Ever since 2017’s Logan, fans wondered who would be fit to pop Wolverine‘s claws after Hugh Jackman. Well, folks will simply have to wonder a little longer, because the Australian actor returned for 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, and he appears to be sticking around until he’s at least 90-years-old at this point. However, a controversial new design for the beloved X-Men character has the internet chattering.

This year has been kind to the Ol’ Canucklehead. Not only did his on-screen adventure with the Merc with the Mouth rage to over a billion dollars at the global box office, but he also received a creative breath of fresh air at Marvel Comics with the relaunch of the X-Men book line. Needless to say, Wolvie remains as popular as ever among the fandom, with his ers especially excited for the video game Marvel’s Wolverine, which is being developed by Insomniac Games – the same acclaimed studio behind the Spider-Man series. 

Before then, though, gamers can look forward to Wolverine appearing in Marvel Rivals. Set for release on Dec. 6, this multi-platform free-to-play hero shooter pairs six-versus-six multiplayer action. The game features over 33 Marvel heroes to choose from, including the usual suspects. Naturally, Logan unsheathes the claws as a playable character here, but Wolvie’s design is anything but universally approved.

Instead of wearing one of his more recognizable costumes from the comics, this Wolverine forgoes a mask and wears a yellow and blue jacket symbolic of his classic attire. In addition to this, it appears like the mutant has been eating his spinach for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, because his muscles should be classified as weapons of mass destruction – or seduction, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Taking to X, one suggested Wolverine looks more like Vander from Arcane than the berserker from the comics. It’s easy to see this comparison, especially because Marvel Rivals utilizes an anime art style reminiscent of the Netflix series. Another commentator compared him to Kelsey Grammer’s Beast from X-Men: The Last Stand, but why is anyone’s guess. Maybe it’s the short, stocky size of the character; however, Wolverine isn’t renowned for being particularly tall in the comics, so this is actually a more accurate depiction than what we see in the movies. Plus, his skin isn’t blue…

A few internet s downright disavowed this Marvel Rivals design. One wrote: “Sir, that is not my Wolverine.” Another said they aren’t interested in the game anymore, while others were more dramatic in demanding this “thic” version of Wolvie gets wiped faster than the Sentinels could ever do so. Yeah, that’s not going to happen.

For those wondering why the developers just didn’t use Jackman’s likeness here, it’s mostly due to licensing rights. The Marvel Rivals version of Wolverine is based on a different iteration of the character and so are the rest of the heroes here. To use Jackman’s likeness, millions of dollars would need to be exchanged for permission, and since this video game is free, don’t bet on that being at the top of the agenda.

Like most video games, it’s expected that different skins will be available for the characters in Marvel Rivals. So, even if the Thiccerine doesn’t appeal to everyone right now, a more classic Wolverine look will likely be made available at some point. Probably through an expensive DLC purchase.

Deadpool & Wolverine is finally available to stream at your leisure on Disney Plus, and that’s not the only good news. Various deleted scenes have already materialized thanks to the earlier digital release of this summer’s superhero blockbuster, but now even more are coming out of the woodwork. The latest even goes so far as to raise a question we’ve been wondering about for a full decade.

For this one, we have Ryan Reynolds himself to thank, as the man behind the Merc with the Mouth shared this instant fan-favorite of a sequence to Instagram in the wake of the film’s streaming debut. A montage scene, the clip adds more context to Wade and Logan’s trek across the endless expanse of the Void, naturally featuring a ton more quips and jokes. These include not only a reference to Chris Hemsworth’s Thor (he actually wears hair extensions! Cheap ones!), but a hint at the doomed romance between Wolverine and Jean Grey.

“Siri, find deleted, half baked montage featuring one of the greatest bands on earth and Hugh totally nailing his four words of dialogue,” Reynolds wrote in the post description. “And do it quickly because it’ll probably be taken down for so many reasons.”

Apart from snubbing fellow Canadian icons and big Deadpool fans Nickelback — whose song, “Never Gonna Be Alone,” plays over the montage — this deleted scene actually has a secret significance to the wider X-Men lore. “I don’t wanna pry, but whatever happened between you and Jean?” Wade asks of a silent Logan. “You guys seemed so good together.”

Through this, Deadpool is finally addressing a big mystery fans have pondered ever since 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past: What exactly did happen between Logan and Jean? For those without a degree in X-Menology, here’s a quick history lesson. Wolverine himself was forced to kill Jean in X-Men: The Last Stand when she went all Dark Phoenix and he was still haunted by ghostly visions of her in The Wolverine. By the end of Future Past, however, the timeline was reset and Jean was alive again. So was Cyclops, though, so Logan was once more crushing on a married woman.

