After years, the MCU will finally get a new Avengers movie in 2026, and a major death that could impact the X-Men reboot has been teased for the film.

A major death has been teased for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and if it came to pass, it would have a huge impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot of the X-Men. The Avengers movies make up the most successful corner of the MCU. Every single one of Marvel Studios’ four Avengers movies has grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, with the team’s latest two movies, Infinity War and Endgame, ranking in the $2 billion club. Besides box office success, the Avengers franchise has also produced some of the most beloved MCU movies.

Based on that, it is confusing that Marvel chose not to feature an Avengers movie in Phases 4 and 5. Impacted by that decision and other factors, the MCU’s Multiverse Saga has faced the most criticism ever for the franchise. Thankfully, a pair of movies for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, is set to come during Phase 6. 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the latest movie for the team, featured a major sacrifice, with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man dying to save the universe. Now, a new possible sacrifice has been teased for the next Avengers film.

Deadpool Seemingly Dies In Thor’s Arms In The Distant Future

Deadpool & Wolverine Will Include An Avengers Cameo

Marvel has released two incredible trailers for Deadpool & Wolverine. The movie will be the studio’s sole 2024 film release, and that, allied to the major multiversal story the third Deadpool flick will tell, makes it one of the most important projects in the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. Both Deadpool & Wolverine trailers have already broken records for Marvel, with audiences discovering exciting Easter Eggs and returning characters in the footage. There are several characters rumored for the multiverse film amid possible Fox Marvel actors coming back or variants or beloved characters. Recently, an unexpected MCU hero was confirmed to cameo.

While Marvel has shared two Deadpool & Wolverine trailers, there is some footage that fans have been unable to see, and it is there that a major cameo was unveiled. During Marvel’s CinemaCon 2024 presentation, new Deadpool & Wolverine footage was shown, revealing that Chris Hemsworth’s Thor will play a small role in the film. In the footage, Thor could be seen looking sad as he held a seemingly lifeless Deadpool, with half of Wade Wilson’s mask ripped off. The sequence appeared on one of the TVA’s monitors, with Paradox telling Deadpool he was not supposed to see it.

Matthew Macfadyen’s Paradox told Deadpool that the scene took place in the “distant future.” Realistically, the only future project that would make sense for Deadpool to die in Thor’s arms would be one of the announced Avengers movies. Given the TVA’s presence in Deadpool & Wolverine, it would make sense for the Thor scene to be from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, given Kang is not confirmed for Secret Wars. While the moment could be simply a joke for the film, Tony Stark’s visions in Avengers: Age of Ultron paid off in different ways, and so could Deadpool & Wolverine‘s.

The MCU Is Already Leaning Into X-Men Nostalgia

Marvel Has Been Using The Mutants

Deadpool’s death before the X-Men reboot would be great news for the MCU, in a way. Since Disney acquired Fox and Marvel became able to develop projects with the mutants, a few X-Men have started popping up in live-action in the MCU. However, there has yet to be a new actor taking on a role as one of Marvel Comics’ mutants. While characters like Charles Xavier, Beast, technically Quicksilver, and more have appeared, they were all played by actors who were part of Fox’s X-Men franchise. Even the first film for mutants will focus on Fox characters — Deadpool and Wolverine.

It is clear that Marvel Studios has been banking on X-Men nostalgia for the time being. Marvel’s acclaimed X-Men project — the animated series X-Men ’97 — is another proof of that direction, with the show continuing the story of the beloved original X-Men: The Animated Series. The Multiverse Saga serves as the perfect backdrop for that use of nostalgia, with projects like Spider-Man: No Way Home showing how immensely popular that tactic can be if used right. However, the MCU’s version of the X-Men cannot sustain itself merely based on what came before.

Deadpool Is Great, But The MCU’s X-Men Need A Fresh Start

Marvel Can’t Take More Baggage

Ryan Reynolds’ casting as Deadpool is easily among the very best superhero movie castings alongside Jackman as Wolverine, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, and a few others. However, keeping the actor and the character beyond the Multiverse Saga, as well as past X-Men movie actors, would go against what the MCU needs. In recent years, with the franchise’s rapid expansion on Disney+, Marvel has been facing criticism due to audiences having to see an elevated number of projects to keep up with what is going on in the MCU.

Reynolds’ Deadpool continuing in the MCU would perpetuate that problem, which might be a reason why his death in the future has been teased. The recent failure of projects such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania shows that Marvel needs to find a new audience, and by continuing to dwell on nostalgia for the use of the X-Men, the MCU would unnecessarily bring in baggage from Fox’s X-Men universe, which had its fair share of problems. Avengers: Secret Wars is rumored to reboot the MCU, and new actors for the X-Men serve as the perfect jump-in point for the franchise.

Deadpool Can’t Work In The MCU Long-Term

One Of His Best Traits Could Become An Issue

Deadpool is hilarious, and the character’s iconic fourth-wall breaks have led to some of the funniest moments in superhero movies. However, that ability for a mainstay MCU character cannot really work in the long term. Deadpool & Wolverine will see Wade Wilson get recruited by the TVA, with Deadpool learning about different realities and likely visiting a few in the movie. Deadpool, as an all-knowing being about the multiverse and Marvel Studios’ plans for the MCU, is too powerful. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law‘s season finale already showed how that ability could prove complicated.

In the series, She-Hulk went to confront Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige to change things in her story. Deadpool could do the same in the MCU’s movie side, and with the character soon getting even more knowledgeable about Marvel’s plans, it would be hard to come up with a realistic threat for the Avengers because Deadpool would know about it already. The character is best used sparingly, and leaving Deadpool aside to focus on setting up the X-Men might be Marvel’s best move, with the character’s teased death for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty possibly moving things in that direction.