Marvel fans have been through a major slump post-Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Through the rollercoaster of emotions of The Marvels and the end of The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, the MCU really needs Deadpool & Wolverine to revitalize the cinematic universe. It is obvious to watch the last two Deadpool films before Deadpool & Wolverine, but beyond that, this list of films will help to understand the references that will most likely show up in this third installment for the Merc With A Mouth.
While the studio and Wade Wilson himself have promised that Deadpool’s entrance to the MCU will be pivotal to shocking some life back in the cinematic universe, it is important to understand how the two titular characters got to this point. Also, Ryan Reynolds has been in so many different superhero roles, so it wouldn’t be uncalled for to get a wild reference to something like his character Hannibal King in Blade: Trinity.
Get BWT in your inbox!
Get BWT in your inbox!
Here are 9 essential films to recap their journeys, in no particular order, but sort of put in chronological timeline order.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Starting off with the worst-received X-Men movie, Origins told Logan’s full transformation into Weapon X on-screen. While the Logan in Deadpool & Wolverine is most certainly not this Logan, the origin story is most likely similar and worth checking out before heading to theaters. There’s also an absolutely atrocious origin of Deadpool tossed in this one too. It will probably be referenced in the new film—and yes, it was Reynolds back then too. In fact, there’s plenty of speculation that one member of the Deadpool Corps is plucked from whatever timeline this disaster took place.
X-Men: First Class
Worth a watch just for Jackman’s cameo appearance, First Class is also a very solid film and is likely to be referenced in some way. It won’t add anything to the story of Wolverine, but if it’s been a while, check it out anyway. Who knows, there might be some cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine from this younger cast since there will likely be some multiverse-hopping going on.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
The highest-rated X-film, Days of Future Past will always be worth a watch. It’s also going to provide more context to all the crazy time travel that’s always part of X-Men stories, and could end up being referenced while Wade and Logan are in the TVA. More on the TVA in a bit!
X-Men (2000)
The film that put mutants on the map. At the turn of the century, now president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige was just a budding associate producer on his first Marvel movie set—hired on by well-known Hollywood producer Lauren Shuler Donner. While the MCU was not a thing yet, the seeds were planted for the introduction of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine that audiences have recognized over the last two decades.
X2
Probably one of the best sequels of its time. X2 did what few sequels did by surpassing the quality of the original and set the franchise up for a killer third installment. While that didn’t quite work out, the film has Alan Cumming‘s incredible performance as Nightcrawler and the Succession man himself Brian Cox as Stryker. It was a great setup for Wolverine’s backstory this early on in the 2000s.
X-Men: The Last Stand
This one was notable for the first time Fox dropped the ball in telling the story of the Phoenix; The Last Stand is forgettable and tough to watch. As bad as it is, it does introduce Kelsey Grammer‘s Beast, who recently made his MCU debut, and Elliot Page‘s (The Umbrella Academy) Kitty Pryde. Not many can say that Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut was a perfect choice. Totally not joking!
The Wolverine
The closest Jackman came to suiting up in the blue and yellow suit, The Wolverine is a fun, standalone story that gives a little more background on Logan. As this was a spin-off/sequel to The Last Stand, there were some painful moments of Logan’s struggles over the fact that he had to kill Jean Grey. It also contains some questionable CGI/VFX at times but it is definitely a good time. This movie might be valuable depending on what the Variant in Deadpool & Wolverine has been through.
Loki Season 1 & 2
For all time, always…and any time is always a good time to rewatch one of Marvel Studios’ finer streaming series. However, there may be good reason to limit the rewatch to Season 1. From what can be gleaned from the first two trailers for Deadpool & Wolverine, that project is seemingly set before Loki ascended to his role as the God of Stories in Season 2.
Of course, not everything will be what it seems in the trailers and time is very wonky within the walls of the TVA. Time is a funny thing within the walls of the TVA so while Deadpool & Wolverine may not start before Season 2 of Loki concludes, there’s no saying it won’t end somewhere else down that road. If nothing else, the season provides a great reminder of how crazy the multiversal stuff gets and is great sci-fi TV.
Logan
The film that was supposed to send Jackman off into the sunset, Logan stands as one of the highest-rated and most revered superhero films of all time. Levy, Reynolds and Jackman have sworn that the Logan timeline will not be altered in any way, but it has already been confirmed that Dafne Keene will reprise her role as X-23 in Deadpool & Wolverine—potentially as a Variant version of the one audiences saw in Logan though.
Bonus: Elektra
Heavy rumours suggested that Jennifer Garner will make a cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine as her iconic early 2000s Marvel character Elektra Natchios, so it might be worth giving it a shot. Think of it this way: those able to endure watching this film, may be gifted with the same healing factor as Deadpool and Wolverine.
Deadpool & Wolverine is about as important to cinematic history as Spider-Man: No Way Home tying in over 20 years of theatrical Spider-Man content into one movie. It will hopefully be an awesome, fun reunion for the two characters and actors. And it will potentially be the best way to fully integrate the X-Men into the MCU. What better person to introduce them than the foul-mouthed black-and-red antihero himself?
Deadpool & Wolverine will hit theaters on July 26th, 2024!