Come Logan, and we were told that all the X-Men had died again — tragically, killed by an ailing Professor X. Deadpool 3‘s Wolverine isn’t quite the same variant as the main X-Men timeline’s, but he seems to have lived a very similar life, just with all the X-Men in his world being killed by mutant-hating humans. No doubt Jean died again in both universes, but we still don’t know if she and Logan ever made it work for a while at least, or if she remained loyal to Scott in all timelines.

Either way, fans are all reacting the same way to this scene: they can’t fathom why it was deleted. “Again… Whyyyyyyyyyy?!?!?!” wrote one Instagram commenter. “We NEED a cut with all deleted scenes included!! Please & Thank you Amen.” I mean, in a world where Deadpool & Wolverine made well over $1 billion and Spider-Man: No Way Home got an extended cut released in theaters, that doesn’t sound like the craziest idea. Deadpool 3.5 for 2025 — make it happen, Kevin Feige!

Imagine time-traveling from 2016 to 2024. Apart from the sobering realization that you’ve hopped from the start of one Donald Trump presidency to another, it might take your brain a moment to accept that the first Deadpool movie — a scrappy, low-budget superhero flick strictly for mature audiences — would end up spawning Deadpool & Wolverine, the flagship Marvel movie of the year that is now readily available on Disney Plus, alongside the likes of Bluey and Moana.

Yes, after blowing up the box office this past summer, the latest — but surely not the last — Deadpool movie is now finally able to stream for all those with a Mouse House subscription (make sure to read those T&Cs, people!). Never needing much of an excuse to put on his mask and suit again, Ryan Reynolds has marked the occasion by releasing a fun new short of himself back in character as Wade Wilson to celebrate Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Disney Plus debut.

In the short 15-second promo, Deadpool and Blind Al (Leslie Uggams, reprising her role alongside Reynolds) are sitting on their couch watching a scene of Hugh Jackman acting his heart out in the threequel. Wade happens to be holding the infamous Wolverine popcorn bucket, placing Logan’s wide-open mouth suggestively on his lap as Blind Al silently reaches inside to grab some popcorn. “Welcome to Disney Plus,” Deadpool tells her.

With the release of this promo, we finally have an answer to something that’s been bugging us for the past few weeks. Last month, Reynolds shared selfies from Blind Al’s apartment set and confirmed that himself and Uggams had just spent a day filming together as their Deadpool characters. Some fans immediately got themselves hyped over a potential Disney Plus Christmas special, but it seems that the pair reunited just to film this short Disney Plus ad.

That said, a Christmas tree was prominently placed on the set in Reynolds’ selfies, but it doesn’t factor into this promo. It’s possible that the Canadian funny-man and Uggams actually shot a few different shorts during this day of filming and more will come out over time. Given how huge Deadpool & Wolverine was on the big screen, it makes sense that Disney would push it equally hard now that it’s available on the small screen.

In addition to having the ability to watch Deadpool 3 on your phone — now there’s a sentence that would give Martin Scorsese a stroke — the good news for Merc with the Mouth fans is that it might not be too long before his MCU return. Kevin Feige himself is hinting that time is off the essence when it comes to putting Reynolds back in the red and black. The Marvel Studios president recently promised that he’s “always” looking for ways to bring back Reynolds and Jackman’s Wolverine as “fast” as possible. The odds of the pair turning up in not just one, but both Avengers movies just skyrocketed.

In the meantime, welcome to Disney Plus, Deadpool and Blind Al! Your family’s favorite destination for wholesome streaming content just got a little dirtier.

Is Hugh Jackman sticking around the MCU now that he just returned in Deadpool & Wolverine? While originally anticipated as a one-off comeback, à la Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the fact that this summer’s blockbuster was Marvel’s most successful movie in many a year indicates Marvel will be doing all it can to keep Jackman aboard. “til your 90” might not have been just a joke.

Even so, what with the Australian actor being the only person to play Logan in live-action for the past 24 years now (excepting the Cavillrine, of course), many fans out there believe the time is right for someone new to take on the legendary role. Especially as Marvel is heading towards an X-Men reboot which will introduce the Earth-19999 version of these characters. You’ve probably heard all the usual suspects before. Daniel Radcliffe, Tom Hardy, Taron Egerton, yadda yadda…

A fresh contender has entered the ring, however, and his case for the role might be adamantium-tight. One tweet has gone viral for waking the world up to how Saturday Night actor Matt Wood is a spot-on Wolverine casting waiting to happen.

