Ryan Reynolds explains why Deadpool can’t ever be a part of the X-Men or Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. During his appearance at this year’s Time 100 Summit, the actor discussed his potential future in the franchise. When asked if Deadpool could factor into one of the upcoming Marvel movies set to feature X-Men characters, Reynolds opened up about why he feels Wade Wilson works best as a supporting player and shouldn’t experience any “wish fulfillment” in the films. He believes Deadpool works best when the creative team looks for ways to take things away from him.
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“In order for a character that talks like that to work, you have to take everything away from him,” Reynolds said. “His skin, his face, he’s covered in scars. He wears the mask out of shame … I like that he’s isolated. Deadpool becomes an Avenger or an X-Man, we’re at the end. That’s his wish fulfillment and you can’t give him that.”
After headlining two blockbuster solo Deadpool movies in Fox’s X-Men franchise, Reynolds officially made the jump to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in last summer’s Deadpool & Wolverine. Teaming up with Hugh Jackman, Reynolds delivered one of the biggest hits in MCU history. Deadpool & Wolverine broke box office records en route to a $1.3 billion worldwide gross.
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Despite that tremendous success, Deadpool’s next appearance in the MCU hasn’t been announced. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has mentioned he’s “always wondering where we can fit them in,” but doesn’t know where that could be yet. For his part, Reynolds has maintained Deadpool works best as an outsider and has been adamant about not letting the character join a superhero team.
Part of the fun of the MCU is watching the various characters interact with each other (like when the Guardians of the Galaxy met the Avengers in Infinity War), so it would be entertaining to see Deadpool play off other heroes. However, there’s something smart about Reynolds’ approach. Deadpool would probably be better off operating in his own corner of the MCU. Not only would that stay true to the spirit of the character from a storytelling perspective, it’s also tricky to see how Deadpool’s antics would fit within the context of a more “serious” MCU film. The character is famous for breaking the fourth wall, which would arguably be hard to pull off in something like Doomsday. And in order to maintain the desired PG-13 rating, Deadpool’s violent tendencies would have to be watered down.
Keeping Wade Wilson separate from the mainline MCU story would allow Reynolds to retain the creative freedom he enjoyed making the Deadpool trilogy, exploring concepts that interest him through a very specific lens. Each film to date saw Wade attempt to overcome some kind of adversity (his changing personal condition, losing Vanessa). Despite his amazing abilities, Deadpool isn’t really a power fantasy for audiences to live vicariously through. He’s supposed to be a bit of an underdog people enjoy rooting for because he’s had so much taken away from him. If he became part of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, there’d be little else to tackle from a narrative perspective. It’s best if those wishes continue to go unfulfilled.
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