It’s not a requirement or an obligation, but virtually every single film and television project to ever emerge from the Marvel Cinematic Universe has featured at least one familiar face to deepen the connective tissue that’s defined the franchise since its very existence. Deadpool 3 hasn’t even established its place in canon yet, but it’s already taking that sentiment and running with it.
Casting news has gone radio silent since the superhero saga’s first-ever R-rated installment began principal photography a couple of weeks back, so there may not be any more notable additions to come; unless of course director Shawn Levy, producer Kevin Feige, and star Ryan Reynolds are keeping some major surprises up their respective sleeves.
Naturally, the rumor mill has thrown up even more potential comebacks, but there’s arguably already too many returning characters on board as it is. So far, the confirmed ensemble cast of Deadpool 3 features 11 names, and nine of them will be reprising roles they’ve played before, which puts the ratio of old to new at just under 82 percent.
Matthew Macfadyen and Emma Corrin’s mystery debutants are the sole outliers among Reynolds’ titular antihero, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa, Karan Soni’s Dopinder, Leslie Uggams’ Blind Al, Rob Delaney’s Peter, Brianna Hildebrand’s Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Shioli Kutsuna’s Yukio, and Stefan Kapičić’s Colossus.
And yet, even more 20th Century Fox X-Men have been touted as potential additions, while there’s no shortage of fans out there who’d love to see Zazie Beetz’s Domino and Josh Brolin’s Cable swinging by the Merc with a Mouth’s latest outing. That’s not to say it’ll harm the quality of Deadpool 3 in the slightest, but the MCU’s lack of freshness has been a recurring issue for a reason.