Wood only has seven credits to his name on IMDb but he looks set for big things after impressing critics with his performance as John Belushi in the recently released Saturday Night, a biopic about the first-ever SNL episode. Due to his lack of fame at this point, we’re not entirely sure of his personal details, but Wood is believed to be in his early 30s and to be in the mid-5″ range in height. In other words, he’s the right age to sign up for a Marvel role for at least a decade and he’s a spot-on match for the famously short-statured Logan in the comics.

Those in the replies to @Runaway_Wiccan’s X post are blown away by how eerily on-point Wood would be as Wolverine. Even down to the demeanor and attitude he exudes in his Instagram selfies.

Many are in agreement that we might as well call any and all fan-casts off from now on as nobody is going to beat Wood.

Does the MCU need another Wolverine besides Hugh Jackman?

After the rampaging popularity of Deadpool & Wolverine, there’s definitely a hunger to have more of Hugh Jackman in the yellow and blue, on both the studio’s side and that of the audience. That said, after what will soon be over a quarter of a century of inhabiting this part, it arguably is time for Jackman to relinquish the role for good in order to let Marvel Studios really put its own stamp on that most iconic of X-Men.

With this being the Multiverse Saga, it makes sense for Jackman to remain for the remainder of Phases Five to Seven, and no doubt turn up again with Ryan Reynolds’ Wade in tow for Avengers: Doomsday and/or Secret Wars. Once the MCU makes a fresh start as its third saga begins, then, this would be where Wood’s hypothetical Logan could make his debut. Marvel is still only in the earliest stages of its X-Men reboot, , as scripted by The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes scribe Michael Lesslie. This multiverse is big enough for two Wolverines, bub.

Marvel’s most anticipated film of the year did not disappoint. Deadpool & Wolverine united two of the most popular characters of the comic franchise in a move that brought millennial fans to tears.

Last we saw him, Logan (Hugh Jackman) had died heroically to save his daughter, Laura (Dafne Keen). Finally finding redemption after decades of questions, the Wolverine could be laid to rest. News that Ryan Reynolds would be resurrecting the icon with Jackman in the driver’s seat naturally made fans a little weary. How could anyone top the fantastic finale that was Logan?

Reynolds solved that problem by making this Logan a time-variant — but not without an elaborate dance sequence involving our Logan’s bones. That was only the first of many surprises in the film which involved harkening back to some of the earliest characters in the Marvel timeline. It was a testament to fans’ love of the comic book universe, even if the book was being closed on an era. Whether Jackman will return to Wolverine in the future remains to be seen. However, fans can revisit the third Deadpool movie over and over again sooner rather than later.

When can fans watch Deadpool & Wolverine on Disney Plus?

After a phenomenal showing of Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters this summer, the franchise has proven that cinema is not dead. The outrageous fanfare was exactly what makes it fun to go to the movies. Fans can revisit this experience currently, by renting or buying the film on demand. But let’s not forget the sadly dying art of physical media. On October 22, the film will be available on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD. Currently, this is the only information that we have.

But for those intent on streaming it with their Disney subscription, the time will come eventually. It typically takes a few months for films to hit Disney Plus after a theatrical release, meaning Deadpool & Wolverine should hit the streaming waves sometime after October. Viewers should stay tuned for further information.

What if I told you that the enormous success of Deadpool & Wolverine is a huge win for the world of the X-Men in the short-term, but it could have some dire consequences in the long-term?

It’s hard to tell what’s going on in Kevin Feige’s head under that ever-present baseball cap of his, but you can bet he’s absolutely building more of Marvel’s future around the characters from the recent box office-thrashing threequel. Case in point, there’s a distinct feeling in the air that we haven’t seen the last of Hugh Jackman‘s Wolverine, with he and Ryan Reynolds pretty comfortably expected to team up once again for at least an extended cameo in Avengers: Secret Wars. And while the idea of those two battling Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom would be the ultimate way to end Jackman’s historic legacy as Logan, rumor has it that the MCU plans to milk this mutant even further.

According to the latest word on the grapevine that’s got the Marvel fandom in a tizzy, the X-Men reboot allegedly won’t feature a new Wolverine. That’s because Jackman is apparently settling back into the role for the foreseeable future, with his Foxverse variant apparently continuing to pop up even after the end of the Multiverse Saga.

