Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige says the impact of Deadpool 3 on its respective franchise should be similar to Thor: Ragnarok. Following Ryan Reynolds allegedly leaking Deadpool test footage online, the Merc with a Mouth made his irreverent debut in 2016. Its monumental success paved the way for other R-rated comic book movies, like 2017’s Logan and its own sequel. Under the umbrella of 20th Century Fox, Deadpool 2 adhered to its predecessor’s proclivity for mockery. Deadpool made tongue-in-cheek remarks towards the X-Men franchise’s lackluster continuity, other mutants, Marvel characters, and even DC.
Deadpool 3 was already in the works before the Disney-Fox merger, which brought the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Reynolds' foul-mouthed character under the control of Marvel Studios. Last year, Reynolds made his quasi-MCU debut alongside Korg in a promo for Free Guy. Then, this year, it was announced that director Shawn Levy would helm Deadpool 3, which is being written by Reynolds, Wendy Molyneux, and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin. As Marvel Studios’ first R-rated MCU outing, Deadpool 3 is poised to change its respective series and new universe forever.
In an interview with THR at SDCC, Feige discusses how Deadpool 3 will elevate the raunchy franchise. Marvel Studios has consistently upped the ante with every MCU threequel, and it’ll look to do the same with Deadpool 3.
Where team-up films like Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War raised the stakes action-wise, Ragnarok reinvigorated the Thor franchise with Taika Waititi’s brand of irreverence and self-referential humor. Given that Reynolds and Deadpool have already perfected the latter, the Merc with a Mouth will apply his humor to the Multiverse Saga. Although Deadpool 3 was absent from Marvel Studios’ Phase 4, 5, and 6 announcements at Comic-Con, the film may play a role in the MCU’s implementation of mutants and help to evolve its comedic approach—which has arguably become repetitive and contrived in, coincidentally, Waititi's Thor: Love and Thunder.
After Professor X’s cameo in Doctor Strange 2 and Ms. Marvel’s mutant twist, Deadpool 3 could implement a handful of Fox characters into the MCU/Earth-616. The eponymous character’s meta nature makes him comfortable jumping universes and addressing continuity issues. Taking place within the mainline MCU, Deadpool 3 will serve as a litmus test for other R/TV-MA Marvel Studios projects moving forward. While the MCU will chip away at the fourth wall in Disney+’s She-Hulk, Deadpool could shatter the entire universe's fourth wall. It’ll be interesting to see if Reynolds’ MCU tenure extends beyond Deadpool 3. It’s not hard to imagine him serving as the MCU’s occasional jester in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars. -Collider
