Deadpool & Wolverine Trailer Teases A Logan We Might Not Know
Deadpool is back and more meta than ever, but this time he's bringing some serious backup. For the first time since Disney acquired rival studio 20th Century Fox (along with their entire catalogue of pre-existing IP), the upcoming "Deadpool & Wolverine" is now setting its sights on no less a prize than the Marvel Cinematic Universe ... and no less an icon than Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. It's the team-up movie that nobody saw coming, especially after 2017's "Logan" seemed to officially and definitively close the book on Jackman's portrayal of the character. The reaction to the newly released trailer for Marvel's sole theatrical release of 2024 only further proves that interest in this threequel among both fans and casual audiences alike remains at a fever pitch. But what about those who feel strongly that the beloved member of the X-Men ought to have stayed retired — or perhaps undergone a recasting, which Jackman himself once called "inevitable" — in light of the send-off provided by director James Mangold with (spoiler alert!) Logan's dramatic death?
Well, in a quintessential Deadpool twist, everyone's favorite Merc with the Mouth might have just found a way to have his cake and eat it, too.
The latest footage is heavy on the usual antics expected from a reunion between Ryan Reynolds and his adamantium-clawed co-star, but eagle-eyed fans may have spotted a few sneaky teases that potentially answer a longstanding loose thread about the film and its multiverse-smashing plot: Exactly which Wolverine is this supposed to be, anyway? Given the notoriously convoluted timeline shenanigans of the "X-Men" franchise, which walked so Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios could run, it's certainly a fair question to ask. What "Deadpool & Wolverine" suggests, however, is that this version of Logan might very well be one nobody's ever actually seen before.
Will the real Wolverine please stand up?
If you thought the MCU and all of its various alternate universes were complicated enough, look no further than the sheer chaos of the original "X-Men." The franchise infamously took silly concepts like "continuity" and "canon" and threw them out the window from movie to movie, contradicting previously established lore like it was a competitive sport. There was the timeline established by the 2000 film, which first introduced us to Jackman's Wolverine and led to an entire trilogy. Then a little disaster known as "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" came along and completely rewrote everything fans once thought they knew about the character's backstory (not to mention botching the first live-action depiction of Reynolds' Deadpool, which also had to be retconned pretty severely). "X-Men: Days of Future Past" attempted to make sense of this chronological nightmare, but really only made things worse. By the time "Logan" released, audiences simply had to accept that Logan's swan song took place in a different alternate universe, completely unrelated to any of the prior movies.
So, with all that in mind, surely director Shawn Levy and his creative team wouldn't throw yet another Wolverine variant at viewers ... right?
Wrong! Early on in the trailer, it's revealed that Deadpool has crossed paths with a Wolverine who "let down his entire world," either causing or failing to prevent an apocalyptic event glimpsed in an unfamiliar-looking flashback. Between that, the presence of the Time Variance Authority, and the return to the Void featured in "Loki," all signs point to an alternate-universe Logan who may not even have a timeline of his own to return to anymore — taking the character's typical lone-wolf personality to a whole new extreme. No wonder the guy is so grumpy.
A blank slate
It's far too early to say whether yanking Hugh Jackman out of his post-superhero career and stuffing him into yellow spandex for the sake of portraying a Wolverine variant fans haven't actually met before will pay off or not, but there's plenty of reason to have high hopes. For all the headaches and jokes caused by Fox's fast-and-loose handling of continuity, an argument can certainly be made that the MCU chose to go too far in the other direction and became too indebted to canon and lore. A healthy middle-ground approach in "Deadpool & Wolverine" could be exactly what this sequel needs, letting the writers off the leash so they can tell the absolute best and most unpredictable story they can — as opposed to worrying about whether a random scene from 2003's "X-Men 2" prevents them from taking Logan on whatever journey they have in store for this even darker, angrier, and thoroughly unfriendly take on the classic mutant.
At the end of the day, there's arguably nothing more Deadpool-like than tossing a middle finger at franchise constraints and doing its own thing altogether. Fans are already bringing in decades of attachment and affection for Jackman's depiction of a fan-favorite hero, so perhaps the nitty-gritty details that stir up passionate conversations among nerds online simply don't matter as much this time around, in what will likely be the final time Jackman will ever suit up and brandish those retractable claws on the big screen.
"Deadpool & Wolverine" will slash its way into theaters July 26, 2024.