The first teaser trailer for Deadpool 3 has arrived, and now we know the actual title of this long-awaited sequel - Deadpool & Wolverine. That’s right, the two biggest money-makers in Fox’s X-Men universe are finally joining forces for their own superhero buddy team-up movie. Though you wouldn’t necessarily know that from watching the trailer, as we see very little of Hugh Jackman’s Logan.
So what did we learn from this first Deadpool 3 footage? What is the movie actually about? Why is Deadpool being kidnapped by the TVA? How does Wolverine fit in? Let’s break down what we do and don’t know right now, and take a closer look at a few key cameos sprinkled throughout the trailer.
Deadpool Meets the TVA
The trailer opens by showing us what Ryan Reynolds’ hero has been up to since 2018’s Deadpool 2. He seems to have retired to enjoy a quiet life with Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa and their friends. We see most of the old Deadpool crew in this scene, including Karan Soni’s Dopinder, Leslie Uggams’ Blind Al, Brianna Hildebrand’s Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colossus.
We even see some of Wade’s old X-Force crew here, like Rob Delaney’s Peter and Lewis Tan’s Shatterstar. You might remember that X-Force was slaughtered during the course of Deadpool 2, so we’re guessing Wade mucked about with time to bring them back after saving Vanessa at the end of the movie.
With all the time travel shenanigans that went on at the end of Deadpool 2, it’s not necessarily surprising to see the TVA banging on Wade’s door. These time cops were first introduced in the Loki series on Disney+. At first, their mission was to safeguard the one “Sacred Timeline,” carrying out the mandate of the Kang variant He Who Remains. But as of the end of Loki: Season 2, He Who Remains is dead, Loki himself sits on the throne of time, and the multiverse is flourishing again.
Again, we’re not surprised to see the TVA coming after Deadpool. But what is surprising is that they don’t seem to be trying to arrest him for time crimes. Matthew Macfadyen’s character, a TVA agent named Paradox, actually seems interested in recruiting Deadpool to help the TVA. Something ails the MCU, and only the self-proclaimed “Marvel Jesus” can set things right. This sequel is definitely shaping up to be the most meta Deadpool movie yet.
What exactly has the TVA spooked so badly they’d turn to a wild card like Deadpool for help? We’ll get to that in a minute, but first let’s turn to the adamantium-clawed elephant in the room.
How Does Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Fit In?
The movie may be titled Deadpool & Wolverine, but we don’t actually see much Wolverine in the teaser. In fact, we only get two quick shots of Wolverine from behind. We first glimpse Logan midway through the trailer, as Deadpool approaches him in what looks to be a casino.
Here, Logan is wearing the white tuxedo that’s synonymous with his cover identity Patch. This scene could be taking place in Madripoor, the seedy island nation that’s one of Wolverine’s favorite stomping grounds in the comics. We already saw the MCU version of Madripoor in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but Wolverine was nowhere to be found there.
The trailer ends with another shot of Wolverine from behind, this time wearing the iconic blue and yellow costume from the comics. It’s a little strange the trailer doesn’t show us a frontal view of Logan here, given that we’ve already seen plenty of this costume thanks to the many set photos that have leaked out. Regardless, this quick shot makes it clear that Logan and Wade don’t exactly get along in the movie. Not that we ever expected them to.
The biggest question right now is which version of Wolverine we’re seeing. Reynolds and Jackman previously confirmed that Deadpool 3 won’t be undoing the events of 2017’s Logan, but is this a slightly younger version of that doomed Wolverine? Is this the same Logan from the mainline X-Men movies, or a brand new variant from a different timeline?
The MCU has already established a trend of introducing new, more comic book-inspired versions of the Fox X-Men cast. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gave us a new Professor X in the yellow hover chair, and The Marvels ended with a post-credits cameo of Kelsey Grammer’s Beast. Given that this Wolverine is wearing the yellow spandex that Cyclops so famously mocked back in 2000’s X-Men, we may be looking at a brand new version of Jackman’s iconic hero.
For that matter, are the two shots of Wolverine in the teaser the same character, or is Patch a Wolverine variant from a different branch of the multiverse? Maybe the film should be called Deadpool & Wolverines.
The Villain of Deadpool & Wolverine
So who exactly is the villain of Deadpool & Wolverine? Which Marvel baddie is foolish enough to take on these two deadly killers? The trailer doesn’t necessarily answer that question, though it does provide a few tantalizing clues.
