After so many months of speculating about what Marvel fans could expect from Ryan Reynolds’ latest R-rated antics in the upcoming Deadpool 3, the actor finally revealed the bonkers first trailer, which wound up being one of the best Super Bowl LVIII commercials. Wildly enough, it didn’t even need any straightforward appearances from co-star Hugh Jackman in his return as Wolverine, as it was filled with plenty of callbacks, MCU references and other Marvel easter eggs. And we did get to see Wolvie’s claws there in the end, so a win-win all around.
Let’s run through all the most notable references made in the first Deadpool & Wolverine trailer, which itself earned a pretty NSFW reaction from Reynolds in relation to Dune’s notorious popcorn buckets. Speaking of NSFW…
Pegging Reference To The First Movie
The first part of the trailer is filled with the side characters from the first two films, which could technically count as callbacks I guess. But the first time the preview really drills it in there is when Reynolds' uncostumed Wade brings up pegging, a callback to the time Morena Baccarin's Vanessa took him from behind, as it were, in the first Deadpool film. Not the most common behavior in a Disney movie, which is kind of an understatement.
Matthew Macfadyen’s Character Revealed
While on the tail end of a very successful awards season for his work in the final season of Succession, Matthew Macfadyen is back to looking snazzy in a suit for Deadpool & Wolverine. While we don't know exactly who he's playing at this point, at least the trailer seemingly confirms he'll be the Mobius to Wade's Loki, so to speak. Wonder what his favorite kind of skiing is.
Footage From Past MCU Films In The TVA
While inside the TVA, Wade doesn't witness past tragedies from his own life the way Tom Hiddleston's trickster god did, but rather clips from three other MCU projects: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: Ragnarok, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Does that mean the plots of those films will get major focus in Deadpool & Wolverine? A bit more on that lower.
20th Century Fox Logo In The Void
Beyond the TVA, the latest Deadpool flick will also incorporate one of Loki's wildest storytelling concepts: The Void. After getting tossed into the vast location, presumably after getting pruned within the TVA (but perhaps not), the protagonist finds himself near the half-buried, half-destroyed logo for 20th Century Fox, the studio that produced the X-Men films. It would be over the top if that's how the mutants end up in the Marvel movie world.
A Downed Chitauri Leviathan
I feel like crashed Chitauri Leviathans are like THE go-to background fodder for The Void. But while this wouldn't be so out of place within one of the traditional MCU releases, it's the first time one can be seen within Deadpool's reality.
X-Men's Pyro Is Back
Yes, obviously Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is the most-anticipated arrival from the Deadpool sequel that now bears his name. But since that was confirmed long ago, and we've all had time to live with that knowledge, now we can get newly excited for the first additional X-Men franchise alum confirmed to appear: Aaron Stanford's St. John Allerdyce, better known as the fire-wielding Pyro. Stanford took over the role for X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand, with that 2006 film serving as the character's last live-action appearance.
Secret Wars And Pingo Doce
The rare "super-cool easter egg lying atop an even cooler easter egg" combo. What we have here first is an empty bottle of the Brazillian soda Pingo Doce, a green potable that was responsible for Stan Lee's faux demise in The Incredible Hulk, as some of Bruce Banner's blood was inside the bottle.
Below that is a copy of Marvel's Secret Wars #5 from the 2015 series, and though its cover isn't so clear in the trailer, know that half of it is Doctor Doom's face. So rather than being a callBACK, this is more of a callAHEAD. But is it only nodding to the 2027 "soft reboot" of the Avengers team-up down the line, or is it specifically hinting at Doctor Doom's imminent arrival within this multiversal saga? I think we know the answer to that.
Doctor Doom's Servo-Guard?
Had it not been for the Secret Wars drop at the end, it would have been very easy to see this lone guard and think it might be Doctor Doom, given the character is wearing a mask whose eye holes are pretty similar to the iconic villain's. But it doesn't seem like this brute is wearing gloves, so they're probably just a guard/enforcer of some kind. But does that mean the similiarity to Doom's mask makes them one of his henchman? I flipping hope so.
For those who still haven't watched the whole trailer in its entirety, there's no better time than the present!
Deadpool & Wolverine is coming to and inside theaters all over the country on Friday, July 26. I doubt anything else in the 2024 movie schedule will be quite on its level, but it's a pretty packed year.
