For the longest time, the death of really big heroes wasn't a thing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Granted, fans witnessed how characters like Vision, Groot, and Phil Coulson bit the dust in a specific project, but they all eventually returned one way or another. Quicksilver was one of the unlucky few who really stayed out of the picture for many years without any plans for a potential revival. However, all of that changed the day Avengers: Endgame premiered.
Earth's Mightiest Heroes' latest adventure acted as the perfect farewell for fan-favorites such as Iron Man, Black Widow, and Steve Rogers' Captain America. Since that day, audiences learned that no one is truly safe in the MCU anymore, which will especially hold true the closer we get to the end of the Multiverse Saga. Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will undoubtedly mark the final appearances of many big characters, who might need to sacrifice themselves to prevent the multiverse from collapsing. It will be heartbreaking(ly awesome) to watch unfold, but that grim era nearly started even sooner with the release of a beloved crossover movie.
Ryan Reynolds thought about killing Wade Wilson in Deadpool & Wolverine
Deadpool & Wolverine saw Cassandra Nova use a device called the Time Ripper to consume every single timeline, hoping to leave The Void as the only plane of existence. The only way to put a stop to her plan and prevent the collapse of the multiverse along the way was to destroy the machine by creating a direct circuit between its matter and anti-matter feeds. However, doing so would kill either Wade or Logan in the process, regardless of their healing factor. Fortunately, the two heroes teamed up and were able to make it out alive thanks to the power of friendship and Madonna. That's the version audiences saw on the big screen, but the story was nearly very different.
During a conversation with The Box Office Podcast, Ryan Reynolds revealed that he initially intended for Deadpool to be deatomized when destroying the Time Ripper, effectively "killing him":
"There's always the thought of killing Deadpool in the last one. Again, it's like listening to the movie. Me, Shane Reed, Dean Zimmerman, editor, and Shawn Levy must have reworked that third act for 45 days straight (...) We were looking for it. But you have a character that can't die, so we wrote it as that he deatomized."
However, Ryan explained that the decision ultimately didn't come to be as Marvel wanted to keep the character around for longer (especially now that he finally joined the MCU):
"The studios are like, of course, it'd be fun to play around with this guy in the future because he's a cheat code. You can say things that everyone might be thinking, and it gets you out of trouble, so kind of valuable for that reason. But also, I love playing him."
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ryan Reynolds stated that Deadpool only works when you put the character with his back against the wall and take everything away from him. That has been the overarching story of the previous three Deadpool films and has paid off wonders. However, Ryan feels that doing it a fourth time would be "iterative and redundant", which could be the reason why he considered giving the beloved anti-hero a proper farewell during his latest adventure.
So what's next for the Merch With a Mouth, if another stand-alone movie isn't in the cards? Of course, expectations are that both he and Logan will make an appearance in the next big MCU crossovers: Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. After all, both movies will have a heavy emphasis on the X-Men, as evidenced by the former's casting announcement. But beyond that possibility, Ryan has stated that he's "writing a little something right now", which is "an ensemble". Could an X-Force movie be on the horizon? Or will he appear as a supporting character in a different X-Men movie after the Multiverse Saga is over and the Mutants take over?
There's more Deadpool to come in the following years, and hopefully, we'll get an official announcement regarding his character at San Diego Comic-Con 2025. Meanwhile, all eyes are set on the upcoming Avengers movies to bring together all iconic MCU characters in existence to date, including the famous anti-hero.
Avengers: Doomsday will be released on December 18, 2026.