise cameo appearances despite the Regenerating Degenerate only just making his way to Marvel’s interconnected world. Now, one of these cameos is fueling a lot of fan hype and speculation about the future of Wolverine on the big screen.

The Deadpool threequel didn’t hold back when it came to breaking the fourth wall and jamming every possible innuendo in every possible on-screen scenario, and neither did the movie fail to honor its distinct opportunity of being a part of the bigger Marvel universe by giving us dozens of fan-service moments and juicy cameos.

In one specific part of the movie, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool is going through the multiverse looking for a Wolverine that can help save his timeline. And one of these James Howletts was played by none other than Henry Cavill.

Now, to some of you, that was just another addition to this already star-studded cast. You know, a bit of playing around with people’s expectations to keep the hype factor from growing too stale in the first act. But to many others, especially long-time MCU fans, Cavill’s casting as Wolverine was actually a dream come true. Even Reynolds breaks the fourth wall yet again to remark on the occasion: “The Cavillrine. Legends are true. And may I say, sir, on behalf of all humanity, this just feels right.”

We wholeheartedly agree. Henry Cavill as Wolverine just feels right. Sure, no one can do it better than Hugh Jackman, but it’s not like the actor is just going to keep portraying Logan in live-action until he’s 90, as Reynolds quips in the film… Right?

Will Henry Cavill be the new Wolverine in the MCU?

It’s unclear if Cavill’s cameo was a one-time gag or a tease for future appearances, but it’s worth noting that he’s the only one besides Hugh Jackman to portray Wolverine in the movie. Deadpool visits dozens of worlds, but Logan is the same in all of them, except for that one time when he’s portrayed by Cavill. In fact, Cavill is the only other person to have portrayed James Howlett in the character’s live-action history.

Now, I might just be a geek reading too much into it, but you don’t bring on an actor of Henry Cavill’s caliber for a simple gag. But I guess that’s as far as our speculation is going to get us at this point. Whether Cavill will be back as Wolverine in some capacity is a question only future MCU films and television shows will be able to answer in earnest.