Credit: Marvel StudiosNew details have emerged regarding Marvel Studios’ upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), which looks set to reboot Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
After 2023, which gave audiences more hits than misses, Disney and Marvel are refocusing their once-untouchable brand with a slimmer 2024. On the feature film front, just Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine will be released.
The Merc with a Mouth’s first foray into the House of Mouse’s MCU will take the franchise to 34 movies and will mark the next step in the current Phase Five. What began with the negatively-received Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) will end in 2025 with Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts*, before Marvel’s First Family officially enters the MCU canon in The Fantastic Four (2025), which opens Phase Six.
Before getting to that point, though, and with Anthony Mackie’s Captain America return still to come in Julius Onah’s Captain America: Brave New World (2025), Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman will also make their Marvel Studios debut as the co-headliners of Shawn Levy’s upcoming movie.
Deadpool & Wolverine not only brings Wade Wilson and Logan into the MCU for the first time, but it will also mark Disney’s first R-rated entry in the franchise. This was something Disney CEO Bob Iger said they would keep upon purchasing 20th Century Fox, a deal which was finalized in 2019.
There is a lot of pressure on Deadpool to deliver on expectations and bring audiences back into movie theaters. One of Marvel’s biggest issues–and one that extends to Disney as an entire corporation–is that due to overall poor reception, many fans are waiting for things to drop on Disney+.
This has been seen time and time again with the likes of box office flop The Marvels (2023) being well-received on Disney+ and even Disney’s centennial movie Wish (2023) going on to score big release numbers on the streaming service, coming third just behind Frozen II (2019) and Encanto (2021). The Russo Brothers recently commented on this transitional period in which we currently exist.
The Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) directors told Total Film that it is more of a generational divide than an audience fatigue problem, with one part of the fandom heading to the theaters and the other wanting it fast and on-demand in their homes.
For Deadpool & Wolverine, however, box office prospects are looking good. With two charismatic leads who are best friends in real life and two big Marvel properties combined, Deadpool & Wolverine is on track to entice fans back to the theater when the R-rated treat drops on July 26, 2024.
Helping stoke the excitement is the rumor that pop megastar Taylor Swift, who just dropped her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” may appear as Dazzler or a Lady Deadpool Variant. Reynolds’ wife and fellow Hollywood actress Blake Lively may also cameo in the film.
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Reports have surfaced in recent days claiming that Deadpool & Wolverine is currently undergoing reshoots just three months before its release. This is a common process for any movie studio and something Kevin Feige himself has discussed as being an important factor in filmmaking.
The reshoots are expected to last until May, according to scooper Daniel Richtman (via Comic Book Movie). They could be a sign that Marvel is lacing through even more cameos–something Deadpool & Wolverine is expected to have a lot of considering the Multiversal elements at stake. There was even a sling-ring portal present in the final moments of the latest trailer.
Over the last few months, two major reports, plus the first and second trailers themselves, have given clues as to how Deadpool will course-correct the MCU. In Wade Wilson’s own words, the cinematic universe will change forever. This, as well as reports of the world-culling mechanic known as “The Anchor” and how the movie will spend a lot of time in the Void-style area seen in Loki, has triggered fans to believe interesting things will occur this July.
The reported reshoots are happening as details have emerged regarding the inevitable post-credits scene. “According to The Cosmic Circus’ Alex Perez, Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man won’t factor into the threequel,” writes Comic Book Movie. Perez also tweeted regarding the severity of the post-credits scene. Resharing a tweet that calls the scene “mind-blowing,” Perez said (via X):
Here’s the deal…
Scoopers know what’s being rumored about it. Trades know about it too. Everyone is just waiting to see who fires the first shot that teases or reveals it so they can talk about it. I’m not gonna do it.
Some things are better left for the moviegoing experience.
Here’s the deal…
Scoopers know what’s being rumored about it. Trades know about it too. Everyone is just waiting to see who fires the first shot that teases or reveals it so they can talk about it. I’m not gonna do it.
Some things are better left for the moviegoing experience. https://t.co/2dkXoR64gA
— Alex P. (@AlexFromCC) April 26, 2024
Mind-blowing could mean anything. But with Marvel out of a Big Bad thanks to Jonathan Majors’ firing in late 2023 following a domestic assault trial, Deadpool & Wolverine could be where Feige reveals his reworked plan. And then looking at the future, from Captain America 4 to Thunderbolts* to Blade and the Avengers movies, Avengers 5 (formerly Avengers: The Kang Dynasty) and Avengers: Secret Wars, the Multiversal components of the third Deadpool movie may give a first look at how the franchise will get to Secret Wars.
Related: Marvel Confirms They Are Redesigning the Scarlet Witch After ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Exit
As director Shawn Levy told the Associated Press in late April 2024, the movie he and Ryan Reynolds made was “exactly as [they] dreamed.”
Deadpool & Wolverine will follow on from Tim Miller’s Deadpool (2016) and David Leitch’s Deadpool 2 (2018).
How do you think Deadpool & Wolverine will set up the MCU’s remaining Phase Five and Phase Six? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
Director: Shawn Levy
Screenplay: Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, and Shawn Levy.
Cast: Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine, Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova (Charles Xavier’s evil twin sister), Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Rob Delaney as Peter, Matthew Macfadyen as TVA agent Paradox, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce/Pyro, and Jennifer Garner as Elektra Natchios.