Avengers: Endgame was the end of an era for the MCU and saw us forced to bid farewell to a few fan-favourite characters. Among them were Chris Evans' Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man.
The latter sacrificed himself to turn Thanos and his army to dust, while Steve Rogers got a happy ending by growing old with Peggy Carter in the past. When he returned to the present, Cap was an old man and passed the shield to Sam Wilson (while it's never been confirmed, we've since been led to believe the hero has died).
The expectation is that both Evans and Downey will reprise their respective roles - likely as Variants - in the upcoming Avengers movies. Talking to Discussing Film, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige shared how Deadpool & Wolverine has set the stage to potentially bring back fallen heroes.
"That’s the key, right? How do you do it in a way that maintains what has come before, and in a great way? And we’ve been spending, you know, the last two-plus years figuring that out for Wolverine," he explained. "So, what’s to come? We’ll see."
"We’re just proud that we, I think, have figured it out for Wolverine. I think Hugh’s appearance and starring role in [Deadpool & Wolverine] is a great sign that it can be done — if great care is taken."
Logan was a definitive end for Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, but the threequel makes Wolverine's return work and respects what came before. That's clearly given Marvel Studios the confidence to do the same with Captain America and Iron Man (both Feige and the Russos have been adamant about not resurrecting Tony Stark).
Rumour has it Downey will play a villainous Iron Man Variant, potentially filling the role played by Doctor Doom in Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic's Secret Wars comic book series. Remember, we still haven't met whoever made those Ultron drones on Earth-838!
As for Captain America, Evans could similarly return as an antagonist, though we'd be a lot happier seeing the Star Spangled Avenger stepping up to lead his fellow heroes again.
You can read our full review of Deadpool & Wolverine here, but we concluded by saying, "A contender for the best superhero movie ever, Deadpool & Wolverine is two hours of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman proving they were born to play these roles and, crucially, be part of the MCU. It’s a f***ing masterpiece."
Deadpool & Wolverine arrives in theaters on July 26.