Deadpool 3 went through several different iterations before becoming Deadpool & Wolverine, with Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin originally hired by Marvel Studios to pen the screenplay in 2020.
Later, Deadpool and Deadpool 2 scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick boarded the threequel alongside Zeb Wells (star Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy were also credited as writers).
It's no huge surprise then that the movie's story went through multiple changes, and we now have details on Deadpool & Wolverine's original direction which may explain some of those very early plot leaks.
"The movie was supposed to start with the TVA arresting Wade for messing with Cable's time machine," explains scooper @MyTimeToShineH. "While he's in their prison, he overhears that the TVA is looking to recruit Anchor Beings from across the multiverse to create an army to fight the Kangs, and they were supposed to be searching for a version of Logan."
"Wade decides to escape and find that Ultimate Logan before they do, bringing him to his world to be his best friend forever since he tried to be BFFs with him for years but the one from his world is now dead."
"From there, the plot is pretty similar to what we got, with them traveling through the multiverse (which would also give a more logical explanation for the scene at Avengers Tower with Happy Hogan), In the end, they still end up in The Void, and from there, it mostly follows the same path."
"Johnny Storm talking shit about Cassandra Nova was the original ending," they add, "while the original post-credits scene was supposed to be Deadpool returning to Avengers Tower and finally getting to meet Tony Stark, who rejects him."
Principal photography on Deadpool & Wolverine began in May 2023, meaning Marvel Studios had plenty of time to pivot in the wake of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania's poor performance and Jonathan Majors' arrest.
We've heard the idea for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was for the TVA's army of Multiversal heroes to battle the Council of Kangs, with Deadpool & Wolverine clearly meant as a stepping stone to that. Instead, we got a standalone team-up and a rogue TVA agent in Mr. Paradox who believed he was protecting the Sacred Timeline by killing dying branches with the Time Ripper.
That's unlikely to have much of an impact on Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, though the survival of Earth-100005 very well might.
As for Robert Downey Jr.'s scrapped cameo, we've heard that was in the works but the actor didn't want to return unless it was for something meaningful (which we now know to be a reunion with the Russo Brothers as Doctor Doom).
Deadpool & Wolverine is now playing in theaters.