Wade Wilson lives a quiet life, having left his time as the mercenary Deadpool behind him, until the Time Variance Authority (TVA)—a bureaucratic organization that exists outside of time and space and monitors the timeline—pulls him into a new mission. With his home universe facing an existential threat, Wilson reluctantly joins with an even more reluctant Wolverine on a mission which will change the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
Deadpool & Wolverine is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics characters Deadpool and Wolverine, produced by Marvel Studios, Maximum Effort, and 21 Laps Entertainment, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is intended to be the 34th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and a sequel to Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018). The film is directed by Shawn Levy from a screenplay he wrote with Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells. Reynolds and Hugh Jackman star as Deadpool and Wolverine, respectively, alongside Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, and Matthew Macfadyen. In the film, the Time Variance Authority (TVA) pulls Deadpool from his quiet life and sets him on a mission with Wolverine that will change the history of the MCU.
Development on a third Deadpool film began at 20th Century Fox by November 2016, but was placed on hold after the studio was acquired by Disney in March 2019. Control of the character was transferred to Marvel Studios, which began developing a new film with Reynolds. It integrates Deadpool with the MCU and is intended to retain the R rating of the previous films. Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin joined in November 2020 as writers. Reese and Wernick returned from the previous films for rewrites by March 2022, when Levy was hired as director. Jackman decided to reprise his role as Wolverine from Fox's X-Men films in August 2022. Wells, Reynolds, and Levy were confirmed to be contributing to the script by May 2023. Filming began later that month at Pinewood Studios in England, with additional filming in Norfolk and at Bovingdon Film Studios. Production was suspended in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, but resumed that November and wrapped in January 2024. The film's title was revealed a month later.
After the success of Deadpool (2016), 20th Century Fox began developing two sequels. The third film was set to include the superhero team X-Force.[33] Deadpool director Tim Miller chose not to return for the sequels due to creative differences with star Ryan Reynolds, and David Leitch was hired to direct Deadpool 2 (2018) in November 2016. Fox was looking for another filmmaker to develop the third film.[34] In March 2017, Deadpool and Deadpool 2 co-writer Rhett Reese said X-Force would be introduced in Deadpool 2 and then featured in a planned spin-off film that would launch "something bigger", separate from the third Deadpool film which would be more personal.[35]
When the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced in December 2017, the Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger said Reynolds's Deadpool would be integrated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) despite those films being rated PG-13 and the Deadpool films being R-rated.[36] Iger said Disney was willing to make R-rated Deadpool films "as long as we let the audiences know what's coming", and suggested that a "Marvel-R brand" could be created for characters like Deadpool.[37] In May 2018, Reynolds said a third Deadpool film may not be made given the franchise's shift of focus to X-Force,[38] but Reese and his writing partner Paul Wernick felt a third film would absolutely happen after Reynolds took a break from the character and the X-Force film was released. They compared this to the MCU crossover film The Avengers (2012) being released between Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013).[39] Leitch expressed interest in returning for another Deadpool film, depending on the schedule.[40] A third Deadpool film was believed to be in active development by August 2018, with production planned to take place in Atlanta, Georgia, rather than in Vancouver, Canada, where the previous films were made.[41] Once Upon a Deadpool, a PG-13 version of Deadpool 2, was released at the end of the year. It was watched carefully by Disney and Marvel Studios to see how it might inform their approach to the character in the MCU.[42] While promoting Once Upon a Deadpool, Reynolds confirmed that a third Deadpool film was in development and said it would go in a "completely different direction";[43] Reynolds later revealed that they were considering a road trip film styled after Rashomon (1950) featuring Hugh Jackman's X-Men character James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine.[44] Jackman had himself envisioned a team-up film with Reynolds inspired by 48 Hrs. (1982) while attending a screening of Deadpool in 2016, but chose to retire from the role of Wolverine after Logan (2017).[45] In March 2019, Disney officially acquired Fox and gained the film rights to several Marvel Comics characters for Marvel Studios, including Deadpool and the X-Men.[46][47] The Marvel-based films that Fox had been developing were placed "on hold
