Deadpool & Wolverine’s Timeline Means The Dark X-Men Story Fox Hid From You Could Happen In The MCU

After the ending of Deadpool & Wolverine, one of the most important missing stories from 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise could now be explored in the MCU. Fox’s X-Men franchise came to a close after Disney acquired the studio in 2019, seemingly ending the two-decade-long film series with the disappointing Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants. Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine was expected to bid farewell to the X-Men franchise for good, but the ending of the Phase 5 movie actually made a continuation more possible than ever.

Deadpool & Wolverine bridges the gap between Fox’s X-Men franchise and the MCU proper. This is the first Marvel Studios project to do so, including several returning characters from former Deadpool movies, as well as the X-Men franchise as a whole, though many of these characters reappeared in the Void at the End of Time. The timeline of Deadpool & Wolverine, however, means that several forgotten Fox stories could finally be told in the MCU.

Deadpool & Wolverine Is Set Five Years Before Logan, But In The Same Universe

Deadpool & Wolverine provided official confirmation that all the movies of Fox’s X-Men franchise take place in the same universe, dubbed Earth-10005. 2017’s Logan marked the chronological end of the franchise, taking place in the near future of 2029 in a world almost devoid of mutants. Despite addressing Wolverine’s death from Logan, Deadpool & Wolverine actually takes place five years earlier, and six years after Wade Wilson interviewed with Happy Hogan for a position among Earth-616’s Avengers.

While Deadpool & Wolverine is set in 2024, the movie is set primarily in the same universe as James Mangold’s 2017 epic. This suggests that, by the end of Deadpool & Wolverine, there may be two different versions of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine existing in Earth-10005: one residing with Deadpool, and another presumably still recovering in Xavier’s School after the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Taking audiences back five years before Logan means that the darkest missing story is now fair game.

Marvel Studios Could Finally Show Us The Westchester Incident

One of these major events is the Westchester Incident, which was teased relentlessly throughout Logan, but never actually seen in the movie. Logan revealed that a year earlier, in 2028, Charles Xavier had developed a degenerative brain disease, causing him to have massive telepathic seizures. One of these seizures was so destructive that he inadvertently killed several members of the X-Men and injured more than 600 more people in the vicinity. The Westchester Incident led to the government declaring Xavier’s brain a weapon of mass destruction.

Since Deadpool & Wolverine took viewers back to Earth-10005 four years before the Westchester Incident takes place, it’s possible that Marvel Studios could finally detail this event in a future MCU project. James Mangold originally planned to show the Westchester Incident happening in Logan, but changed tact so that Logan could be more character-driven (via Coming Soon). Since the scene has already been written, Marvel Studios could easily adapt it for the MCU, which might benefit both the former and upcoming X-Men teams.

Yeah, I wrote that scene. I wrote it, and at one point, it was even the first scene in the movie. It made the movie about that. It was really interesting. It suddenly made the movie about X-Men dying, as opposed to allowing the movie to be a kind of unwinding onion… I felt like it also was still falling into the formula of the movies, with the big opener… I thought, “What if we do an opener that leans into character first? Actually underplay those things?” Let them just feel like it’s more like a​​​​​​​ normal thing, like it’s happened. And instead of underlining it, yeah. Just let it live in the background of all these characters.

The Westchester Incident Is The Best Way To Remove The X-Men Before The MCU Recasts Them

Since Deadpool & Wolverine ended with Earth-10005 intact, it could be assumed that the X-Men are still active in that universe, meaning it would be possible for the likes of Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden and even Hugh Jackman to reprise their classic roles in the MCU’s future. Bringing these heroes back could present the opportunity for the Westchester Incident to finally be explored on-screen. It hasn’t been revealed which X-Men Charles Xavier’s seizure killed, but Marvel Studios can finally uncover the truth.

While this would be a tragic scene to witness in the MCU, killing off 20th Century Fox’s X-Men team would be the best way to bid a final farewell to the old franchise. This would end these characters’ stories once and for all, clearing the way for Marvel Studios to introduce its own X-Men team in the MCU. Deadpool & Wolverine was first thought to be paving the way for this to happen, but Marvel Studios now has the chance to tell more stories with this beloved X-Men team before recasting them.