The Marvel Cinematic Universe loves its moments of connection. Despite both characters’ penchant for addressing the audience directly, there is an interesting connection between She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Deadpool & Wolverine that most MCU fans missed. Wade Wilson and Logan are only able to escape Alioth’s void thanks to a sling-ring that works across different dimensions. That ring likely belonged to Donny Blaze, a minor antagonist for Wong and Jennifer Walters. The most obvious connection between She-Hulk and Deadpool are fourth-wall breaks, where the character talks directly to the viewer.
For both characters, this comes right out of the comic books. While Wade doesn’t name-drop Jennifer Walters, there does seem to be a pretty clear connection between Deadpool & Wolverine and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. In Episode 4, “Is This Not Real Magic?” failed sorcerer Donny Blaze is seen using a sling-ring as part of his magician’s act. Wong hires Jennifer to get him to stop exploiting the mystic arts this way. Especially since this episode and the third Deadpool film came out in-between seasons of Loki, the multiversal reach of a sling-ring wasn’t clearly established. While Donny Blaze helps make clear the portals can open on different dimensions, a throwaway line from Cassandra Nova suggests it’s his sling-ring she possessed to get Wade and Logan out of the void.
Donny Blaze Is a Bad Sorcerer Who Can Cross Realities With a Sling-Ring
Madisynn’s Journey Seems Different to the Established MCU Multiverse
One of the best new characters from She-Hulk was Madisynn, a woman with a vocal fry who likes to party and watch TV. She was the person who alerted Wong (still the Sorcerer Supreme) that Donny Blaze was sending civilians across dimensions. At a preliminary injunction hearing, Madisynn “testified” about her experiences in “a fire land” and with “a demon” named “Jake.” While this whole plot was comedic, it does establish that some sorcerers can use sling-rings to cross dimensions or, more specifically, the multiverse.
Marvel Multiverse Movies and Shows
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
What If…?
Loki
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Deadpool & Wolverine
In both Doctor Strange films, getting to another dimension or reality is a bigger problem than a sling-ring could handle. If it was that easy, Strange or the Scarlet Witch could’ve just opened a portal to any other reality. Similarly, getting to Dormammu’s dimension was a big deal in the first film. Yet, Donny Blaze is able to access these dimensions not just with ease, but seemingly accidentally. Perhaps it’s just not something a fully-trained sorcerer would do, but it does explain how Deadpool and Wolverine were able to get back to his Earth using that method. The film suggests the sling-ring belonged to Donny Blaze, and Cassandra Nova ran her fingers through his brain to learn how he was able to open such powerful portals.
The void where Alioth consumes “pruned” people and objects from other realities is, itself, an alternate dimension like Madisynn’s fire land. These places were accessible from the “Sacred Timeline” of the MCU. Perhaps, from those alternate dimensional planes, any branch of the multiverse is accessible with a sling-ring as well. The inconsistencies here aren’t the fault of She-Hulk or Deadpool & Wolverine, however. It’s the God of Mischief’s, and the up-and-down nature of the Marvel multiverse between the two seasons of Loki’s eponymous series.
How Loki Fits Into the She-Hulk and Deadpool Connection
Cassandra Nova Killed Donny Blaze as He Traveled the Multiverse
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law debuted before Loki Season 2, meaning the fate of the MCU multiverse was still up-in-the-air. The series was also produced before Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which is why Donny Blaze likely stuck to alternate dimensions. Whether he graduated to using the sling-ring to travel to actual branch realities is an open question. However, a line from Deadpool & Wolverine suggests Donny Blaze and his sling-ring found their way to Cassandra Nova.
“You wanna hear something crazy? An amateur magician roamed through here a while back. I killed him, of course, wore his skin around for four days. But I found this little trinket on his lovely fingers.” — Cassandra Nova to Wade and Logan revealing the sling-ring.
When Nova reveals she has a sling-ring, Deadpool says “Strange,” implying perhaps it was one of his variants she took it from. However, as Multiverse of Madness made clear, no version of Strange is an “amateur magician.” This line seems to clearly be a reference to Donny Blaze. After Jennifer successfully got him to stop using the sling-ring in his magic show, this suggests he went to see what the other dimensions had to offer him. Whether it was the TVA who sent him to Alioth’s void or he found his own way there is up to MCU fans to imagine for themselves.
The biggest problem Loki creates is that the multiverse as MCU fans know it (meaning pre-Marvel Studios films and series) has “always” existed. The Time Variance Authority exists outside the flow of time. Thus, Wade shows up in the TVA after the events of Loki Season 2, as evidenced by Hunter B-15’s leadership role rather than a simple “hunter.” Even the multiverse as it appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home or any of those other films are all realities that have existed after Loki claimed his throne. Still, Donny Blaze may be the first MCU character to use a sling-ring to cross dimensions. Without him, Deadpool and Wolverine would’ve never made it home in time.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Deadpool & Wolverine are currently streaming on Disney+.
