Was Deadpool 3 Marvel's Most Recent Delayed Movie?

Earlier today came news about major changes to Disney's full release schedule with Marvel Studios pushing back an untitled movie from February 16, 2024 until September 6, 2024. Considering they brought down the house at San Diego Comic-Con this summer with a full Phase 5 line-up it's unclear what this movie will be (it also remains to be seen if this new title is the end of Phase 5 or the start of Phase 6), but the mystery has lead fans to a lot of speculation: Was Deadpool 3 the film that just got pushed back? Let's investigate.

Marvel Studios has yet to put up a big fancy graphic saying that Deadpool 3 is a part of their plans, but we know that it is. Star Ryan Reynolds, director Shawn Levy, and even Marvel President Kevin Feige have all spoken about the movie being in the works and becoming a priority. What's holding the movie back from getting made right this second is not only the grand Marvel plan but talent scheduling. Levy is not only one of the executive producers on Netflix's Stranger Things but Reynolds is currently filming a movie with John Krasinski and still has the CLUE reboot on deck. 

All of this is to say that the most recent delay very well could have been Deadpool 3, but we'll never know until Marvel says otherwise. Fans were convinced that the project was the highly anticipated sequel since the original Deadpool was released in February of 2016, giving the two movies a bit of symmetry. It's worth noting however that Marvel Studios seems keenly aware of where they want to place the X-Men characters in the larger MCU, and while Deadpool 3 could very well become a key stepping stone in "The Multiverse Saga" (maybe even bridging multiple universes together), the big picture remains a mystery. Here's what Marvel fans are saying about it all: