Deadpool & Wolverine is set to shake up the MCU in a big way, which might include rectifying a Multiverse problem before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Details of Deadpool & Wolverine‘s plot are being kept under wraps, but there is still plenty to glean from the information that has been drip-fed via the filmmakers and the record-breaking trailer that dropped in February. The movie is set to be the MCU’s only cinematic release of 2024 and finally debuts the eponymous antihero with the franchise’s first R-rated movie.
In the trailer, Deadpool can be seen engaging in a seemingly normal life alongside friends that include a few X-Force members including Peter and Shatterstar. This develops into a run-in with a TVA, setting Deadpool on a course that merges him with the MCU through multiversal shenanigans. Presumably, his being accosted by the TVA has something to do with the fact that the X-Force members present during his Birthday party were supposed to be dead before Deadpool “revived” them through time travel at the end of Deadpool 2.
Whatever brings Deadpool into the TVA offices, the trailer shows that it was not without resistance on Deadpool’s part. This hints at some level of antagonism from the entity that Loki established to be caretakers of the Sacred Timeline, which was also referenced in the exclusive footage unveiled at this year’s CinemaCon. With that in mind, it looks as though Deadpool’s characteristically frivolous jaunt through time may have landed him in hot water – especially as it involved him reviving X-Force members he cared about less than Peter.
The concept of the multiverse and its infinite variants opens the door for the MCU to retcon just about any death that isn’t a nexus being like America Chavez or Scarlet Witch. Should Deadpool be “punished” for his actions in bringing back variants from the past to replace the original, then Deadpool & Wolverine seems to be setting up the fact that anyone capable of time travel can’t circumvent the TVA’s rules surrounding time with reckless abandon. While resurrecting iconic characters like Iron Man may be a tempting prospect, this is actually a net benefit for the MCU.
The problem with reviving long-dead characters in the MCU is that it removes the stakes that typically come with the threat of death. Iron Man, specifically, is a prime example of how death should mean something within the MCU, as his ultimate sacrifice at the end of Avengers: Endgame was the perfect, if painful, ending to Iron Man’s MCU arc. If Avengers: The Kang Dynasty hinges on the multiverse, then it also threatens to undermine this ending if multiversal travelers can simply retcon his death.
Instead, Deadpool & Wolverine may be setting a precedent that prevents this kind of thing from occurring before the multiverse is placed front and center in the next pivotal Avengers movie. There are other ways that Iron Man could be reintroduced to the MCU in the context of the Multiverse, but ensuring that it is not the same Tony Stark who died at the end of Avengers: Endgame is an important caveat. Otherwise, the MCU risks diminishing its most compelling stories and making He Who Remains’ designs for the Sacred Timeline the truly preferable state of affairs regarding a satisfying narrative.