Is Deadpool 3’s Wolverine From X-Men ’97?

With the announcement that Jennifer Garner’s Elektra would play a role in Deadpool 3, rumors that actors ranging from Ben Affleck to Halle Berry might return, and a giant, destroyed version of the 20th Century Fox logo on the set, we started to wonder: is Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine really finally putting on his comics-accurate costume for the first time in his 20+ year history? Or is the version of Wolverine seen in yesterday’s set photos actually a live-action counterpart to the version from X-Men: The Animated Series? In a movie that seems likely to be a parody of the current wave of multiverse-driven movies, it wouldn’t be hard to believe that Deadpool would try to riff on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse by incorporating animated versions.

With Disney bringing X-Men: The Animated Series back as a Disney+ series soon, it’s as good at time as there will ever be for Deadpool to skewer the long-dormant show. And, of course, if this was a version of the cartoon version, we could have a little fun watching Hugh Jackman replaying the classic “Wolverine in bed looking mournfully at a photo” meme.

The movie, currently in production and hoping to wrap before the Screen Actors Guild goes on strike, seems to be servicing longtime fans in a lot of unexpected ways. Besides giving Jackman a chance to suit up in a costume that looks pulled from Astonishing X-Men, the movie will also star Jennifer Garner as Elektra, and rumors suggest other former Fox/Marvel stars could reprise their roles for the pic. So far, at least Halle Berry’s Storm and Ben Affleck’s Daredevil have been explicitly rumored.

“Deadpool, for me, is kind of like an anxiety-inducing tightrope walk,” Reynolds told ComicBook.com in an interview last year. “I always think when I’ve got Deadpool just right, I’m speaking from experience from Deadpool 1 & 2, that I need to make it 30 to 40% percent better than it already it is. Even if I’m at the moment where I’m like, ‘This is perfect, this moment!’ Then, I stop and I go, ‘Okay, this has to be 30% better than it already is.’ It’s a stressful thing to get right, or at least right as far as I’m concerned.”

Deadpool 3 will be written by Bob’s Burgers‘ Wendy Molyneaux and Lizzie Molyneaux-Loeglin, with Deadpool and Deadpool 2 writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick reportedly also returning to contribute to the script. Additional cast members have not been confirmed at this time, but we do know that the film will be the first in the franchise to be released by Marvel Studios, following the acquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney.

“It will be rated R and we are working on a script right now, and Ryan’s overseeing a script right now,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige shared in a 2021 interview, in which he said Deadpool was “a very different type of character in the MCU, and Ryan is a force of nature, which is just awesome to see him bring that character to life.”

Deadpool 3 is expected in theaters on November 8, 2024.