Deadpool and Wolverine are two of the most iconic characters to come out of the X-Men corner of the Marvel Universe, due in no small part to their wildly successful film franchises. Ryan Reynolds’ Merc With A Mouth led two wildly successful solo films and is expected to join the MCU in the future, although the circumstances through which this will occur are still unknown at this time. Hugh Jackman starred as The Wolverine for 17 years from the original X-Men to the devastatingly tragic Logan.
Despite their shared history in the source material, these two characters never crossed paths in a meaningful way. Actually, that’s not true…
X-Men Origins: Wolverine did see these two Canuckleheads duke it out on Three Mile Island, but Deadpool wasn’t quite himself. For those that remember, I’m sorry. For those that don’t, David Benioff and Skip Woods drastically altered Wade Wilson’s character and literally sewed his mouth shut. That’s right, the same guy who flushed Game Of Thrones season eight down the toilet (for a Star Wars trilogy that’ll never happen, no less) took away THE MERC WITH A MOUTH’S…MOUTH.
The Loophole in X-Men: Origins’ Deadpool vs Wolverine
Despite the fact that Ryan Reynolds played Wade Wilson during the character’s early appearances, Scott Adkins played Wade Wilson after his “evolution” into Weapon XI. In other words, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman never truly did battle in spandex, so we can just go ahead and disregard the Origins fight.
Deadpool’s rise in popularity began in July of 2014 after someone who was definitely not Ryan Reynolds leaked test footage of the Deadpool movie. Wolverine’s second movie, The Wolverine had already come out, and the groundwork for it’s gritty western sequel was laid well before Reynolds’ film would release to massive commercial and critical success.
At this point in time, the ship on a crossover had already sailed. Hugh Jackman had already decided to hang up the claws, and the tones of Logan and Deadpool really don’t mesh. But what if the third Wolverine film wasn’t a brooding and serious western, but instead was more classic superhero fair? What if Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine slipped his tight ass into yellow spandex in X-Men: Days Of Future Past following the tease of his classic suit in The Wolverine’s final scene?
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While Wolverine’s comic accurate suit is never seen in the X-Men franchise, it did make a short appearance in a briefcase in a deleted scene from The Wolverine. Ultimately, the scene was cut, but what if it hadn’t been? It’s safe to assume that Wolverine’s cinematic future would have been altered greatly if they’d kept this scene in the final cut of the film, and such alterations could have opened the door to a Deadpool crossover.
The use of his classic suit would have changed the trajectory of Logan’s future from a grim and depressing one to a more colorful, action packed, and presumably worse one.
Yes, it would have been amazing to see Deadpool fight Wolverine, and yes, I do believe that had Fox kept that deleted scene, it would have happened. If that had happened, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that Hugh Jackman could still be attached to the role.
The brightly colored future that we missed out on would have delivered on visual spectacle and fan service, but it wouldn’t have done Logan’s story justice. Logan is one of the most emotionally rich comic book adaptations of all time, and that can be partially attributed to it’s inherently bleak and distressing nature. It would’ve been a shame to lose such a powerful film over a supersuit and a potential duel with Deadpool.
While it’s fun to dream about what might have been, Wolverine’s story couldn’t have had a more perfect conclusion.
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