Deadpool 3 will be the first MCU movie to convert a franchise from a different cinematic universe. The first two films were part of the Fox Marvel universe, which now belongs to Disney. After it bought Fox, Disney said that Deadpool would remain unchanged, and we recently found out that the upcoming sequel will be rated R. But we also got the first plot teaser for Deadpool 3, which made us realize that Ryan Reynolds & co. will have to somehow fix a significant plot hole. And prevent another one.
Before you find out what these Deadpool 3 plot holes might be, you should make sure you’ve seen the first two installments, as well as most of the MCU movies. But especially Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Otherwise, big spoilers will follow.
Must Read: 5 new Netflix releases everyone will be watching this weekend
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for fish-out-of-water,” Deadpool 3 writer Rhett Reese said. “Deadpool is a lunatic at the center of a movie. To drop a lunatic into a very sane world it’s straight butter. It’s going to be really fun.”
The MCU is the sane world Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) will join. That’s the plot teaser we got earlier this week, but it wasn’t enough to give us an idea of what happens in Deadpool 3. Or how much of the story of Deadpool and Deadpool 2 will factor into this sequel.
The first Deadpool 3 plot hole: Time travel in the MCU
But there’s already a huge plot hole concerning Deadpool 2 when it comes to MCU integration: Time travel.
Marvel defined time travel in Avengers: Endgame in a specific way that’s unlike most movies, Deadpool 2 included. As a result, the events in the second film are a huge plot hole for Deadpool 3.
Endgame tells us that you can’t travel back in time to change the past, which in turn would change the future. What happened happened, and it can’t be undone. Well, unless you use the Time Stone, but that’s a whole other story.
To return to Endgame, the movie tells us that you can’t go back in time to kill Hitler. Per Endgame’s rules, you’d just create a different timeline where there’s no Hitler.
Whereas in Deadpool 2, Deadpool goes back in time to kill Hitler. He also goes back in time to save the life of his girlfriend, and fix the career of one Ryan Reynolds. We know that Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) is resurrected as a result. This isn’t possible in a multiverse governed by Endgame’s time travel rules.
Therefore, Deadpool 3 has to retcon this problem. Maybe Wade Wilson dreamt everything in Deadpool 2. Or maybe the Deadpool that we’re getting is a soft reboot, and he won’t ever mention those past events. Because he never actually experienced them.
Still Spider-Man: No Way Home practically connected all Marvel universes to the MCU. That means the Deadpool 2 time travel is a problem — and yes, Fox’s X-Men have time travel issues as well.
What about Doctor Strange incursions?
It was nearly two months ago that we learned about incursions, which may turn out to be another Deadpool 3 plot hole. But it’s one that Ryan Reynolds can avoid.
We have no idea how the Merc with a Mouth will jump to Earth-616 from wherever he is presently. And Multiverse of Madness would have been a great way to bring Deadpool in without worrying too much about the logistics of the move.
But now Ryan Reynolds & Co. will have to find a plausible way for Deadpool to jump into a different timeline in Deadpool 3, but one that doesn’t cause an incursion.
That’s a side effect of altering reality to the point where two timelines find themselves on collision paths. In Multiverse of Madness, the same character caused two such incursions.
The dead Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) from Earth-838 is responsible for one. But also the primary Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) caused one, as we learned in the post-credits scenes.
What’s surprising in all of this is that Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) did not cause an incursion herself, as she behaved just like Strange relative to the multiverse. She influenced a timeline and she dream-walked into a different reality.
As we already explained, No Way Home also gets its own incursion plot hole. How come the events in that movie did not cause a separate incursion?
There’s time to fix it
The point is, you know that Deadpool will wreak havoc in whatever universe he finds himself in. That includes the MCU once Deadpool 3 arrives. He might not dream-walk like the sorcerers, however. But he could still trigger an incursion. Unless Marvel explains it better.
The good news is that we have no release date for Deadpool 3. The team has plenty of time to fix plot holes, and prevent new ones.
More Marvel coverage: For more MCU news, visit our Marvel guide.
