One of the most famous Marvel mutants was not allowed to appear in X-Men ’97 season 1. While there are few Marvel Studios movies coming out this year, their TV properties have been off to a great start. Following Echo in January, the X-Men ’97 TV show is continuing Marvel Studios’ 2024-winning streak, as it has become one of their most well-received projects of all time.
A lot of mutants have been featured throughout X-Men: The Animated Series and, in turn, X-Men ’97. However, it appears Marvel Studios prohibited the creative team from using one of them, according to showrunner Beau DeMayo.
When asked by @ZeroWontMiss on X/Twitter, “Where is Deadpool at?” DeMayo replied that “he was off-limits.” At the time of this story’s publication, DeMayo didn’t offer any following responses about the Deadpool restriction on X-Men ’97.
While it remains to be seen if DeMayo or even Kevin Feige will offer up any clarification on X-Men ’97 not being able to use Deadpool, there is one Marvel Cinematic Universe project that may or may not be related to the restriction. Marvel Studios may only have one film coming out this year, but it will be one of the biggest ones for The Multiverse Saga, as Deadpool & Wolverine will be opening in theaters this summer. Even though Ryan Reynolds is reprising the role of Wade Wilson, it is key to remember that it will be the first time Marvel Studios has ever used Deadpool.
It wouldn’t be shocking if Marvel Studios wanted X-Men ’97 to wait to use Deadpool until after Deadpool & Wolverine’s release. Outside of Morph changing into Deadpool in X-Men: The Animated Series, Wade never made it properly into that world, and given all the storylines in X-Men ’97 season 1 so far, there wasn’t really a natural place to give him his introduction. It’s also key to remember that characters like Magik never appeared on X-Men: The Animated Series (though a young Illyana Rasputin without her powers did briefly appear), but have since popped up through Morph’s transformation in X-Men ’97, meaning that they are slowly bringing more Marvel characters into this continuity.
Given how X-Men ’97 season 2 is already confirmed to arrive on Disney+, perhaps Wade will get his due in the sophomore season. If it also means that Reynolds could voice Deadpool in animation, it will have made the wait more than worth. Hopefully, as X-Men ’97 continues, Deadpool will get his time to shine in the beloved Marvel series sooner rather than later.
If Deadpool were to appear in X-Men ’97 season 2, there are a few intriguing ways that he could fit into the new season. As the X-Men: The Animated Universe will clearly be expanded upon the longer its sequel goes on, X-Men ’97 season 2 could be an organic point to start setting up another big mutant team: X-Force. Given how Wade is a big member of that team in the comics, having him and other X-Force members who are already in this universe come together would allow the franchise to start exploring other corners of this particular Marvel Universe.
Another fun approach for Deadpool in X-Men ’97 season 2 would be to lean into what makes Wade such a beloved character, which is him breaking the fourth wall. It would be a neat way for X-Men ’97 to break a bit out of its regular format, especially if Deadpool gets other mutants to realize that he is engaging with an actual audience. If Marvel Studios wanted to take it a step further, should Reynolds be the one to voice Deadpool, it could be one of the few times that X-Men ’97 gets to engage with the MCU movie timeline in any capacity.
With everything that has happened in season 1, seeing where Deadpool is at in this universe during X-Men ’97 season 2 would be intriguing, especially after what happened with Genosha. As X-Men ’97 season 2 has already been in production for quite some time, there is likely already an answer as to whether or not Wade is in the next season. But for now, the world will have to wait and see when/if Deadpool makes his way into X-Men ’97.
Source: Beau DeMayo/X