With Deadpool & Wolverine, the Merc with a Mouth has finally entered the MCU – raising the question of how he knows about the Avengers, and whether or not they exist in his universe.
Deadpool and Wolverine are part of an exclusive group: carryovers from Disney’s takeover of 20th Century Fox who’ve been absorbed into the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s movies.
However, this doesn’t mean we’ve to assume they’ve been around the whole time. The X-Men timeline is still separate from the MCU, just like Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man movies take place in another continuity.
Deadpool is a bit different, though. He can reference Spidey, Batman, and real-world people and events without consequences or meaning. That can be a bit confusing, especially if you’re trying to work out what universe he’s actually part of.
How Deadpool knows the Avengers
Deadpool exists in the MCU, but the Avengers aren’t part of his world – because they’re in separate universes in the multiverse.
In Deadpool’s opening sequence (which takes place six years before the main events of the film), he’s interviewed by Happy Hogan at Avengers HQ (Tony Stark is still alive, but he doesn’t take “entry-level” meetings).
Wade does his usual asinine yammering, but he confesses that he wants to use his powers for good. “What they do matters,” he says, but Happy tells him he isn’t the world-saving type and that he should “find his place.”
Here’s an important detail: the Avengers live in Earth-616, but Deadpool is from Earth-10005, also known as the Fox universe. Wade was able to travel there using Cable’s device from Deadpool 2, so there isn’t a version of the Avengers in his world.
There are different versions of the Avengers across the multiverse, though, just not in Deadpool’s universe. For example, the new Wolverine says, “f**k the Avengers,” but that’s all we know.
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Will Deadpool join the Avengers?
Strictly speaking, we don’t know if Deadpool will join the Avengers – but why would Marvel waste their chance at a team-up?
The box office speaks for itself. Deadpool and Wolverine is poised to make $360 million in its first weekend – that would be the biggest-ever opening for an R-rated movie and the best opening weekend of 2024.
This comes after last year’s disastrous run of all-time lows (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Secret Invasion, and The Marvels), and there’s a clear appetite for the chimichangas.
In an interview with Variety, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman were asked if they’re expecting to appear in future Avengers projects. “I don’t know. Yeah, we’ll see. Yeah,” Reynolds said.
Speaking to Collider, Kevin Feige explained that Marvel was taking a “just get through this [first]” approach to Deadpool and Wolverine as characters in the MCU going forward.
“There’s certainly been a lot of discussions of, ‘That was fun. What should we do next?'” he added, excitingly.
You can find out what we know about Avengers 5 and Secret Wars, check out our Deadpool & Wolverine review, and read our ranking of the best superhero movies ever made.
