What I thought I knew about Deadpool & Wolverine‘s story has just been shaken up by the movie’s director, Shawn Levy. Deadpool & Wolverine will hit cinemas on July 26 with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman making their MCU debuts before revealing whether they will have larger roles to play in the franchise. Anticipation for the movie has led to it already breaking several records, including the most-watched trailer of all time and the most first-day pre-sale tickets of 2024.

The movie’s filmmakers are keeping their cards exceptionally close to their chest regarding the story for Deadpool & Wolverine. Details beyond a handful of confirmed Deadpool & Wolverine cameos, the involvement of the TVA, and a couple of new characters are sparse. Nevertheless, the involvement of the TVA and certain lines from trailers and footage offer significant clues. Specifically, I believed the movie might involve several aspects of the Multiverse Saga set up by such game-changing MCU installments as Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Yet recent comments made by Levy have cast significant doubt on this assumption.

Why Deadpool & Wolverine Director’s Story Update Has Me Confused

As part of a sprawling media tour, Reynolds, Jackman, and Levy spoke to Variety in an “NSFW” interview about the R-rated MCU movie. One of the tamer moments saw them talk about the emotional heft of the movie, addressing the implications of the multiverse on the high stakes typically brought about by a character’s death. Reynolds acknowledged this, stating that the emotional stakes of Deadpool & Wolverine don’t concern death – which Levy elaborated on, stating:

“Deadpool” is never going to be a space-battle, save-the-universe franchise. It’s a beautifully grounded character. This movie is definitely big in spectacle, but the stakes for Logan, for Wade, are what we anchor into. The multiverse is just a backdrop.

After everything we have seen, I find this confusing. The filmmakers might be secretive about the Deadpool & Wolverine plot details, but trailer footage makes it seem clear that Deadpool is concerned with saving his universe and the loved ones it contains, as indicated when he states, “I’m about to lose everything I ever cared about,” before chastising Wolverine for losing his “world.” Alongside appearances of the Void, variants, and the TVA, it seems obvious that Deadpool & Wolverine is very much concerned with the multiverse and saving one universe in particular.

So What’s Deadpool & Wolverine About?

There is, of course, a lot to be said for misdirection in trailers – particularly ones within the MCU. With that in mind, there is every possibility that the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer is intended to make audiences believe that it will lean into the Multiverse Saga’s overarching context while keeping its true narrative under wraps. Instead, Deadpool & Wolverine might hinge on a mission that holds much lower stakes than saving the universe or multiverse.

Following this, when Deadpool states that he is about to lose his world, it is highly likely that he is specifically referencing the people he loves, as indicated by the picture he holds of Vanessa and his friends. While sequences do seem to take place in the Void (Alioth and the TVA denote this), Deadpool and Wolverine’s mission could be exclusively to save his friends and family there, leaving the multiverse – as Levy says – as a backdrop. If this is the case, one big Deadpool & Wolverine theory is about to fly out of the window.

Deadpool & Wolverine Update Is Bad News For Avengers 5 Theories

Whether it is self-contained or not, Deadpool & Wolverine takes place within an MCU that is about to experience multiversal calamity in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. The presence of the Void and the TVA has caused many fans to speculate that it will go one step further and set up Avengers: The Kang Dynasty directly, as Kang the Conqueror is closely tied to both and hasn’t been seen since Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, making his return feel overdue. Levy’s comments seemingly draw a line beneath such theories, however.

A copy of an Avengers: Secret Wars comic can also be seen in the first Deadpool & Wolverine trailer, further fueling rumors that it will set up the Multiverse Saga climax.

If the stakes truly are grounded and personal to the titular heroes, then it feels particularly unlikely that they will find themselves helping stave off Kang’s impending assault on the rest of the multiverse. It also feels as though Deadpool & Wolverine is more concerned with callback cameos than future MCU developments, lending further credence to this idea. Still, there is a chance that Levy is assuaging rumors rather than tempering expectations – and, as always, the truth of the matter remains to be seen.