The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s multiverse will take center stage once again in the forthcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, though the film will likely avoid some of the worst potential multiverse-related mistakes if Kevin Feige’s words to Hugh Jackman are any indication. Deadpool & Wolverine will see Ryan Reynolds’s Merc with a Mouth and Hugh Jackman’s beloved Wolverine return to the big screen, only now as MCU heroes, thanks to the former’s antics now taking him across the multiverse. However, the return of Jackman’s Wolverine in particular could potentially risk the impact of his previous performance.
2017’s Logan was initially intended to be High Jackman’s final performance as the titular mutant hero. The aging Wolverine went on one final adventure with Sir Patrick Stewart’s Professor X which ended with both of their deaths, though not without Laura – known as X-23 in the comics – being set up as Logan’s successor. The film was a critical success that allowed Hugh Jackman to bow out of the iconic Wolverine role on a high note after 17 years of appearances throughout the Fox X-Men franchise. That is, until Jackman was announced to be reprising the role in Deadpool & Wolverine.
As revealed in the summer 2024 issue of Empire, Kevin Feige, surprisingly, did not want to immediately integrate Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine into the MCU following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox:
Kevin Feige had the perfect opportunity to use the multiverse as a means to include a massive bit of fanservice at the end of the MCU’s Infinity Saga or early on in the Multiverse Saga. Instead, Feige made a choice with arguably more integrity, as Logan had what many consider to be the best possible ending for Jackman’s Wolverine. Feige was confident in the characters and lore he had already helped establish in the MCU, and he was more concerned with leaving Logan’s ending alone than a quick and easy way to build even more excitement.
Unfortunately, even with Kevin Feige’s stance on preserving Logan’s ending, the MCU has had its fair share of Multiverse-related problems. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, for instance, introduced the Illuminati, a superhero team from the comics, only for every member to die at the hands of Scarlet Witch. The team included a live-action version of Mister Fantastic (played by John Krasinski), and the return of Sir Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, with both characters’ deaths arguably wasting their opportunities, even if they did not originate from the main MCU reality.
Another offender is Marvel’s Loki, whose premise and narrative arguably reduce the importance of the MCU writ large. The TVA and their “sacred timeline” trivialize the events of the Infinity Saga so shortly after its conclusion, with the Infinity Stones and the long-term character development of the main timeline’s Loki being mocked and cheapened, respectively. By treating the rest of the MCU so frivolously while elevating its own importance, Loki attempts to be the de facto most essential property in the franchise at the expense of everything else, showing how catastrophic the multiverse concept can be if handled poorly.
With Hugh Jackman’s return comes the potential danger of undoing his Logan ending. Promotional material for Deadpool & Wolverine has shown, however, that the MCU will have its cake and eat it too when it comes to Jackman’s hero. The Wolverine who will appear in Deadpool & Wolverine – and potentially the fifth and sixth Avengers movies – will not come from the same universe as the character Jackman played in Logan, allowing him to functionally reprise the role without tarnishing the 2017 film’s ending.
Regardless of whether Deadpool & Wolverine brings this version of Wolverine into Avengers 5 & 6, all of this marks a clear precedent for other characters with considerable legacies to be adapted appropriately going forward, too. In this, the MCU should be able to provide a range of multiversal surprises while also ensuring that they enhance the history of the franchise and engage with it in fun and unique ways, instead of potentially sabotaging already iconic moments in Marvel’s movie and show past.