Good news, Deadpool fans.
The third film in the Deadpool franchise is finally on its way and we now have a confirmed release date for 2024.
In addition, after much speculation and teasing, it has been confirmed that Hugh Jackman will reprise his iconic role as the X-Men hero Wolverine/Logan in the film.
Jackman last portrayed the character in the 2017 film Logan by James Mangold which had been billed as his swan song, but looks like we have a fun outing on the way for the character yet.
The film will no doubt be a box office draw after the huge success of the first two films and the adoration for Jackman in the role of Wolverine.
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige has previously emphasised that Deadpool will keep its tone despite finally arriving in the more family-friendly Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“It will be rated R and we are working on a script right now, and Ryan’s overseeing a script right now,” the producer told Collider. “It will not be [filming] this year. Ryan is a very busy, very successful actor.
“We’ve got a number of things we’ve already announced that we now have to make, but it’s exciting for it to have begun. Again, a very different type of character in the MCU, and Ryan is a force of nature, which is just awesome to see him bring that character to life.”
Read on for all the latest news about Deadpool 3, including release date, cast, plot theories and more.
Deadpool 3 release date
Deadpool 3 will be released on 6th September 2024.
The film’s release date was confirmed in September 2022 in a video from star Ryan Reynolds.
Hard keeping my mouth sewn shut about this one. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/OdV7JmAkEu
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) September 27, 2022
Speculation as to when Deadpool would make his MCU debt has been rife in recent years, considering the film series began under 20th Century Fox but then was acquired when Disney took over that studio.
Deadpool 3 cast
The following cast members have been confirmed for Deadpool 3.
- Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson
- Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/James “Logan” Howlett
Ryan Reynolds has been confirmed to reprise his role as the lead character Wade Wilson.
Meanwhile, Hugh Jackman was confirmed to be reprising his role as Wolverine/James “Logan” Howlett in the film after his return to the role was confirmed in the same video in which the release date was confirmed.
Reynolds asked Jackman: “Hey Hugh, do you want to play Wolverine one more time?”
Jackman responded: “Yeah, sure, Ryan.”
Jackman last portrayed the character in the emotional swan song Logan in 2017, which saw the character bow out in a grim alternate timeline.
In response to the news of Jackman reprising his role as Wolverine after his death, Logan and The Wolverine director James Mangold shared a GIF of a scene in Logan where Wolverine was impaled by his evil clone X-24.
The wound contributed to the character’s demise at the end of the film.
After comments that perceived this as Mangold reacting negatively to not getting the final word on the character, the director clarified his stance in a further tweet.
Oh my gosh! Everybody chill. Just kidding! I’m all good! LOGAN will always be there. Multiverse or prequel, time warp or worm hole, canon or non-canon or even without a rationale, I cannot wait to see what maddness my dear friends @VancityReynolds and @RealHughJackman cook up! pic.twitter.com/qaCG4Z39x4
— Mangold (@mang0ld) September 28, 2022
Mangold wrote: “Oh my gosh! Everybody chill. Just kidding! I’m all good! LOGAN will always be there. Multiverse or prequel, time warp or worm hole, canon or non-canon or even without a rationale, I cannot wait to see what maddness my dear friends @VancityReynolds and @RealHughJackman cook up!”
What we don’t know just yet is which members of Deadpool’s supporting cast will return alongside him and Wolverine, with Morena Baccarin’s love interest Vanessa being a particularly difficult case to unravel.
She was dead for most of the last film, but in the final few minutes Deadpool seemingly travelled back in time to prevent her murder from ever happening – or was that just a fantasy?
Fans will also be keen to see more of Josh Brolin as Cable and Zazie Beetz as Domino, two characters who are frequent associates of Deadpool in the comics, as well as eventual members of the X-Force team.
And how can we forget the only X-Men members willing to work with Deadpool? Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) are strong bets to return, given their significant roles in the first two films.
Dwayne Johnson made headlines when he expressed interest in taking on the role of Weapon X experiment Garrison Kane in the third film, after working with Ryan Reynolds in Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw.
However, the former wrestler has since pushed on with plans for his long-gestating Black Adam movie as part of the DC Extended Universe, so that would probably prevent him from getting involved with Marvel.
Dearest Rob, thank you amigo. It’s true, in @HobbsAndShaw, I have insanely outstanding chemistry with our familiar friend. Since you created the characters, how does one Garrison Kane get alone with one
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) August 3, 2019
????????♂️ ? https://t.co/1Z58qbiQp8
Is Deadpool now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Yes, Deadpool has been confirmed to be making his MCU debut in Deadpool 3.
While Deadpool was first introduced as part of the standalone X-Men movies, recent comments from Marvel boss Kevin Feige suggest he will leap over to the MCU in his third film.
While the other X-Men characters are expected to be completely rebooted following the disastrous performance of Dark Phoenix, Deadpool remains very popular so recasting the role would be asking for trouble.
Plus, as the character has such a fondness for meta humour, it would be very easy for him to shrug off any continuity errors with an offbeat remark straight down the lens of the camera.
(Fancy an MCU marathon? Here’s how to watch the Marvel movies in order.)
What will happen in Deadpool 3?
At the moment, few details have been released, but Ryan Reynolds did tell Variety that the film will go “in a completely different direction” to previous instalments.
The producers behind Deadpool had previously planned to make an X-Force spin-off movie, based on a comic book that follows a black-ops team of Marvel mutants on dangerous missions.
However, the project appears to have been one of the casualties of the Disney/Fox shuffle, so it’s possible some of those ideas could be incorporated into Deadpool 3 instead.
After all, the Merc with a Mouth has already tried to assemble the team once with hilariously gruesome results, so hopefully the second attempt will be a tad more successful.
In January 2021, Reynolds revealed on Twitter that the original plot of Deadpool 3 was set to be a road trip shared by Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman’s Logan, made in the style of the 1950 classic film Rashomon, which sees several conflicting accounts of the same incident from the perspective of multiple characters.
That had appeared to have been scrapped since Disney’s acquisition of Fox, although Jackman has sparked rumours of his return to Wolverine with recent posts to social media.
It’s critical to have open, honest and healthy discussions around mental health. By retweeting #BellLetsTalk you can make a difference. In case that’s not enough, before Disney bought Fox, Deadpool 3 was gonna be a road trip between Deadpool and Logan. Rashomon style. For real.
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) January 28, 2021
It appears that Reynolds may have gotten his wish as Jackman has been confirmed to be starring in the film.
Whatever the exact story winds up being, the upcoming sequel will indeed have an R-rating according to recent comments from producer Kevin Feige, although Deadpool director Tim Miller argues that this is not entirely necessary.
“I think Ryan Reynolds’ take on the character and the way he embraces the particular kind of insanity — even if you said he’s not gonna use four-letter words — would still be there,” the filmmaker told Inverse. “He still is that character. You can take the R-rated parts out of it if you wanted and it would still be Deadpool if Ryan was doing it.”
Watch this space for more details as they come in.
Is there a trailer for Deadpool 3?
No, and it looks like we’ll be waiting a good long while to see any sort of footage. That is, unless Ryan Reynolds decides to start leaking things again.
However, we do have the fun release date/Jackman reveal video to watch in the meantime.
If you’re looking for something to watch, check out our TV Guide.
The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now – subscribe now to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast.