Disney teased Wolverine joining Black Panther in a sizzle reel at CinemaCon promoting the newly acquired 21st Century Fox properties which include the X-Men and hinting they will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
According to Deadline, the sizzle reel showed Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine asking, “What is this place?” It then cut to a scene of Black Panther making you feel like Wolverine is asking the King of Wakanda.
Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn praised the sizzle reel, “I’ve put some sizzle reels together in my time, but that one blows my mind, I’m still just getting my mind around this.”
Horn would elaborate on Marvel Studios acquiring the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises stating, “We’ll be more than the sum of our parts.” He added, “We’ll be the north star as Disney and Fox continues to move forward.”
He also confirmed that Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool will be moving forward following the merger. Deadline indicates a shot of Reynolds’ tweet as Deadpool riding a bus with Mickey Mouse ears popped on the screen.
Feels like the first day of ‘Pool. pic.twitter.com/QVy8fCxgqr
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) March 19, 2019
As the image flashed on the screen, Horn stated, “You’ll be seeing more of Deadpool in the years ahead.”
The sizzle reel showing Wolverine joining Black Panther all but confirms that the X-Men will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I’m sure it will give fans tons of hope that Jackman might reprise his role for at least one more film.
In fact, the sizzle reel confirms X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner’s previous statements about the X-Men and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) made at the Television Critics Association panel for FX’s Legion. While there Donner discussed Wolverine joining the MCU, “Yes, I don’t know what Kevin’s thinking honestly. I don’t even think Kevin knows. I think Kevin’s still dealing with this wealth of characters and trying to make sense of them.”
Donner indicated that Jackman most likely would not reprise his role, but did the leave possibility for possible appearances as Old Man Logan.
“Yes, because Hugh, just the physicality of it all, just to bulk up. This man worked so hard to bulk up, would get up at four in the morning to bulk and eat protein meals every two hours because his natural state, they used to call him Worm when he was a kid. So his natural state is a very skinny guy. Once you reach a certain age, the body just won’t go anymore. I think he was wise to say, ‘I’m at that point. I can’t do it.’ Now, that doesn’t mean he can’t come back as older Wolverine. You never know. Future Wolverine, you never know.”
It’s unclear at this point what Feige plans to do with the X-Men, we reported on a rumor that it’s possible the current X-Men actors, who will debut in New Mutants and reprise their roles in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, might stay on board depending on their schedules and the financial success of the films.
As for Deadpool, it’s possible it will be separate from the MCU and be part of a Marvel R-Rated brand. However, it’s also possible the franchise might be rebooted. Reynolds confirmed his team was working on Deadpool 3 back in January hinting that it might be a reboot saying, “often they reboot or change a character maybe like four movies too late.” He also noted the current Deadpool movie he was working on was “looking to go in a completely different direction.”
Are you looking forward to Wolverine and the X-Men joining the MCU? How do you think they should be introduced? What do you make of Deadpool possibly be getting rebooted with Reynolds under Disney?