On paper, this might seem like a dream come true, but actually — after 24 years of (almost) no one else playing Wolverine — X-Men maniacs are ready for a new, perhaps more comic-accurate take on the character to emerge.

Besides, is Marvel really asking us to buy into the idea of an X-Men team that doesn’t have a Wolverine? What’s next a Spider-Man who doesn’t have an Uncle Ben? Oh, wait…

Ryan really wasn’t joking with that “Til you’re 90” line, was he?

Why is Marvel chaining Jackman down when Henry Cavill’s “Cavillerine” is sitting right there?

We’re going to need some time to process this.

Can the 616 universe really be called complete unless it’s home to its own Wolverine variant?

Or, to put it plainly, “there is no X-Men without Wolverine.”

X-Men fans may take some umbrage at this last comment — there are certainly plenty of excellent X-Men stories across the mediums that don’t feature Wolvie in a major role, if at all. And yet it must be said that the movies are a whole different ball-game. Note that the only Fox X-Men films not to feature or reference Logan in any way are Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants, very possibly the two worst of the whole lot (both critically and financially). The X-Men, it seems, need the Wolverine to survive. The fans are confident that doesn’t have to mean Jackman’s version, but Marvel may be more hesitant to test that theory.

The third time around, Ryan Reynolds’ trademark character has inspired more fanfare than ever before. And there’s no guessing as to why.

Finally, after Marvel’s domination on the big screen, the Merc With the Mouth has entered the MCU. Deadpool (Reynolds) has had his taste of the limelight since his first solo venture in 2016, but Disney’s merger with Fox has invited him to the big leagues. In Deadpool & Wolverine, Reynolds has done the impossible by convincing Hugh Jackman to return as the ball of fury with claws as they head out to save the universe from destruction. The film has been a return to form for Marvel which has candidly been plateauing since 2019’s Endgame. But this time around, fans have returned to the theater in droves, including one particular sect of viewers with all one thing in common.

A Deadpool screening was overwhelmed with Ryans

In a display that would make Reynolds himself proud, an entire screening was filled out with an audience exclusively named Ryan. Under the TikTok handle, Ryan Meetup, the event was chronicled for all of the internet to witness. Each Ryan in attendance was gifted a Deadpool shirt and they were treated to Ryan-specific ments. One Ryan even brought some Aviation gin. Together, they enjoyed one of the best MCU films in recent memory, along with a special guest.

Ryan Meetup acknowledged that they would be remiss if they did not invite a Hugh, since Reynolds invited the famous Jackman to appear alongside him. In this tongue-in-cheek manner, they welcomed a Hugh whose last name was Ryan. All in all, the viewing seemed to be a success. If nothing else, it brought joy to the social media platform for a time.

“Now this is boys will be boys,” commenter Lee posted to a typical response from Ryan Meetup: “Ryans being Ryans.”

Ryan Meetup was so so committed to the bit that they fully endorse changing one’s name to Ryan just so more people can contribute to these events. One bystander in the video allegedly changed her name while they pushed this agenda further in the comments.

“I wanna be called Ryan. not fair,” bob posted. Ryan Meetup was quick to respond: “You can change your name, we have the paperwork.”

This is not the first example of Ryans meeting up, either. Ryan Meetup has done a collection of similar events, which can be found at https://ryanmeetup.com/events. The group has previously put together events including Rytoberfest, St. Ryan’s Day, and Ryami Vice, all with the purpose of meeting more people named Ryan. Per Deadline, Deadpool & Wolverine recently crossed the $900 million mark at the box office, and while there is no confirmation that Ryan Meetup helped, it certainly couldn’t have hurt.

Deadpool & Wolverine has annihilated the box office since its release, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a fan who wasn’t blown away by Hugh Jackman‘s performance.

Ryan Reynolds obviously brought his signature wit to the role of Deadpool, but Jackman, in his tenth appearance as Wolverine, effectively stole the show. He was dramatic and scary and charismatic in equal measure, and he was, unsurprisingly, well-paid for his efforts.

Salaries for superhero films have ballooned since Jackman first donned the Adamantium claws, and the difference between his paycheck for X-Men in 2000 and Deadpool 3 is night and day. We get why he decided to come back.

What was Hugh Jackman’s salary on Deadpool & Wolverine?

Hugh Jackman has proven to be one of the most consistent box office draws of the 21st century. He’s led multiple blockbusters, and his tenure as Wolverine has been especially successful. He’s the most beloved actor in franchise history, so it makes sense that he demands a higher payday than nearly anybody else involved in the X-Men. This practice was upended, somewhat, with Deadpool & Wolverine.

