Marvel Officially Bans Deadpool, Now-Fired Star Speaks Out

An update has made its way online regarding the fate of one of the Marvel Universe’s most popular characters.

What is happening to the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

In July, the Marvel Studios will officially welcome Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and James Howlett (Hugh Jackman), AKA Logan, to its massive blockbuster franchise. Better known as Deadpool and Wolverine, both from the X-Men catalog of characters and at one time part of 20th Century Fox’s lineup, the beloved pair will team up for a seemingly Multiverse-altering event this summer.

It’s clear not only from the fictional events, like Ryan Reynolds’ character claiming to be “Marvel Jesus” and boasting that the cinematic universe will change forever but also from what’s being said by executives on the other side that something big is about to happen.

Most recently, The Walt Disney Company Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger shared that Marvel Studios would be drastically reducing its output in both its feature film and television circles. No more than three movies will be released yearly, and as for Disney+, a maximum of two shows will drop on the streaming service.

This move comes as Disney and Marvel aim to steady the rocky ship of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has, in the last year, faced its most challenging time yet.

Following the box office crash of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) in early 2023 and The Marvels‘ disastrous performance in November, Iger and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige are introducing the aforementioned measures, as well as a number of other focuses.

Iger has been vocal about the need for multiple sequels, and looking at the upcoming slate, just Captain America: Brave New World (2025)–which does not include fan-favorite actor Sebastian Stan–will be released that fits this category. This is a far cry from 2022 and 2023, which exclusively hosted sequel films.

First, it was Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), then Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and last year, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 (2023) joined Peyton Reed and Nia DaCosta’s movies.

Alongside this wider release strategy change, Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum recently confirmed two important things. The first is that Marvel Studios has a “new system” and will develop more than it produces, meaning entire projects will never see the light of day.

The second sees the introduction of the Marvel Spotlight banner–an initiative to segment the franchise and include projects that more casual viewers can enjoy without understanding the lore of the MCU, Infinity Saga, Multiverse Saga, or otherwise.

Numerous reports suggest that Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) will be a powerful force when it comes to soft-rebooting the franchise through rumored mechanics like “The Anchor” and the use of the Void, as first seen in Michael Waldron’s Loki Season 1.

As fans await the official introduction of Deadpool in the MCU, energy has been poured into another currently airing Marvel project–one that banned the appearance of the Merc with a Mouth.

Deadpool was banned from appearing in a major Disney+ show

Created by Beau DeMayo, X-Men ’97 has been a breath of fresh air in Marvel’s Disney+ output. The show succeeds X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran from 1992 through 1997, and immediately picks up after the climactic events of the finale, which saw the death of Professor Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X.

The critically acclaimed animated series has been praised for its writing and direction, even after it was revealed that DeMayo was no longer involved with the production.

It is not clear why DeMayo was essentially fired from his showrunner position, but Marvel executives called it a parting of the ways.

Still, after the success of X-Men ’97, fans are clamoring for Disney and Marvel to rehire DeMayo and possibly be the scribe for the forthcoming X-Men live-action movie that will inevitably appear in Phase Six or the future Phase Seven.

While DeMayo was not present for any promo in the run-up to X-Men ’97‘s first episode, the writer has been increasingly vocal on social media, discussing episodes with fans during and after they have aired.

Notably, DeMayo weighed in on the emotional mid-season finale episode, “Remember It,” as well as shutting down discourse surrounding the relationship between Rogue (Lenore Zann) and Magneto (Matthew Waterson).

Now, the X-Men ’97 creator has weighed in once again when asked by a fan why Deadpool was not included in X-Men ’97. DeMayo replied, “Yeah, he was off limits.”

Banning certain shows from using specific characters is not unusual at Marvel Studios. Still, this barring of Deadpool in an X-Men TV show when Deadpool is part of that franchise signals that the studio wants Deadpool & Wolverine to be the wise-cracking anti-hero’s official MCU debut.

Despite no Deadpool, X-Men ’97 has included other popular characters such as Spider-Man, Captain America, and Doctor Doom.

Related: First Look at MCU’s New Bucky Following Disappointing Sebastian Stan Removal

There is a chance that Doctor Doom could be heading for the live-action MCU now that The Fantastic Four (2025) is officially underway.

The latest announcement revealed Ralph Ineson cast as Galactus, where he will join the likes of Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/Thing) in Matt Shakman’s feature film.

Related: X-Men’s Professor X Officially Recast With ‘The Walking Dead’ Actor

As for X-Men ’97, the final episode of the series will air on May 15, 2024, on Disney+.

Would you have liked to see Deadpool make an animated appearance in X-Men ’97? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!

Deadpool & Wolverine releases on July 26 and stars 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.

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