All we know for sure is that The Crown’s Emma Corrin has been cast as a major villain in the film. But which one? The answer may be lurking in this quick shot, where we see a bald figure seated from behind.
This character looks a lot like Professor X, though they look too young to be Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier. Maybe James McAvoy is returning as the younger Professor X? That’s possible, but a different theory is currently making the rounds. This may be Corrin’s character we’re seeing. What if she’s playing Cassandra Nova?
Cassandra Nova is Xavier’s twin sister. Sort of. She’s actually a parasitic, psychic lifeform known as a mummudrai. She copied Xavier’s body in the womb and became the dark antithesis of everything he represents. She even tried to strangle Chuck with his own umbilical cord. These days, Cassandra Nova is dedicated to destroying everything her brother holds dear. She even built a Super-Sentinel she used to massacre the people of the island nation of Genosha, drastically reducing the world’s mutant population in the process.
In short, Cassandra Nova is a real nasty piece of work, and someone we could easily see being the main villain of Deadpool & Wolverine. But does this mean we’ll see Stewart or McAvoy play Professor X again? We’ll have to wait and see.
There’s another interesting theory behind Deadpool 3’s villain. Some fans think Doctor Doom may be making his MCU debut, as we see a cloaked, masked figure in this shot who bears more than a passing resemblance to the iconic Marvel villain.
Could this be Doom or one of his Doombots? There’s actually even more reason to believe Doom has some connection to the plot of Deadpool & Wolverine, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
Finally, we also know that some familiar villains from the classic X-Men movies are making their return in this sequel. We see Aaron Stanford’s Pyro in one shot, and leaked set photos have spoiled some of the other returning characters.
Whether Cassandra Nova or Doom is the main villain here, they appear to have assembled a team to take on Wade and Logan.
Deadpool 3’s Secret Wars Connection
Deadpool & Wolverine is the latest Marvel movie to delve into the concept of the multiverse. We’ve got iconic X-Men characters making the jump to the MCU, and the TVA is back to police the timeline. All of this adds up to a movie that looks to have a major impact on the ongoing Multiverse Saga.
In fact, Deadpool & Wolverine may be more important to the build-up to Avengers: Secret Wars than anyone guessed. The trailer actually features a small but crucial Secret Wars Easter egg. At the end, when we see Wade lying on the ground, there’s a battered comic book half buried in the sand next to him. That comic, as best we can tell, is 2015’s Secret Wars #5, featuring an image of Doctor Doom as the God Emperor of Battleworld. Maybe the idea of Doom actually appearing in a Deadpool movie isn’t so far-fetched.
How can a Deadpool movie set up the epic climax of the Multiverse Saga? It may all tie into why the TVA needs Wade’s help in the first place. We know that the Merc With a Mouth has some experience hopping through time and changing the past. The TVA may need that particular set of skills to stave off a larger threat to the multiverse. When reality itself is under threat, it probably helps to have a free agent who breaks the fourth wall and knows he’s inside a superhero movie.
Deadpool 3 could be dabbling with the concept of Incursions. As explored in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Incursions happen when the barrier between two universes is breached, threatening both with complete annihilation. In the trailer we see Wade fighting in front of what appears to be a giant 20th Century Fox logo. Is this a clue that Fox’s X-Men universe is the latest to be threatened with destruction? Is that where Corrin’s Cassandra Nova comes in, as the villains of the X-Men universe make one last, desperate attempt to survive the destruction of their reality?
This would certainly give Deadpool something worth fighting for in the new movie. He’s finally achieved peace and happiness, only to find his entire world coming to an end thanks to an impending cosmic disaster. Can he and Logan save their universe? Will they leave their world behind and permanently cross over into the MCU?
The conflict in Deadpool 3 may be a prelude of things to come later in the Multiverse Saga. The multiverse is coming apart at the seams, and the TVA needs help containing the fallout. The Secret Wars comic is a reminder that all of this ends with the multiverse collapsing and Battleworld emerging from the ruins. When that happens, the Avengers may need Deadpool’s help to set things right again. That might just make Deadpool & Wolverine the most important movie of Phase 5. Who would have guessed?
What caught your eye in the first Deadpool & Wolverine trailer? Do you think Cassandra Nova is about to make her MCU debut, or is another villain at play here? Let us know your theories in the comments below.
For more on Deadpool & Wolverine, find out how the sequel could save the entire MCU and brush up on every Marvel movie and show in development.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