Development
Josh Brolin, who portrayed Cable in Deadpool 2 and Thanos in the MCU, said in June 2019 that he had discussed his future as Cable with Marvel Studios.[49] In October, Zazie Beetz said she would be surprised if she did not reprise her Deadpool 2 role of Domino in a future film.[50] That month, Reese and Wernick said they and Reynolds were taking a "much-needed rest from Deadpool" while they waited to hear from Marvel Studios about the franchise's future. They confirmed that another Deadpool film would be made, that it would be R-rated like the previous films, and that it would integrate the character with the MCU. Wernick said there was never a set pitch for a third Deadpool film between their exhaustion following Deadpool 2 and the announcement of Fox's acquisition by Disney. Reese said they now had to "land on the right idea and once we do, I think we'll be off to the races". The writers felt there would be more characters available in the MCU to act as foils for Deadpool compared to their restricted options among the characters that Fox had control over for the previous films.[51]
Reynolds revealed in mid-October 2019 that he was meeting with Marvel Studios.[52] At that time, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was unsure how to integrate Deadpool into the MCU and was still thinking about how the X-Men, and mutants in general, would be added to the franchise. Feige described Reynolds as an "idea machine" who pitched many different approaches for the film, including unique approaches to the character that would only require a small budget similar to films that debut at the Sundance Film Festival. Reynolds also pitched his previous idea for a Rashomon style team-up film with Wolverine which would tell one story from three different perspectives.[53] He was told that it would not be possible to include Wolverine in the film.[45][53] In December, Reynolds confirmed that the "whole team" were actively developing a Deadpool film at Marvel Studios
Throughout October 2020, Reynolds and Marvel Studios met with potential writers for the next Deadpool film. Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin were hired to write the screenplay the next month. Reynolds and Marvel Studios felt the two writers' pitch was in line with their own intentions for the film, which would again be R-rated. Reynolds and Marvel Studios were open to Leitch returning for the film, but he was not expected to due to other commitments throughout 2021 and was not involved in hiring the writers.[4] Leitch later confirmed that he had met with Marvel for the film, but both parties understood that scheduling and other commitments would prevent him from returning.[55] In January 2021, Feige reaffirmed that the film would have an R rating and would be set in the MCU. Reynolds was supervising the scripting process at that time, and Feige said filming would not begin until after 2021 due to Reynolds's busy schedule. He said Deadpool was a very different type of character to have in the MCU.[56] That July, Reynolds and Taika Waititi promoted their film Free Guy (2021) by appearing as Deadpool and Waititi's MCU character Korg, respectively, in a commercial for that film titled Deadpool and Korg React. Deadpool, who often breaks the fourth wall, discusses joining the MCU with Korg in the commercial.[57][58] The next month, Reynolds said he expected filming to begin in 2022,[59] which Feige soon confirmed. Feige added that Marvel Studios had a release timeframe in mind for the film.[60] In November, Beetz and Rob Delaney expressed interest in returning as their Deadpool 2 characters Domino and Peter,[61][62] but Beetz ultimately did not return for the third film.[63] Also in November, Reynolds said they were "plugging away" at the film.
Shawn Levy was revealed to be directing the film in March 2022, having previously directed Reynolds in Free Guy and The Adam Project (2022).[65][66] Levy said filming would not begin until after 2022 due to his busy schedule through the remainder of the year.[67] At the same time, Reynolds confirmed that his production company Maximum Effort would co-produce the film,[68] and Reese and Wernick were hired to rewrite the screenplay.[65][66] The pair said in June that they were excited to use elements of the MCU as a backdrop for the film, and said Disney and Marvel were supportive of jokes about the MCU that they were writing for Deadpool given the success of the previous films. They would not confirm whether they were starting from scratch on the script or just reworking the previous draft by the Molyneux sisters and said answering this question could divulge plot details.[69] Also in June, Ray Chan was revealed to be the production designer after previously working on the Disney+ MCU television series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021).[70] Feige said in July that the film would be elevated from the first two in a similar way to other third installments of MCU film series, such as Captain America: Civil War (2016), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). He added that it was fun to be working with Reynolds.
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