Marvel Scraps ‘Deadpool 3’, Reboots MCU Instead

In July, Marvel Studios will seemingly reboot the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and who knows what the future holds after the event?

Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Problem Saga

Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe–the MCU–was once a fortified stronghold of superhero action entertainment. Like any franchise, the MCU has had some misses during its 16-year history, but overall, the blockbuster giant has been well-received by audiences and critics alike.

But long gone are the days of continued success. In 2023, Marvel Studios released its two poorest-performing films to date. First, there was Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), which, despite opening to a positive $104 million (an Ant-Man series best), bombed in its second week at movie theaters and was trashed by fans.

Not even James Gunn’s beloved Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) could resurrect a consistent and reliable viewership, as following Vol. 3‘s box office success, Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels (2023) became the worst-performing MCU movie of all time, netting just $206 million globally on a massive $270 million budget. The Marvels‘ performance was a far cry from Captain Marvel‘s (2019) billion-dollar takings just five years ago.

It seems the volume of movies heading to theaters, paired with the near-constant stream of TV shows on The Walt Disney Company’s streaming service Disney+, has contributed to the lack of interest and apparent decreasing quality of the MCU.

However, Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger seems to think superhero fatigue is not real and that Marvel should just focus on making good movies–“They want great films. And if you build it great, they will come, and there are countless examples of that,” Iger said at the San Francisco Morgan Stanley conference in early March. This came after Iger said that Marvel does not need to be making as many sequels. The past few years have been packed with second, third, and even fourth installments in certain series, think Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).

That is changing, though. Apart from Captain America: Brave New World (formerly New World Order), the MCU’s future Multiverse Saga slate is refreshingly new. Upcoming is the likes of Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), Blade (2025), Thunderbolts (2025), and The Fantastic Four (2025). And could this be a sign? Could the fact that only Deadpool & Wolverine airing this year signal a reboot is incoming? Fans know that Deadpool is recruited by the Time Variance Authority (TVA) to rectify the timeline, with Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson, Deadpool himself, saying, “Your little cinematic universe is about to change forever.”

Deadpool 3 Scrapped to Reboot the MCU?

Back in 2019, The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century and, in doing so, regained the rights to a number of popular Marvel figures. The Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and Deadpool all returned to Marvel Studios for them to use as they wish. The Fantastic Four are coming in 2025, led by Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Human Torch, and Thing, respectively.

As for the X-Men, there are whispers of the mutant squad making their way into live-action. For now, though, audiences can tune in to the sequel the beloved X-Men: The Animated Series, X-Men ’97, on Disney+.

Ryan Reynolds already had two fan-favorite Deadpool films under his belt: Deadpool (2016), directed by Tim Miller, and Deadpool 2 (2018), directed by David Leitch. In July, Shawn Levy will helm Deadpool & Wolverine, and both Reynolds and Hugh Jackman will reprise their respective Marvel roles as Wade Wilson/Deadpool and Logan/Wolverine.

However, before Disney got their hands on the franchise, another Deadpool 3 was in motion, produced, in part, by Marvel Entertainment. There were two plans underway before they ended up being scrapped when Disney took over. The first was a spinoff X-Force movie, and the second was the official Deadpool 3. Back in 2017, CinemaBlend spoke to Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick about Deadpool’s future.

Related: Fans Outraged at Disney’s Decision To Resurrect Dead Avenger: Report

“Yeah, Deadpool 3 will be different from X-Force. So I think we’ll be able to take two paths,” Reese said. “One is where we’re launching something bigger, but then another where we’re contracting and staying personal and small. So I think [it’s the] best of all worlds, really.”

Earlier this year, fans got an insight into what that “personal and small” vibe would have been. Dopinder actor Karan Soni told ScreenRant that Deadpool 3 would have seen the “Merc with a Mouth” travel to the North Pole to save Christmas. It’s clear after scrapping Deadpool 3 due to the acquisition, Marvel has shifted priorities and has instead turned Deadpool 3 into Deadpool & Wolverine in what feels like a soft reboot of the MCU.

According to scooper Daniel Richtman, and shared by Comic Book Movie, Deadpool & Wolverine will bring a new understanding to the Multiverse.

“[Deadpool & Wolverine] will introduce something known as “The Anchor.” His explanation isn’t the clearest, but as far as we can tell, this means that when a Multiversal Variant is killed (presumably in the Battleworld-like area from the teaser and set photos), their world begins to decay until it vanishes from existence.”

Teamed with the knowledge that Loki is now the one in charge of the branched timelines as well as the Sacred Timeline, and from the slithers of information gleaned from the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer itself, it suggests that a reboot of some sort is happening. There is literally a demolished 21st Century Fox logo in the upcoming Marvel movie, after all. As we head towards the next Avengers chapters–Avengers 5 (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027)—Deadpool & Wolverine may be the precursor to what type of MCU fans will be heading into.

Related: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Has Revealed Its Villain

Deadpool & Wolverine is set to be released on July 26, 2024. The new MCU movie stars Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine, Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova (Charles Xavier’s evil twin sister), Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Rob Delaney as Peter, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Matthew Macfadyen as a TVA agent, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce/Pyro, and Jennifer Garner as Elektra Natchios. Shawn Levy is directing from a script by Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, and himself. Watch the trailer here:

Will you be watching Deadpool & Wolverine? Or would you have preferred the original Deadpool 3 plan? 

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