The Things reported that both Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman were paid an estimated $20 million for their roles in Deadpool & Wolverine. This lines up with the salaries that both have been given to play their iconic characters in the past. Reynolds was technically paid $22 million for Deadpool 2, but the widely held belief among Hollywood insiders is that the actor will be receiving part of the profits from the latest installment.

Jackman, meanwhile has been paid $20 million on two separate occasions to play Wolverine. He took a signifiant pay cut to star in Logan in 2017, but that was due to the film’s R rating and limited budget. A blockbuster like Deadpool & Wolverine, with a staggering budget of $200 million, would have had no problem matching the actor’s quote.

How much has Hugh Jackman made from X-Men films?

Hugh Jackman was only paid $500K for his performance in X-Men. Granted, the budget was significantly lower than most modern superhero films, as the genre had yet to prove itself as a viable commercial bet for Hollywood. Times have obviously changed. Jackman’s salary hiked up significantly each time he played the character in a sequel. He was paid $1 million for X2: X-Men United in 2003, and $5 million for X3: The Last Stand in 2006. By the time Jackman starred in the prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009, his salary had skyrocketed to his now customary quote of $20 million.

According to The Things, Jackman also took home $20 million for The Wolverine in 2013. He made less in the fan-favorite blockbuster X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014, but that was theorized to be the result of having significantly less screen time than films prior. Still, Jackman was paid a cool $7 million for his time. All films considered, Jackman has earned over $45 million during his two and half decade run as Wolverine. This makes him one of the highest-paid actors in any franchise in Hollywood history.

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.

Audiences are treated to a kaleidoscope of James “Logan” Howletts or as we call him—Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine. But do we know which universe this yellow-costumed variant comes from?

The X-Men entering the MCU is the most exciting news for superhero fans in years, especially as the newer Marvel characters have failed to keep fans hooked. The merger of Disney and 20th Century Fox transferred the film rights to the X-Men characters to Marvel Studios, paving the way for Deadpool and Wolverine to the MCU’s roster.

The film follows the Earth-10005 Wade Wilson, who has hung up his red suit to work as a used car salesman. However, the TVA soon disrupts his dream of living a normal life as they kidnap him with urgent news: his timeline is deteriorating as a result of the death of James “Logan” Howlett, the timeline’s stabilizing anchor being.

Thrown into a whirlwind multiverse adventure, Deadpool encounters numerous Wolverines in a race against time to find one who can help save his deteriorating timeline. So, who’s the chosen one?

Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Logan is the worst one in the multiverse

To soothe the itching question first, the Wolverine featured as the main character in Deadpool & Wolverine is not the same one audiences said goodbye to in the 2017 film Logan. That Wolverine’s body is being poisoned by the adamantium metal that the Weapon X program used to coat his skeleton, progressively reducing his healing factor as he ages. Towards the end, our hero is severely wounded by X-24, a mindless clone of Logan in his prime, and the hero we followed for 17 years, dies.

This is confirmed in the opening scene of Deadpool & Wolverine, as Deadpool first intends to dig back Logan from his X-marked grave and bring him into his universe. But the adamantium skeleton is all that’s left of the iconic Wolverine. To save his timeline, Wilson instead takes Paradox’s TemPad and uses it to go around the multiverse to find a different version of Logan.

After encountering numerous Logan variants across the multiverse, Wilson finds a particularly miserable one to bring back to the TVA. Though the exact universe of this variant is not revealed (and this world is unique to the movie), it appears to be a variation on the Fox X-Universe, so we can presume this world featured a Patrick Stewart Xavier and an Ian McKellen Magneto, and that key events played out here similarly until they diverged with the events that saw this Logan spiral into depression.

Deadpool and Wolverine are more alike than either character — particularly Wolvie — would probably like to it.

Their personalities couldn’t be more different, but their blood-soaked backgrounds certainly sport parallels, as does their country of origin — The True North strong and free! — and their healing factors. This makes a lot of sense, considering the origins of Wade’s regenerative abilities, but there’s actually a much bigger gap between how those healing factors work than many people realize.

Which healing factor is better — Deadpool’s or Wolverine’s?

Both Deadpool and Wolverine sport some of the best healing factors in the entire Marvel universe. The pair of regenerating murder machines are capable of bouncing back from nearly anything, from grievous injuries and lost limbs to full decapitation.

