DEADPOOL 3 Director Shawn Levy Confirms Threequel Will Explore "Fox-Marvel Legacy"

DEADPOOL 3 Director Shawn Levy Confirms Threequel Will Explore "Fox-Marvel Legacy"

Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy has confirmed that the upcoming MCU-set threequel will not ignore the now defunct 20th Century Fox era of Marvel-based films...

By MarkCassidy - Sep 21, 2023 06:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool 3 is going to be a first for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in more ways than one. Not only will the threequel be the first ever Marvel Studios R-rated release, but it will also incorporate several characters from the now defunct 20th Century Fox era of Marvel-based movies into the MCU (though it's worth mentioning that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did feature Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier in an alternate universe-set sequence).

The movie's main duo, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and Logan (Hugh Jackman), obviously started out under the Fox-Marvel banner, and even though they will officially become part of the MCU in Deadpool's latest adventure, director Shawn Levy has confirmed that the "Fox legacy" will be "part of our storytelling."

"Deadpool and Wolverine are iconic Marvel characters; more specifically, iconic Marvel-of-the-Fox-era characters," said the filmmaker during an interview with Total Film"We’re not going to pretend: 'Oh, we snap our fingers, and suddenly that Fox legacy doesn’t exist, and it shaped a lot of what we now know as the MCU.' Fox also shaped Ryan’s career, Hugh’s career and my career. So there’s a lot of history there, and there’s a lot of Marvel history at Fox. And certainly that’s a part of our storytelling."

There have been numerous rumors relating to certain characters making cameo appearances, not only from the X-Men and Fantastic Four movies, but even the likes of Channing Tatum as Gambit - who never actually got to make his debut before the plug was pulled on his solo movie.

So far, the only confirmed appearance outside of Reynolds and Jackman is Jennifer Garner's Elektra, but if she's involved, you can bet that at least some of the other names we heard will also be showing up.

Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Karan Soni (Dopinder), Leslie Uggams (Blind Al), Rob Delaney (Peter), Brianna Hildebrand (Negasonic Teenage Warhead) And Shioli Kutsuna (Yukio) will all return as their respective characters, and they'll be joined by franchise newcomers Emma Corrin (The Crown), who is believed to be playing Cassandra Nova, and Matthew Macfadyen (Succession).

Specific lot details remain a mystery for now, but Wade and Wolvie are expected to find themselves (trapped?) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A recent report claimed that Loki's TVA, including Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Miss Minutes, will be involved. We have also been led to believe that Wade's MCU debut will be far more integral to Phase 5 and beyond than we first realized.

Deadpool 3 is set to hit theaters on September 6, 2024.

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bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/21/2023, 6:57 AM
I assume Deadpool wil be the Fox version and not a new one, so as such the Fox legacy will inevitably be part of the movie as well.

As for Fox-universe Deadpool is from I feel that's different from the other movies. Then again, the Fox movies were always a mess timeline-wise, so maybe they just ignore all the inconsistencies and chronological errors.
BraxtonHicks
BraxtonHicks - 9/21/2023, 2:22 PM
@bkmeijer1 - McAvoy or or Stewart?
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/21/2023, 4:31 PM
@BraxtonHicks - seeing how McAvoy showed up in DP2, I'm inclined to say McAvoy. Although it might as well be Stewart, he returned for a minor role in Doctor Strange 2.

Or better yet, why not both? My guess is that DP3 will be a roadtrip through the multiverse, so could be both
BraxtonHicks
BraxtonHicks - 9/22/2023, 11:23 AM
@bkmeijer1 - well these timelines are so confusing.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/22/2023, 12:42 PM
@BraxtonHicks - it sure is. Can't wait for all of Marvel live-action to be part of he same singular universe
WakandanQueen
WakandanQueen - 9/21/2023, 6:59 AM
It's cute that they're doing that, certainly a better send off than Dark Phoenix (which, to be fair, wasn't intended as a proper one).

But I really don't want the rebooted X-Men to focus as much on Wolverine, or even Professor X and Magneto for that matter. Give us proper Strom, Scott, Jean, Rogue, Gambit.
ChrisRed
ChrisRed - 9/21/2023, 7:16 AM
This movie will probably be a proper send off for the Fox movies. Even Elektra. I wonder if any of the F4 characters will appear...

Hopefully a lot actors from the X-Men movies will appear for one final round before being replaced by new and younger actors in the MCU.

My guess is that only Reynolds' Deadpool will make it into the MCU while everyone else is replaced in future movies which is how it should be imo
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/21/2023, 4:33 PM
@ChrisRed - wait, Elektra is in this?

