Ryan Reynolds has portrayed various iterations of Deadpool since 2009, and will soon be joining the MCU permanently following Deadpool & Wolverine’s release in July 2024. As far back as 2004, Ryan Reynolds had expressed interest in bringing Marvel Comics’ Merc-with-a-Mouth to the big screen, originally in a planned New Line Cinema film adaptation that would have been directed by David S. Goyer. This came following Marvel Comics’ Deadpool referring to his appearance as “Ryan Reynolds crossed with a shar-pei” in 2004’s Cable & Deadpool #2, and Reynolds’ Deadpool dreams finally came true in Fox’s 2009 project X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine’s Deadpool deviated massively from the Marvel Comics character, but Ryan Reynolds’ popularity in the role led to 20th Century Fox putting a more comic-accurate approach to the antihero into development. 2016’s Deadpool and 2018’s Deadpool 2 broke numerous records for R-rated movies, and launched Reynolds to international acclaim. Following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, Ryan Reynolds and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige quickly confirmed that Reynolds would return as Deadpool in the MCU, which will take place in 2024’s upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, seemingly making his previous adventures in Fox’s X-Men Universe MCU canon.

13. Wade Wilson Becomes Weapon XI In Fox’s Original X-Men Timeline

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

In 20th Century Fox’s original timeline, Ryan Reynolds debuted as Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, introduced as a member of Team X under the command of William Stryker. His mutation gifts him enhanced reflexes and agility, and makes him the subject of Stryker’s Weapon XI experiment. Powers from other mutants, including Kestrel, Bolt, Cyclops and Wolverine, are combined in Wilson’s body, though he is brainwashed by Stryker, forcing him to fight Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Liev Schreiber’s Sabretooth. This version is beheaded, but survives nonetheless, though was rewritten in Fox’s revised X-Men timeline.

12. The Current Wade Wilson Grows Up In Canada & Becomes A Special Forces Soldier (1975-2010s)

Deadpool (2016)

Following the events of 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, a new version of Wade Wilson was born in 1975 in Regina, Canada. Not much is known about Wade Wilson’s early life, he later joked with Vanessa Carlyle that he had a childhood full of hardship. More seriously, Wilson did note that family was an “f-word” for him, and suggested that his father may have been abusive before leaving. At some point, Wilson became a member of the Canadian Special Forces, met bartender Weasel and formed a friendship with Bob, but was dishonorably discharged, leading to him becoming a mercenary-for-hire.

11. Wade Wilson Becomes A Mercenary-For-Hire (2010s)

Deadpool (2016)

When audiences are introduced to Ryan Reynolds’ new-and-improved Wade Wilson in Deadpool, he is working as a mercenary-for-hire operating at Sister Margaret’s School for Wayward Girls. He takes a job from teenager Megan to get pizza delivery boy Jeremy to stop stalking her, but refuses to dub himself a hero. Wade Wilson is incredibly skilled at his work, and often brutal in his methods, but is one of the most effective mercenaries at Sister Margaret’s. At the bar, they run a Dead Pool, and, at one point, Weasel bets money on Wilson being killed, despite the two being close friends.

10. Wade Wilson Meets Vanessa Carlyle & Gets His Cancer Diagnosis (2010s)

Deadpool (2016)

After helping Megan with her stalker problem, Wade Wilson meets a prostitute named Vanessa Carlyle, portrayed by Morena Baccarin. The pair bond over their troubled childhoods and quickly begin a sexual relationship, though this soon develops into a romantic connection. Wade and Vanessa are together for roughly a year before the former proposes marriage, though this is overshadowed by a diagnosis of terminal cancer in his liver, lungs, prostate and brain. Wilson attempts to leave Vanessa, hoping to spare her from his decline, but she chooses to stay by his side, despite a ticking clock being placed on his life.

9. Wade Wilson Becomes A Mutant (2010s)

Deadpool (2016)

A saving grace of sorts presents itself when Wilson meets the “Recruiter” at Sister Margaret’s, who offers him the chance to cure his cancer by becoming a mutant. Initially hesitant, Wilson soon agrees, and undergoes a series of torturous sessions in an effort to unlock his latent mutant genes, overseen by Ed Skrein’s Ajax, a.k.a. Francis Freeman. After many failed attempts, Wilson is locked in a chamber with fluctuating air for days, which unlocks his mutation, but leaves him with extensive scarring over his entire body. Nevertheless, he now has a regenerative healing factor that keeps his cancer at bay.

8. Deadpool Battles Ajax With Colossus & Negasonic Teenage Warhead (2016)

Deadpool (2016)

Hoping Ajax can revert him to his former appearance, Wade Wilson, now operating as the vigilante Deadpool, hunts him. During this chase, Deadpool meets X-Men members Stefan Kapičić’s Colossus and Brianna Hildebrand’s Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and moves in with Leslie Uggams’ Blind Al, not wanting to return to Vanessa in his current state. However, when Vanessa is captured by Ajax, Deadpool engages in a final battle with the villain, which ends with Ajax revealing that Deadpool’s scarring is irreversible. This prompts Deadpool to kill his staunch enemy and reveal his true face to Vanessa, with the pair reigniting their relationship.

