Marvel Studios is set to catch up with 20th Century Fox’s mutant characters in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, but the project could also explain the origins of mutants in the MCU proper. Ryan Reynolds and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige confirmed that Wade Wilson’s Deadpool would be joining the MCU on a permanent basis after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox’s properties in 2019. This allowed mutant characters to begin to emerge during the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, but while this process has been slow so far, Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine will mark a huge shift in the MCU’s status quo.
Deadpool & Wolverine’s first trailer released in February 2024, and revealed more about the details of Ryan Reynolds’ first adventure in the MCU proper. The trailer confirmed that Deadpool will be recruited by the Time Variance Authority for a mysterious mission that will bring him to the Void at the end of time, and teased several exciting cameo appearances in Deadpool & Wolverine by characters from 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise. Despite exploring Fox’s X-Men, Deadpool & Wolverine will be firmly set in the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, and could have a huge impact on the future of the MCU’s mutants.
One theory suggests that Deadpool will be time traveling in Deadpool & Wolverine, potentially making his way to various places throughout the MCU’s history, similarly to the Avengers’ Time Heist adventure in Avengers: Endgame. This theory has been informed by several scenes in Deadpool & Wolverine’s trailer, which appear to show Ryan Reynolds’ Merc-with-a-Mouth in locations from notable past Marvel Studios projects. This perhaps includes the snowy Sokovian forest from the opening moments of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Hulk’s jaw-like bed on Sakaar from Thor: Ragnarok, and Madripoor, a location first explored in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
The idea of Wade Wilson time traveling throughout the MCU’s history may hint at him changing certain events from Marvel Studios’ past, just as he did in Deadpool 2’s post-credits scenes. This could provide the perfect opportunity for Marvel Studios to gloss over or rectify controversial, disappointing or confusing choices from the MCU’s previous projects, including Quicksilver’s death in Age of Ultron, the weakening of the Hulk after Thor: Ragnarok, and perhaps the events of Thor: Love and Thunder, Secret Invasion, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and more. However, Deadpool’s time travel antics may have larger consequences for the MCU.
The film rights to Marvel Comics’ mutants and the X-Men team reverted to Marvel Studios following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, allowing these exciting characters to be introduced into the MCU. Nevertheless, Marvel Studios’ integration of mutants into the MCU has been incredibly slow, with only a few mutants confirmed in the MCU’s main continuity. The first mutant to appear in the MCU was a variant of Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, who appeared as a member of Earth-838’s Illuminati in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and several more mutants have been introduced since then.
So far, the likes of Ms. Marvel’s Kamala Khan, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s Namor and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s Mr. Immortal have been confirmed to be mutants in the MCU’s main continuity. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law also teased the existence of the MCU’s official Wolverine, which hinted at the potential introduction of the X-Men, but Marvel Studios hasn’t yet mentioned the team’s debut. Heading into Deadpool & Wolverine’s release, not much is known about the culture of mutants in the MCU, but one theory may explain why this is the case, and could have major implications for the MCU’s future.
If the theory of Deadpool’s time traveling throughout the MCU’s history in Deadpool & Wolverine turns out to be true, it’s possible he could make huge changes to the MCU’s timeline, some of which could seriously impact the current and future world of the franchise. One of these huge changes could be the emergence of the X-Gene, a characteristic of mutant genes that gives the species their extraordinary abilities. It’s unclear exactly how this would happen, but Deadpool could travel back in time and somehow catalyze the X-Gene, which could allow mutants to present themselves in the MCU’s current continuity.
