The Fox era of X-Men movies is over following the release of Dark Phoenix in 2019 and The New Mutants the year after, but this property isn’t done getting attention on the big screen by a long shot. Not only is the Marvel Cinematic Universe bringing in the main X-Men team at some point, but Ryan Reynolds is on deck to reprise Wade Wilson in Deadpool 3. So just how is the MCU going to throw mutants into the mix? Rob Liefeld, the co-creator of Deadpool, believes he already has it figured out.
CinemaBlend’s own Law Sharma had the opportunity to chat with Rob Liefeld on the red carpet for the Spider-Man: No Way Home world premiere, and here’s what the comic book creator had to say when asked about how he thinks Deadpool will be brought into the MCU:
Doctor Strange, right? Hello! The Eye of Agamotto… boom, there’s Deadpool. Dude, they’re doing it tonight. They’re showing everyone the way. Portal, portal, everything’s going to be portal. Everyone’s going to be, ‘How’d I get here?’ ‘You got here through a portal!’ It’s the X-Men, they came through a portal! Everyone’s going to come through a portal. Rob Liefeld says everyone is coming through the portal. You know it. I know it. C’mon.
So as Rob Liefeld sees it, rather than Deadpool and the X-Men already existing within the main MCU reality, they’ll be pulled in from another universe through a magical portal, whether it’s conjured by Doctor Strange or some other magical being. Spider-Man: No Way Home is indeed delving into the multiverse thanks to Spider-Man villains from other realities entering the MCU after something going wrong with a spell Doctor Strange casts to make the world forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. With No Way Home about to arrive in theaters, it won’t be much longer until we learn if the events of that movie will pave the way for the X-Men property to be set up in this superhero franchise.
Going the multiversal route would be the easiest way to set up Deadpool and the X-Men in the MCU. As it stands now, there hasn’t been any mention of mutants in the MCU, and even if an event like the Blip did somehow cause them to come into existence, it’d be a stretch to say there’s now a superhero team full of them operating in secret. By having mutants originate from another universe, they can have a well-established history without the audience having to be clued in on every little thing that’s happened to them. That also provides extra fodder for Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and his fourth wall-breaking shenanigans whenever he returns.
In fact, if the MCU really wanted to, it could bring back as many people from the original X-Men film franchise to join Ryan Reynolds in reprising their roles. That said, it seems likelier that the core X-Men team will be rebooted to give the property a fresh cinematic start. After watching people like Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Patrick Stewart’s Professor X for nearly many years, it’d be nice to have new interpretations of these characters to enjoy. And again, if that provides more material for Deadpool to riff with, we’re all the better for it.
For now, Marvel Studios is keeping tight-lipped about its plans for the X-Men, and all we know about Deadpool 3 (which will be R-rated, like its predecessors) is that it’s being written by Bob’s Burgers duo Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin. As always, keep your eyes locked on CinemaBlend for all the biggest news items concerning upcoming Marvel movies.