Would be fun to see the 2000s Fantastic Four (or even just a few members) though. If Mr. Fantastic and Professor X can share the screen in Doctor Strange, then Deadpool 3 shouldn't be impossible
bobevanz
bobevanz - 9/21/2023, 7:32 AM
Ah so the events will be contained, then at the end of the movie it'll be like nothing happened lmao
bobevanz
bobevanz - 9/21/2023, 7:35 AM
Nostalgia. Bait. Heavy loaded opening week, with crappy drop off we'll see this break even just like the rest of mid Marvel since Endgame
Scarilian
Scarilian - 9/21/2023, 7:46 AM
@bobevanz -
I doubt it'll have a heavy loaded opening weekend. Similar to Endgame, Logan was the ending of Wolverine. It was when people let go of the character. Deadpool 2 also was not a good film, receiving a generally mixed/negative reaction and being viewed as not creatively interesting as the first film.

Now we are onto Deadpool 3, the only thing it has that they are advertising is the idea of returning characters from a franchise that was cancelled because of poor reception, of which we know the studio has no respect for given their handling of Professor Xavier in Multiverse of Madness and the nostalgia bait reveal of fake Quicksilver in WandaVision.
Jrazz
Jrazz - 9/21/2023, 7:56 AM
@Scarilian - You're misremembering. Deadpool 2 has an 84% RT, an A Cinemascore, and was the highest grossing X-Men movie of all time.

An enormous success by every metric.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 9/21/2023, 8:38 AM
@Jrazz -
"Deadpool 2 has an 84% RT, an A Cinemascore"
Yet no conversation, nobody was begging for a sequel unlike the first film when everyone was left interested to see how they'd tackle Cable and later had discussions about how they would parody the idea of the actor playing also playing Thanos.

"was the highest grossing X-Men movie of all time."
It made roughly the same as the first film, generating only $3.8m more at the box office despite having a budget of $52m more, almost 2x the original film. As such it was financially not as successful as it made less profit.
CoHost
CoHost - 9/21/2023, 7:42 AM
Fun Fact: Brian Cox and Danny Huston were both Stryker and in Succession, even sharing some scenes together. This movie has a Succession star in Matthew Macfayden (Tom). If Deadpool points this out, it'd be the most obvious joke they could make.
MosquitoFarmer
MosquitoFarmer - 9/21/2023, 11:10 AM
@CoHost - I think it's too complex to point out, and requires most folks to have seen Succession, which they won't have. A quick wisecrack could be made, but it's anything but an obvious joke, and setting it up really doesn't seem worth it.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 9/21/2023, 7:44 AM
How creatively bankrupt must you be as a company where you actively decide to revisit a property you have ended twice before?

This is nothing but cheap nostalgia bait and that's all that is driving this. Whereas the original concept of bringing in Wolverine to a Deadpool film was focused on exploring Deadpool's mindset, his desire to be a hero, his mixture of envy and desire for friendship with Wolverine - now it's just cheap nostalgia.

They purposefully altered filming schedules, knowing the strike was likely, to get out an image of Wolverine wearing the suit with the destroyed Fox logo in the background. Sure that likely factors into the movie, but it was all done for the sake of trying to use nostalgia and the visuals of those characters to promote a film they knew was going to be delayed for a minimum of a year.
CoHost
CoHost - 9/21/2023, 7:59 AM
@Scarilian - "This is nothing but cheap nostalgia bait and that's all that is driving this."

To be fair, so was No Way Home. That movie does not hold up.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 9/21/2023, 8:46 AM
@CoHost -
Agreed, though it worked with NWH because the prior franchises were all under Sony and was a large audience of pre-existing fans.

It won't work here because we already had this film before in 'Days Of Future Past' and that made $746m during the exploding popularity of superhero media in 2014. Deadpool 3 won't have the same reception as the previous films. By the time Deadpool 3 comes out it'll be 2025... the Superhero boom has long since passed.
Variant
Variant - 9/21/2023, 10:49 AM
@Scarilian - Your "predictions" don't seem to be rooted in anything with merit. It just seems like you personally want it to fail so you think it will...
Scarilian
Scarilian - 9/21/2023, 1:35 PM
@Variant -
They are rooted in fact :p

I remarked on how the previous time they did this was during an explosion of Superhero popularity whereas now we are in a decline, which is accurate, Days of Future Past brought legacy Fox-Verse characters and associated them with newer heroes (younger counterparts).

I remarked on how NWH appealed to franchises that were received well by the audience (Each film consistently making $700m+ also) compared to the X-Men franchise where many films were received negatively at the time.