7. Deadpool Continues His Work As A Mercenary (2016-2018)

Deadpool 2 (2018)

After reestablishing his relationship with Vanessa, Deadpool continues to work as a vigilante and mercenary, traveling across the globe to take down numerous villains. This sees him take on many guises, including briefly working as a stripper with a blonde wig and stiletto boots, but Wade Wilson always hangs onto his wise-cracking jokes and brilliant fourth-wall breaks. This comes to a head back in the United States, where Deadpool attempts to kill mobster Sergei Valishnikov on the day of his anniversary with Vanessa. Deciding this mission is taking too much time, Deadpool aborts, but this has dire consequences.

6. Vanessa Is Killed & Deadpool Trains To Be In The X-Men (2018)

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Deadpool is unwittingly followed home by Valishnikov’s men, one of whom kills Vanessa before Wilson can intercept. Wilson kills all the men, and spends the next six months trying to find ways to kill himself, but his body reconstitutes itself every time. Trying to help, Colossus proposes that Deadpool train to be in the X-Men, but on his first mission, Deadpool kills one of the staff members at the Essex House for Mutant Rehabilitation, who had been abusing Julian Dennison’s Russell Collins and other young mutants. This action lands Deadpool and Collins in the Ice Box, a prison for mutants.

5. Deadpool Meets Cable In The Ice Box (2018)

Deadpool 2 (2018)

While in the Ice Box, Russell Collins forms a friendship with Juggernaut, and Wade Wilson begins to feel the effects of his cancer, as his power-dampening collar means he is no longer healing himself. Soon, the prison is attacked by Josh Brolin’s Cable, a traveler from the future who wants to kill Russell Collins before he has the chance to become a villain and murder Cable’s wife and daughter. Deadpool and Cable fight, throwing the pair out of the prison. Wade Wilson sees Vanessa during a near-death experience, and becomes convinced that he needs to save Collins from Cable’s wrath.

4. Deadpool Forms X-Force (2018)

Deadpool 2 (2018)

In an effort to save Russell Collins, Deadpool and Weasel bring together a selection of mutants to form X-Force. This team includes Zazie Beetz’s Domino, Terry Crews’ Bedlam, Lewis Tan’s Shatterstar, Bill Skarsgård’s Zeitgeist, Brad Pitt’s Vanisher and Rob Delaney’s Peter, the team’s only human member. Unfortunately, all but Deadpool and Domino are killed during X-Force’s first mission, as forecast winds blow their parachutes into dangerous situations. Deadpool and Domino battle Cable and Juggernaut, culminating in Deadpool being torn in half, but his legs soon regrow, and he enters into a deal with Cable to try and spare Collins’ life.

3. Deadpool & His Team Save Russell Collins (2018)

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Traveling back to the Essex House for Mutant Rehabilitation, Colossues, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Shioli Kutsuna’s Yukio battle Juggernaut, while Deadpool and Cable speak to Russell Collins. On the verge of killing his abusive headmaster, Collins is slowly talked down by Deadpool, who offered himself as a sacrifice instead, using a power-dampening collar for emphasis. Cable isn’t convinced, however, and fires a shot at Collins, which Deadpool intercepts. Deadpool’s collar means he is killed by this gunshot, changing Collins’ path and saving Cable’s family. Cable decides to travel into the past and save Deadpool, ensuring the future is still secure.

2. Deadpool Changes Events Throughout History (2018)

Deadpool 2 (2018)

After being saved by Cable, Wade Wilson uses his time travel technology to change several major events in history. He first saves Vanessa, killing the man initially responsible for her death, and then saves members of his doomed X-Force team, including the human Peter. He also travels further back to kill the version of himself from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and kills Ryan Reynolds before taking the lead role in 2011’s reviled Green Lantern. Deadpool then travels to 1889 to kill baby Hitler, but can’t go through with it, though suggests that Cable wouldn’t have a problem with killing the child.

1. Deadpool Will Be Captured By The TVA & Will Join Forces With Wolverine

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman will reprise their roles of Deadpool and Wolverine, respectively, in the MCU’s upcoming, eponymous Deadpool & Wolverine. The Phase 5 project is expected to see the pair recruited by the Time Variance Authority for an unknown purpose, though they’ll come across several X-Men variants in the Void at the end of time, and will battle Emma Corrin’s new villain, Cassandra Nova, Professor X’s twin sister. Deadpool & Wolverine will mark the first of perhaps many MCU projects for Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, though it’s unclear if Hugh Jackman will return as Wolverine in the MCU’s future.