Deadpool & Wolverine’s many cameos and multiverse storyline require a lot of homework, whether the director agrees or not. Here’s exactly how to prep.
Despite claims from Shawn Levy to the contrary, Deadpool & Wolverine will require a significant amount of Marvel homework to fully understand its storyline and many cameos. Luckily, thanks to meticulous research of everything we know about Deadpool & Wolverine, I have worked out a fool-proof guide to exactly what’s needed in preparation for the upcoming multiverse movie.
One of the biggest problems with the Marvel movie timeline is that it’s almost too sprawling to encourage accessibility for new fans. Now almost 16 years old, with more than 40 movies and TV shows (and more added any time someone decides to rearrange canon), the MCU is a shared universe with almost unprecedented scale. If a newcomer decided to watch the entire MCU from Iron Man (2008) through to 2024’s Echo and decides to include the Netflix shows that were recently made canon, it would take a terrifying 287.9 hours to get through.
Chances are, you don’t actually have 12 days to solidly spend watching every minute of every MCU canon release in preparation to see Deadpool & Wolverine, no matter how hyped you are for the return of Hugh Jackman. But there is a slimmed down Deadpool & Wolverine rewatch guide that should explain every cameo and back up the main narrative for Ryan Reynolds’ beloved Merc With A Mouth.
The Direct Marvel Prequels You Need To Watch
As the Deadpool & Wolverine marketing campaign has begun to kick off, Shawn Levy revealed that he doesn’t believe that any homework needs to be done to enjoy the movie. I disagree. Even if you ignore the cameos and references to other Marvel releases that are already confirmed, Deadpool’s emotional journey requires you to rewatch both of his previous movies.
The trailer confirmed Deadpool feels he has a lot to lose, and even shows Wolverine a photograph of his found family as his motivation: without Deadpool & Deadpool 2 adding the context of his relationships with Vanessa and Blind Al at the very least, why would the audience particularly care whether they can be saved or not? If the X-Men – Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio matter to Wade, they should matter to the audience. Plus, Shatterstar (Lewis Tan) and Peter (Rob Delaney) both reappear and make no sense without the sequel.
Deadpool & Wolverine‘s reintroduction of the TVA – led by Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr Paradox – and ‘Pool’s apparent mission to “save the Sacred Timeline” means that watching both seasons of Loki is also essential. There’s no way the movie’s runtime allows for the nuanced explanation of their existence or history that Loki spent 12 episodes and 598 minutes (291 for season 1, for 307 season 2). Again, without that context, neither the TVA nor the Sacred Timeline really matter.
Then there’s the question of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine appearances. The answer comes in the fact that Deadpool & Wolverine is a celebration of the performance, and anyone not watching his journey so far is missing key context. You should particularly watch Logan to understand the brilliant ending and to hold Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Shawn Levy accountable for how well they navigate how perfect it was when bringing Wolverine back.
That adds 9 further movies to the rewatch, but actually, many of those movies are already covered by another consideration: Deadpool & Wolverine‘s cameos, which all require you to rewatch their relevant movies for the sake of full understanding. Mapping that all out reveals the scale of the homework, and probably the reason Levy has said it’s optional…
Deadpool & Wolverine’s Marvel Cameos To Understand
Deadpool & Wolverine’s cast is packed with returning Marvel characters, with Cassandra Nova’s team of villain henchmen accounting for a significant number of those cameos. It is, of course, debatable whether every one of their original movies needs to be rewatched, but dropping cameos in for the sake of nostalgia-bait seems like an awfully empty way to enjoy such a meta experience. Shawn Levy may not agree, but they absolutely SHOULD be watched first.
Original X-Men movie villains Toad and Sabretooth were leaked through set photos, though nothing concrete has confirmed that either made the final cut, or that their original actors (Ray Park and Tyler Mane) will return. Aaron Stanford’s Pyro (last seen in X-Men: The Last Stand) was confirmed in the first tease, while Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu), Azazel (Jason Flemyng), and Callisto (Dania Ramirez) from later X-Men movies appeared in the full trailer.
On top of those familiar faces, a version of The Russian appeared in the main trailer having been played by WWE legend Kevin Nash in the underrated The Punisher (2014). He seems to be played by an unrevealed actor, but his striped red and white t-shirt seems evidence enough. Grotesque Deadpool Corps member Headpool (literally a disembodied head) was revealed in leaked artwork, and an early report from THR confirmed Jennifer Garner’s Elektra will reappear after debuting in Daredevil (2003) with Ben Affleck, before her own spin-off came in 2005.
On top of the confirmed cameos and appearances, there are also rumors pointing to appearances by more X-Men franchise actors, some of Fox’s Fantastic Four cast, Channing Tatum’s Gambit, and both Miss Minutes and Owen Wilson’s Mobius from Loki. There’s nothing concrete for any of them yet, so they aren’t counted here for now.
How Long It Would Take To Prepare Fully For Deadpool & Wolverine: The Full Rewatch Breakdown
So now let’s get to the best part of being an MCU fan: the maths. To work out exactly how long the Deadpool & Wolverine homework would take, you have to consider the preceding movies in the timeline plus all the cameos, and let’s just take it as gospel that they all need to be watched. If only to save any arguments.
That gives the quite enormous total rewatch time of essential homework for Deadpool & Wolverine of 2,268 minutes, or 37 hours and 48 minutes, or 1 day, 13 hours, and 48 minutes. Best get started. And there’s more to add for the real die-hard completionists…
Bonus: Deadpool & Wolverine’s Additional Environmental Easter Eggs Guide
Set leaks for Deadpool & Wolverine confirmed the appearance of the Fantastic Four’s Fantasticar, but luckily you don’t have to watch any of the Fantastic Four movies to get the reference. Thanks to the apparent Mad Max-like car chase sequence teased by the trailer and further set leaks, there are 3 more customized vehicles that have appeared in previous Marvel releases. Suggesting they require you to actually watch those movies and TV shows is a little over-zealous, but for the sake of completionism…
Red Skull’s car – a souped up version of the Mercedes-Benz 540K – from Captain America: The First Avenger (which also appeared briefly in What If…? season 1) appears among Cassandra Nova’s caravan. So too does Moon Knight‘s von Darrelman Cupcake Van, with heavy modifications of added armor.
And then there’s the giant Ant-Man corpse that Cassandra Nova has made her headquarters in The Void, presumably as a reference to Old Man Logan’s Pym Falls, In Marvel Comics, Pym Falls is a town built around the fallen skeleton of Hank Pym, but in Deadpool & Wolverine, the Giant Man skeleton (still wearing its costume) is Nova’s base itself. Giant Man first appeared in 2018’s sequel Ant-Man & The Wasp.
If you choose to watch all three of those Marvel releases for the sake of their Easter eggs in Deadpool & Wolverine – and none of them actually appear substantially in their original releases – you’re looking at 8 hours and 44 minutes of added homework. Maybe skip it, but assuming you do, the total homework time required ahead of Deadpool & Wolverine would be a monstrous 2,792 minutes, which is 46 hours and 32 minutes or 1 day, 22 hours, and 32 minutes. And that’s without accounting for the other Easter eggs that will no doubt be included.
Confirmed Upcoming MCU Release Dates
Deadpool & Wolverine – July 26, 2024
Captain America: Brave New World – February 14, 2025
Thunderbolts* – May 5, 2025
The Fantastic Four – July 25, 2025
Blade – November 7, 2025
Avengers 5 – May 1, 2026
Avengers: Secret Wars – May 7, 2027
