By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
The MCU has been suffering in recent years, but one bright spot has been Deadpool & Wolverine, a critical and commercial hit that earned over $1.3 billion at the box office. Now, there are strong rumors that Ryan Reynolds is working on a future film in which his famous merc with a mouth will team up with the X-Men.
While some fans are hyped about this idea, the truth is that such a team-up would ruin the X-Men’s introduction to the MCU because the inclusion of Deadpool kills any potential for developing these new characters.
Deadpool Doesn’t Work and Play Well With Others
That’s because Deadpool movies are all about the title character: he steals every scene, talks directly to the camera, and generally presents himself as a tryhard meme made manifest. That works well for his solo movies, of course, because everyone is here to see the title character. But it doesn’t work for an ensemble movie because, as we see in every Deadpool movie, our main character can’t let the X-Men or anyone else get a word out before he interrupts with another witty zinger.
That works well when the zingers are funny, and there’s certainly a pleasure in seeing Deadpool constantly roasting goody two-shoes like Colossus. But be honest: do you really think Colossus or anyone else in Deadpool’s orbit actually gained any character development in these films? The answer is “no” because Deadpool movies don’t have actual characters; instead, everyone else onscreen is a living prop intended to help our mirthful merc deliver his next c-c-c-crazy punchline.
Uncanny X-Pectations
Therefore, Deadpool’s appearance in a future X-Men movie would be disastrous because Marvel is trying to get these mutants just right for their first onscreen appearance. The bar is already very high because most of the original X-Men movies are very good, and shows like X-Men ‘97 have shown us just how well these mutants work onscreen when they are well-written. Now, it’s no exaggeration to say that if the first X-Men MCU movie is to succeed, it’s going to need to be bigger and better than anything else (movie, show, or comic) we’ve seen before.
Let’s be optimistic and assume that the first movie is a smash hit; if so, the introduction of Deadpool to the sequel would threaten to undo everything the inaugural X-Men movie builds up. No matter how great the characters and characterization are, Deadpool would ruin everything by turning every scene into just another joke. Plus, it’s incredibly difficult for a new ensemble cast to shine when one of the most popular Marvel characters is constantly hogging the spotlight.
The AARP Superhero
The irony here is that popping Deadpool into a much later X-Men film might work because our new mutants will be well-established, making it harder for Ryan Reynolds to steal everyone’s thunder whenever he’s onscreen. But we don’t even know when the first X-Men movie will premiere, and Reynolds is already pushing 50 years old. By the time the MCU X-Men franchise is ready for Deadpool (like, half a decade after the first movie premieres), the actor will officially be too old to convincingly portray a youthful and acrobatic superhero.
Marvel is facing a dilemma that not even the TVA could help solve: if they throw Deadpool into the first X-Men sequel, they might generate serious short-term profits (remember, Deadpool & Wolverine earned over $1.3 billion at the box office). But he would effectively destroy any momentum the first movie built up, kneecapping the one fresh franchise Marvel is relying on to save itself. And if they wait until the X-Men are more well-established, Reynolds will be so old that he will need to be recast, effectively destroying the potential profits from putting Deadpool in a movie.
Marvel’s Minimum Effort
For as funny and popular as Deadpool is, he needs to just stay out of the MCU X-Men movies for the foreseeable future. That’s the only way these movies will be able to succeed on their own merits and not rely on stunt casting that will ultimately destroy the franchise. And unless its writers “maximum effort” in telling an original story instead of just throwing in a bankable star and hoping for the best, the MCU itself is going to become this merc’s latest victim.
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