Warning: This article contains spoilers for Deadpool 3.
It’s lucky Wade Wilson has a healing factor because he’s about to seriously strain something carrying the entire MCU on his back.
Deadpool 3 is officially the only Marvel Studios movie releasing in 2024, which means the pressure on the already much-anticipated threequel to be everything we want it to be has hit astronomical levels. Not only does Shawn Levy’s film have to introduce Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with the Mouth into the MCU, it’s also bringing back Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, and potentially half the X-Men universe too. And Taylor Swift.
Typically, Marvel fans expect the latest MCU film with even a dash of multiversal flavoring to include everything but the kitchen sink from Avengers Tower. And yet, just this once, it looks like Deadpool 3 might fully deliver on all the crossover connections, Easter eggs, and Multiverse Saga shenanigans we’ve been waiting for. Here’s every way DP3 is confirmed to crossover with the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and the wider MCU to date.
Hugh Jackman and the Deadpool gang
This one goes without saying but, hey, let’s say it anyway. Yes, the most notable way Deadpool 3 crosses over with Fox’s universe is in bringing back Hugh Jackman’s Logan. Complete with classic yellow and blue uniform. What’s more, much of the supporting cast from the first two DP movies are back as well, including Morena Baccarin, Brianna Hildebrand, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Stefan Kapičić, Shioli Kutsuna, and even Rob Delaney as Peter.
Say hi to Sabretooth
OK, now we’re digging a little deeper. With filming resuming in the U.K. following the conclusion of the actors’ strike, set photos from DP3 have confirmed that none other than Sabretooth will feature, with images depicting Deadpool and Wolvie battling the beastly bad guy. Surprisingly, it’s not the Liev Schreiber incarnation who’s back but the OG Tyler Mane version from 2000’s X-Men. Although whether it just resembles him or Mane is reprising his role is unclear at this time. Either way, it doesn’t look like Sabretooth is the one who wins this fight…
Do you know what happens to a toad when it crosses the multiverse?
The answer? The same thing that happens to everything else. You got it, joining Sabretooth in the unlikely trend for Magneto’s lackies from the first X-Men film to make Deadpool 3 comebacks is Toad. Once again, set photos have revealed his role in the threequel, and like Sabretooth, the design for Toad matches his appearance in 2000 rather than the recast/reimagined character from 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. It’s hard to say if Ray Park (who also famously played Darth Maul in Star Wars) is back in the part. Fingers crossed we get a Toad/Storm rematch!
Get your Fantastic Four crumbs here
Curiously, rumors are thin on the ground about any of the legacy Fantastic Four cast-members appearing in DP3 — not even Reynolds’ old pal Chris Evans! — but we can say that the film will tip its hat to Marvel’s First Family all the same. In a bizarre mish-mash of IPs, Toad is captured on the DP3 set driving the Fantasticar, the FF’s answer to the Batmobile. It’s not the sleek 2007 model from Rise of the Silver Surfer, though, but a recreation of the classic boxy 1960s version from the comics. Once again, believe me when I say this one is for the fans.
Moon Knight’s cupcake van lives again
Did the Fantasticar whet your appetite for more obscure Marvel vehicles to feature in Deadpool 3? Well, then, you’re in luck as further set photos confirm that a modified, souped-up version of the cupcake van Oscar Isaac drives in the quirky chase sequence from Moon Knight‘s first episode is making a surprise comeback. Moon Knight’s having something of a subtle resurgence in the MCU of late, what with that Loki season 2 Easter egg.
Quick, to the Red Skull Mobile!
Another bizarre Marvel car? You bet! Clearly, Deadpool 3 will be partially set in a Mad Max-like world where characters drive around in vehicles stolen from across reality. In addition to the Fantasticar and the Moon Knight van, what looks very much like Red Skull’s HYDRA coupe from Captain America: The First Avenger has also been glimpsed on the set. Probably don’t expect the scarlet Nazi himself to show up, but then who knows where he ended up after Avengers: Endgame.
Just a Minuteman
Basically, from what we can ascertain, Deadpool 3 sees Wade and Logan end up in some desert-like terrain that is home to the detritus of the Marvel multiverse. If this sounds like The Void from Loki lore, that’s because this is probably exactly what it is. More set pics have showcased a glimpse at a TVA minuteman, which is just the latest sign that the Time Variance Authority will have a key role in the movie. Whether Tom Hiddleston or Owen Wilson will turn up, though, remains to be seen.