I also covered the idea that an ending for these characters has been handled several times before: X-Men 3: The Last Stand, Logan, Days Of Future Past, Dark Phoenix. People have seen a fair well to these characters multiple times, do we need another that is likely also not going to be a proper fair well as they'll likely use them again for Secret Wars?

McMurdo
McMurdo - 9/21/2023, 3:27 PM
@Scarilian - Yes totally won't work /rolls eyes
Scarilian
Scarilian - 9/23/2023, 5:37 PM
@McMurdo -
The only reason they are stretching back to the franchises of the past is because they destroyed the franchise they currently have.

They want another Endgame and because of learning the wrong lesson from Spider-man: NWH they think nostalgia for the previous films is so high that they can just fill it with cameos rather than well written characters being developed.
Variant
Variant - 9/29/2023, 10:00 AM
@Scarilian - I don't fully agree with you. But I will be fair here and say I do agree with some of what you're saying.

To say they've destroyed their current franchise is pretty far from any truth. Even with some of their Saga 2 shortcomings, they're still the best to do it. They're the most consistent CBM franchise of all time AND the most successful film studio of all time by MILES. And yes, film studio in general, not just for CBMs.

My next point would be that, there's just expectation bias here. If Thor 2 came out now, it would be rated worse than Eternals. (NO WAY is Thor 2 a better movie than Eternals.) And it's because Marvel Studios raised the bar so high, they're challenged to compete with their own work. THEY are their own competition. But even with some misses here and there, they're still net positive by a good margin.

Now, with that said, I do agree they're learning the wrong lesson with NWH. You said it perfectly there. They tried it again with DS2 with a little more experimentation (nostalgia + fan cast + variants + whatever we want to think of Black Bolt) and it was a bit mid of an experience. Don't get me wrong, seeing Prof X in his yellow hover chair was cool. But I would've much rather it have been a more organic experience than a "reach to previous character from another franchise". Same with Wolverine. That suit is great. And Hugh is great. But I'd like to move on to a definitive MCU version! The multiverse shenanigans has wore out its welcome.

Anyway, that's my take. I am hopeful Marvel Studios will figure out how to get this thing to stay on the rails. But I do agree there is some concern with them learning the wrong lessons.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 9/21/2023, 7:53 AM
Oh ffs. Can we just burn the Fox-verse to the ground already? It’s like a cockroach atp

EZBeast
EZBeast - 9/21/2023, 8:15 AM
@PlusUltra - no because you have to memeber all dem berries!
Variant
Variant - 9/21/2023, 10:54 AM
@PlusUltra - Seriously. Marvel Studios isn't going about this at all how I once imagined they would. Which is, you get the rights to the characters, you give it enough time for the old character iterations to fade in people's memories, then you introduce them into the MCU organically and as your own, from scratch.

The multiversal shit is really starting to annoy me. I still have a little bit of hope that they surprise me and make this work somehow. But creatively, there is just so much potential to muddy this up if it's not done perfectly.

I'm rooting for Marvel Studios to get this right. But I can't say I'm not nervous.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/21/2023, 4:35 PM
@PlusUltra - what if that is exactly what Marvel is gonna do. My guess it's either Deadpool Kills the Fox Universe, or an incursion is gonna end the Fox Universe
GhostDog
GhostDog - 9/21/2023, 7:55 AM
Of course it is…
Forthas
Forthas - 9/21/2023, 8:07 AM
They should not have Deadpool interact with the other MCU characters in the MCU timeline and universe. They should have him in a pocket universe where other heroes periodically drop in and out of it.
VictorAlonzo
VictorAlonzo - 9/21/2023, 10:28 AM
@Forthas - That's actually a good idea. How about having Deadpool on Murderworld?
EZBeast
EZBeast - 9/21/2023, 8:14 AM
Memberberries!
CoHost
CoHost - 9/21/2023, 8:27 AM
@EZBeast - Must be new. It's been like that for 8 years.
EZBeast
EZBeast - 9/21/2023, 8:28 AM
@CoHost - oh I’m very familiar with this but I think this is how they should title the article.
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 9/21/2023, 8:31 AM
Cyclops better be the main X-Men in the rebooted franchise. He can be captain Americanish and wolverine can play the side character for a change when in the X-Men but obviously give hime a solo.


They can be the tony and cap of the new MCU🥲
mountainman
mountainman - 9/21/2023, 8:34 AM
@AmazingFILMporg - I hope it’s Cyclops and Storm in a sort of Cap / Iron Man dichotomy personally.
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