While Wolvie can recover from damn near anything — save a nice solid log through the chest, following years of adamantium poisoning — his healing factor isn’t nearly as good as Wade’s. That’s despite the fact that Wade’s healing factor was actually stolen straight from Logan’s DNA, but there’s a catch to how the Merc with a Mouth’s regeneration works.

See, Wade ed Weapon X in hopes of curing his cancer, and the program managed just that — to a degree. It did stop the cancer from killing its host, but it didn’t actually eliminate the cancerous cells. Instead, it tailor-made a healing factor that latched onto those cancerous cells, resulting in a strange regenerative ability that Black Panther ultimately dubbed a “dying factor,” rather than a “healing factor.”

Wade’s body is in a constant battle to replace his dying cells, as the cancer that continues to ravage his body eliminates healthy cells, and as a result his healing factor (or dying factor) is ramped up to the nth degree. He can survive pretty much any injury out there, from starvation and lost limbs to full-blown decapitation, and more minor wounds heal in record time. The nature of Deadpool’s “dying factor” provides him with an ability to bounce back much faster, and more thoroughly, than Wolverine, providing the Merc with a Mouth with at least one thing he can do better than his Canadian comrade.

Post Endgame, MCU has been running haphazardly, failing to stick a landing and find a path it can set its characters down. Like the dozen Marvel films before it, Deadpool & Wolverine was going to bring the MCU back — Deadpool was indeed supposed to be “Marvel Jesus.” And the film is one for a while, hyping hope for a future until it all gets mockingly dashed at the last possible moment.

Warning: The article contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.

Let’s tick it all off on our fingers — creating a fear of the mystical source where the Ten Rings came from didn’t work, connecting it to Ms. Marvel’s bangle didn’t, Arishem is barely terrifying, Kang fizzled out before Jonathan Majors got shown the door, the Skrull invasion was a mess, and Wanda…well, that hero-then villain- then hero- again villain trajectory still hurts.

MCU needs a big crisis on the horizon now, just like Thanos started making his presence felt as early as The Avengers. We need a crisis that justifies this sudden onslaught of new superheroes and what would bring together these disted realities. Creating suspense is one thing, appearing as if you have no clue what you plan to do is another.

And Deadpool 3 could have corrected this meandering course.

It, as the headline says, did tick all the right boxes to rig a ticking time bomb so big that mutants, superheroes, and gods would have to forces — if the Sacred Timeline was crawling towards its end. The breadcrumbs for the possibility were all there:

• It is set after Loki season 2 when the “new” TVA is still finding its path.
• There are rogue officials, with insane ideas, still set in their old ways of ruling the TVA and bringing discipline through destruction.
• It clearly happens very soon after Loki, which leaves the path open for scheming officials like Paradox as the likes of Ouroboros and Mobius are too busy to notice.
• The plan to add selected people from dying timelines to the Sacred Timeline – weren’t we told beings can’t stay in a timeline not their own and if they do, it might cause an incursion?
• The introduction of the concept of Anchor Beings – their timelines are reliant on their existence to continue surviving.
• An example of how a timeline’s most aware saviors won’t know when their branch starts dying.
• How, technically, one person alone can’t reverse this impending doom.
• The problem can be solved if two mutants combine their powers to subdue it — which means mutants are important for this.

All Deadpool & Wolverine needed to maybe show in the middle of all the chaos of saving Pool’s timeline and the drama he riled up, no one is looking at the Sacred Timeline that is steadily climbing towards its demise since its Anchor Being is dead. After all, so many crucial heroes have died so far — they were important to keep Earth-616 safe, who is to say one of them wasn’t crucial to ensure it remains alive and kicking?

But no, no, no, no. all this setup, the hint that the plan of overburdening the Sacred Timeline exists, the running plot of “Oh, we have to keep the Sacred Timeline safe,” and the whole concept of Anchor Beings was simply added so Wolverine could have his fancy MCU indoctrination. This could easily have been the next MCU crisis — a dead Anchor Being who is maybe not present in any other timeline (so no replacements) and rapidly devolving Sacred timeline, which would send every other branch timeline into a death spin, thus forcing different heroes from a number of timelines to forces.

Even as Pool entered the TVA in the post-credits scene to temper with the footage of Human Torch telling him about Cassandra Nova, we hoped that a spare screen monitoring the Scared Timeline would show its gradual decline and give the film more meaning than giving Deadpool the partial-Wanda treatment, usherin Logan into the franchise, and turning the kindest character from the last two films into a villain. Deadpool & Wolverine had many, many missed opportunities, but there is no dethroning this sucker punch.