Credit: ITMDeadpool 3 may be on hiatus due to the Actors strike, but its looming debut into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has made it the most-anticipated project for Marvel next year. The MCU’s recent inconsistent storytelling, along with its CGI-heavy action sequences, has led to a turbulent start for its Phase Five. Massive projects like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) and Secret Invasion (2023) have already been underwhelming setbacks that have cost Disney nearly $500 million and added to the growing social media term of “superhero fatigue.”
As Disney sorts out its financial and creative dilemmas, they have had Marvel Studios reduce the volume of upcoming projects. Many Marvel fans expected Season One of Loki or Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness to show the clear direction of the Multiverse Saga, but that has yet to happen within the fourth and fifth phases. Deadpool 3 will still be part of Phase Five as Marvel Studios plans to make it the anchor that will resurrect audience excitement so it can put Marvel movies back in the “billionaire dollar club.”
Marvel has a good shot of that with the fourth wall-breaking “Merc with a Mouth” who will bring a built-in audience. The legendary fast-talking mutant reached his pop culture apex with the release of Ryan Reynolds’ extraordinarily successful Deadpool movies. They would go onto gross $1.5 billion for 20th Century. This achievement was a brilliant mixture of well-written humor, superbly violent action sequences and viral social media marketing.
Deadpool‘s viral marketing functioned best with its “leaked content.” This strategy is what put the first film into existence due to the immense fan reaction of its leaked demo footage. The third installment has been no different as on-set images depicting Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman dressed as comic-accurate versions of Wolverine and Deadpool became another global sensation.
The anticipation for the movie amplified even further when it was confirmed that Jennifer Garner would be reprising her role as Elektra. Then additional leaks allegedly confirmed that Marvel legacy characters such as, Storm, Jean Grey, Gambit and Doctor Doom will be reprising their iconic roles. Now, the latest rumor has a Harry Potter star entering the Deadpool celebrity ensemble.
While the internet is riddled with questionable hearsay, this one seemed to build momentum when a mounting social media campaign championed a ripped Daniel Radcliffe to play the new Wolverine. Hugh Jackman has been confirmed to be the main Wolverine in the MCU sequel as the story will center around Wade Wilson and Logan traveling through the Multiverse. Yet, interacting with variants of themselves is certainly a possibility.
The anonymous source has not confirmed what role Radcliffe would be playing, only that he is in the third installment. The already abundant fan service of Deadpool 3 would heavily imply that the distinguished thespian would be the newest legendary Weapon X. Plus, the A-list actor’s dodging of questions during interviews to play the beloved Marvel hero feeds fan speculation even further that it is conceivable.
Deadpool 3 is still slated for a May 3, 2024 release date.
What do you think of this claim? Should Radcliffe be the MCU’s new Wolverine?