The Deadpool and Wolverine idea would have changed the entire Marvel film universe

The world had to wait six years for Ryan Reynolds to dress up as Merc with a Mouth following the commercial success of 2018's Deadpool 2, but it's fair to say the wait was worth it. The resulting third installment in the series was Deadpool & Wolverine, which, as the title suggests, finally reunited Reynolds on screen with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. It was a resounding success and ranked among the biggest films of 2024. Making this film a reality was no easy task, and countless wild ideas were thrown around before landing on this team.

Assembled: The Making of Deadpool & Wolverine is now streaming on Disney+ and features many insights from the filmmakers into the making of the film. “I think Ryan had 19, 20 ideas about throwing something at the wall,” Reynolds said in the documentary. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige turned down several proposals for Deadpool 3, including a low-budget version at Sundance. None of these ideas reached the level required to greenlight the film.

A big part of the problem is that Deadpool needed to be integrated into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. A possible solution to this problem, according to producer Wendy Jacobson, was to make it seem like Deadpool was hanging around the MCU the whole time. As she explained in the documentary:

“We had a 'Deadpool's Deleted Scenes Extravaganza' where we tried to show that he was in the MCU the whole time – you just didn't see his scenes, they were all on the cutting room floor. We were really just.” I'm trying to find a reason for this film to exist.

“At some point, by the end of the first act, Ryan had the idea for a frame-for-frame remake of 'Thor 2,'” Jacobson previously explained of an early idea Reynolds had for “Deadpool 3.” It's dizzying to think about how many ways this film could have been different if Marvel had said yes to a different idea.

The above artwork was shown in the documentary to illustrate how the planned Deadpool Deleted Scenes Extravaganza sequence could have played out. Deadpool was also shown skillfully interacting with Thanos. This idea is very meta and would have served the character well. But would it have served the MCU? That's the bigger question. Ultimately the powers that be decide against it. Feige explained in the documentary that they worked hard with Reynolds to find the right idea.

“We worked with Ryan for a long time to come up with the best idea. Ryan Reynolds is an idea machine. He is almost entirely responsible for bringing this character to the big screen. “He believed in it when few other people did,” in a very different time for Marvel films, and created something completely unique.”

In the end, it was Hugh Jackman who saved Deadpool 3 with a single phone call when he decided to star in the film. From there we went to the races. Shawn Levy (“Real Steel,” “The Adam Project”) landed in the director’s chair and it’s hard to imagine things going any better under any circumstances. Deadpool & Wolverine is now considered the biggest R-rated film in history, and these characters have been successfully integrated into the MCU without the need for such an ambitious gimmick. Admittedly, this may have been fun to see, but it's one of those things that's more of a fun idea than a practical one.

Deadpool & Wolverine is now streaming on Disney+. You can also get the film on 4K, Blu-ray or DVD via Amazon.