An original Easter egg from 2016’s Deadpool has totally been reframed by Wade Wilson’s imminent debut in the MCU with Deadpool & Wolverine. In Ryan Reynolds’ first solo movie as Deadpool from Fox, the Merc With The Mouth was introduced as part of the established X-Men film universe. However, a pretty big Easter egg featured at the movie’s end hits a lot differently eight years later.

In 2024, Deadpool is set to join forces with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in the MCU. Although trailers and promos have only seen the duo in Loki’s Void at the End of Time and in the halls of the Time Variance Authority, the expectation is that they’ll also make their way into the MCU proper. As such, one of Deadpool’s biggest Easter eggs from his first movie has effectively been reframed in light of his upcoming MCU team-up with Wolverine.

2016’s Deadpool Featured A Major MCU Easter Egg 3 Years Before Disney Bought Fox

A Helicarrier For The Final Fight

In 2016’s Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson is on a personal vendetta against Ajax (Ed Skrein), the man who activated his dormant X-gene with the promise of curing his cancer. While Wade’s mutation did cure him with an incredible healing factor, it permanently disfigured his entire body. Disrupting Ajax’s entire operation as he works through his men to track him down, Deadpool’s final confrontation with Ajax occurs after the villain kidnaps Deadpool’s fiancé Vanessa (Morena Baccarin).

As a result, Deadpool’s final battle takes place in an abandoned scrapyard featuring none other than a decommissioned helicarrier. However, no mention is made about the floating command center nor any possible connections to the spy organization SHIELD which prominently uses the flying fortresses both on the page and in the MCU. Regardless, the fact that one appeared in this first Deadpool movie and in the X-Men movie universe was quite surprising.

How Fox Was Able To Include A Full Helicarrier in Deadpool’s Final Battle

Deadpool’s Helicarrier Has To Be Visually Distinct

Ultimately, it was confirmed that Deadpool’s helicarrier was specially designed to be visually distinct enough so as not to cause any licensing issues with Disney and Marvel Studios. After all, the MCU’s SHIELD Helicarrier had already been prominently featured by the time of Deadpool’s release in 2016. Having made its debut in 2012’s Avengers, three more SHIELD helicarriers were featured in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier before the original made a second appearance in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron during the Battle of Sokovia.

That said, Deadpool’s decommissioned helicarrier is still easily identified as a helicarrier. Even if it does have more engines and rotors than those seen in the MCU, it’s not like the movie’s trying to hide what it is. Instead, the helicarrier in 2016’s Deadpool truly is just a cool Easter egg, even if its owners were never meant to be identified, and probably weren’t SHIELD considering its existence in Fox’s X-Men universe. However, one can argue that it now has an added layer of meaning eight years later.

8 Years Later, Deadpool’s Helicarrier Proves Joining The MCU Was Fate

Foreshadowing The Future

Now, Deadpool & Wolverine is set to bring Wade and Logan into the greater MCU where they’ll likely interact with all sorts of characters and elements from the interconnected universe, now that the characters themselves are now owned by Disney following its Fox purchase in 2019. To that end, trailers have featured a downed helicarrier in the Void at the End of Time, having been pruned from its timeline by the TVA at some point. As such, one can argue that the helicarrier Easter egg in Deadpool has been reframed in light of the upcoming movie.

Now, Deadpool’s helicarrier can be viewed as a retroactive piece of foreshadowing, teasing Wade’s eventual debut in the MCU. Of course, that couldn’t have been the original intent when it was added to the original movie. Regardless, the coincidence is highly entertaining, with the inclusion becoming even more important for Deadpool nearly a decade later.

Deadpool & Wolverine is set to release in theaters on July 26th.