Could Deadpool 3 Be Marvel's February Phase 5 Movie?

By Kofi Outlaw

Could Deadpool 3 be the Marvel movie that Marvel Studios has been holding back as one of the only Phase 5 MCU projects not yet revealed? Deadpool 3 was one of the most conspicuous omissions on the schedules for MCU Phase 5 and Phase 6 – both of which had their timelines revealed during Marvel's Comic-Con 2022 panel. Deadpool not being on either slate was especially noticeable since the makers of Deadpool 3 – Ryan Reynolds, director Shawn Levy, and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick – have not exactly been clandestine about their involvement, or even what Deadpool coming to the MCU will be like. 

Here's the MCU Phase 5 schedule that we Know: 

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(Photo: Marvel Studios)
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on February 17, 2023
  • Secret Invasion on Disney+ in Spring 2023
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on May 5, 2023
  • Marvel's Echo on Disney+ in Summer 2023
  • Loki Season 2 on Disney+ in Summer 2023
  • The Marvels on July 28, 2023
  • Ironheart on Disney+ in the Fall of 2023
  • Blade on November 3, 2023
  • Agatha: Coven of Chaos on Disney+ in Winter 2023/24
  • UNTITLED MARVEL MOVIE  on February 16, 2024
  • Daredevil Born Again in Spring 2024
  • Captain America: New World Order on May 3, 2024
  • Thunderbolts on July 26, 2024

In all the pomp and flash during Marvel's panel at Comic-Con 2022, it went largely unnoticed that the February movie was missing, as Disney had claimed the Feb. 2024 last fall.  But now that fans are wondering out loud about it, it does seem like Deadpool 3 is the most likely candidate. 

The historical data is there: the original Deadpool movie was released on February 8, 2016, and became a major box office hit, breaking records and taking the X-Men movie franchise to a whole new level. Deadpool 2 opened in May of 2018 and pretty much scored the same box office haul – which is not exactly a glowing achievement for a blockbuster franchise sequel. So, Marvel Studios going back to what worked the first time would make sense: putting out Deadpool 3 – a high-value comic book movie product – in the typically vacant window of February movies. 

We know the writers of Deadpool 3 are already working on the script; now it's being reported that Ryan Reynolds is in training to return as Deadpool. A 2022 training regiment certainly suggests Deadpool 3 could be filming in 2023, to make that February 2024 date. 

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As for why Marvel Studios may not be revealing Deadpool 3's official place in the Phase 5 schedule? Namely: the mutant issue. Once Deadpool comes to the MCU, the entire X-Men Universe arguably comes in on his back. Once fans know Deadpool 3 is coming, the questions and speculation about how the X-Men (and mutants in general) fit into the MCU are going to run rampant. Marvel may be keeping a tight clamp on that whole side of the franchise until they can do a slow-roll build-up through in-universe reveals. "Mutation" was name-dropped at the end of Ms. Marvel; the trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is already dropping hints that Namor (Tenoch Huerta) will be a mutant outcast amongst his own people, even as their king. 

If Phase 4 ends with Kamala Khan and Namor confirmed as the MCU's first mutants (not to mention a cameo from X-Men leader Prof X.), then Phase 5 can certainly kick that door open much wider – starting with Deadpool 3. Avengers: Secret Wars has been confirmed as the end of Phase 6; that event is expected to include at least a variation of the X-Men in its ensemble mix, before a new, official, X-Men world is rolled out in Phase 7, as a proper part of a rebooted MCU. 

Of course, if Deadpool 3 is coming in Phase 5, who knows what other X-Men properties we could see as early as Phase 6. What do you think? 

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