Summary

Deadpool 3 will be different from its predecessors by entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe, joining the mainline continuity with Wolverine.
The film will have a new director, Shawn Levy, known for his work in comedies, and will have less improvisation from Ryan Reynolds due to restrictions.
Deadpool 3 will explore the Marvel multiverse, featuring characters from different realities, including Wolverine and Elektra, as well as giving the X-Men a larger role and serving as a soft reboot.

Wade Wilson will enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Deadpool 3, making the film different from its two predecessors. After failing to please critics and those familiar with Deadpool’s mainstream comic incarnation in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds got a well-deserved second chance as the Merc with a Mouth in 2016’s Deadpool. The heartfelt, hilarious, and comic-accurate film was a critical and commercial success, leading to a successful sequel in 2018. The upcoming Deadpool 3 will differentiate itself from Deadpool and Deadpool 2 in more ways than its new setting, however.

Thanks to the Multiverse Saga changing the rules of the MCU timeline, Reynolds’ Deadpool will finally join the mainline continuity with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in tow. Despite questions around the MCU’s quality since Endgame, Deadpool 3 appears poised to be another success for the MCU, and is easily one of the most exciting prospects of all the upcoming Marvel movies, though it will be unlike its two predecessors in some major ways…

Related: 15 Weird Facts About Deadpool In X-Men Origins: Wolverine

10 Deadpool 3 Has A New-To-The-Franchise Director

Each of the Deadpool films features a different director, with Tim Miller making his directorial debut for the first installment. Deadpool 2 was directed by David Leitch of Atomic Blonde fame, having directed the short film Deadpool: No Good Deed a year before Deadpool 2’s release. Deadpool 3, however, will be directed by Shawn Levy, whose filmography includes numerous comedies, and his previous two films, Free Guy and The Adam Project, both starred Ryan Reynolds.

9 Deadpool 3 Will Have Less Improv Than Before

Ryan Reynolds is notably quite fond of the Deadpool character, injecting his own comedic lines into the films. One entire page of 2016’s Deadpool, notably, instructed Reynolds to ad-lib his dialogue. Unfortunately, Deadpool 3 was rumored to have prohibited Reynolds from improvising any lines due to 2023’s WGA Strike. Loopholes in this restriction, including some noted by Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld, will allow a degree of improvisation by Reynolds but, for better or worse, he is likely unable to ad-lib quite as many lines in Deadpool 3 as he was in the previous two films.

8 Deadpool 3 Will Officially Join The MCU

One of the biggest differences between Deadpool 3 and its predecessors will be its new setting in the MCU. The previous Deadpool films have always been rather cavalier with their continuity and, in the second film’s case, time travel, but this was largely for comedic effect. With the MCU now in the midst of a multiverse-focused trio of phases and Disney now owning 20th Century Fox, the time is right for Reynolds’s beloved Deadpool to join the MCU. How precisely the film will relocate Deadpool to a new reality remains to be seen, but it likely be yet another source of comedy for the film.

7 Wolverine Is The Biggest X-Men Character To Join Deadpool Series

An equally prominent selling point for Deadpool 3 will be its inclusion of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine yet again. References to Jackman’s iconic iteration of the hero were seen throughout the first two films, but Deadpool 3 will see Jackman reprise the role yet again, despite the character’s demise and critically acclaimed sendoff in 2017’s Logan. Jackman’s Wolverine will also, to the delight of longtime X-Men viewers, finally don a comic-accurate yellow costume.

6 Deadpool 3 Will Explore The Marvel Multiverse

Deadpool 3 delving into the Marvel multiverse is a given considering that it will see Deadpool leave his reality for the MCU, but the film will likely take this even further. Jennifer Garner is set to reprise her role as Elektra from 2003’s Daredevil and 2005’s Elektra, with there being no indication that the two films were set in the same continuity as Fox’s X-Men films. Moreover, the Wolverine who appears in Deadpool 3, despite being played by Hugh Jackman, might be a variant of the character Jackman plays in Logan and the other Fox X-Men movies.

5 The X-Men Will Have To Play A Bigger Role In Deadpool 3

Although the X-Men are one of Marvel’s most iconic comic properties, the team and mutants in general were absent from the MCU’s Infinity Saga due to their film rights being owned by Fox. With Fox having been acquired by Disney and the X-Men’s addition to the MCU now inevitable, Deadpool 3 will, by necessity, need to give the X-Men a larger role than the previous two films. Deadpool 3 might even end up partially explaining, or at least exploring, the proper introduction of the X-Men to the MCU.

4 Deadpool 3 Serves As A Soft Reboot

By taking Deadpool out of his native reality and placing him in the MCU, Deadpool 3 will, by necessity serve as a soft reboot for Reynold’s Deadpool franchise. Deadpool’s backstory as seen in Deadpool and Deadpool 2 will likely remain, but it is doubtful that all his supporting characters from the Fox X-Men universe will join him in the MCU. Even if Deadpool befriends the MCU variants of his old supporting characters, this will still be a fresh start for him.

Despite taking place in the Fox X-Men universe, which arguably took itself too seriously at times, the first two Deadpool movies often appeared to inhabit a world nearly as zany as Deadpool himself. This will change in Deadpool 3 which, according to writer Rhett Reese, will place Deadpool (described as a “lunatic”) in an MCU that is referred to as “a very sane world.” A fish-out-of-water story will be a novel new dynamic for Deadpool that certainly helps Deadpool 3 stand out from its predecessors.

2 Deadpool 3 Can Have MCU Cameos Now

While an obvious result of relocating Deadpool to the MCU, it is worth noting that Deadpool 3 can and may very well include cameos from familiar MCU characters. Not only could a character like Doctor Strange could explain the new reality to Deadpool but Wade Wilson will no longer be the only fourth wall-breaker in his reality. Deadpool will now inhabit the same continuity as She-Hulk, giving the MCU two characters who are aware that they are fictional.

1 Deadpool Now Co-Stars With Another X-Men Character

Another obvious difference between Deadpool 3 and its predecessors is Wolverine’s forthcoming role. While Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead served supporting roles in the first two films, Wolverine appears to be Deadpool 3’s co-star. While unlikely to overshadow Ryan Reynolds’s Deadpool, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is one of the Fox X-Men franchise’s most iconic characters and, if Deadpool 3’s marketing is any indication, he will share the starring role with the titular Merc with a Mouth.

Key Release Dates

The Marvels

Deadpool 3

Captain America: Brave New World

Marvel’s Thunderbolts

Blade (2025)

Marvel’s Fantastic Four

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty

Avengers: Secret Wars

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