Deadpool & Wolverine Is Redoing Logan’s Most Popular Comics Inspiration 7 Years Later According To MCU Theory

A new theory suggests Deadpool & Wolverine is redoing Logan’s biggest comic inspiration seven years after the latter film’s release. Starring Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson’s Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Deadpool & Wolverine promises to be one of the most exciting multiverse movies from Marvel Studios yet. To that end, it looks as though key elements are being pulled straight from the original comics with some exciting nods and references.

In Deadpool & Wolverine’s second trailer, Wade is seen recruiting Logan to help save his world. Ending up in the Void at the End of Time first featured in Marvel’s Loki series, the trailer confirms a few key facts about this new variant of Wolverine. To that end, a new theory suggests that several elements in this upcoming movie and this new version of Wolverine are inspired by the classic Old Man Logan storyline by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. Although the popular comic was also the key inspiration for 2017’s Logan, Deadpool & Wolverine looks to be going even bigger.

Deadpool & Wolverine Is Redoing Old Man Logan Properly – Theory Explained

(Wasteland, Giant-Man’s Corpse, Road Trip)

There are several elements seen in Deadpool & Wolverine’s new trailer that look to be pulled directly from Millar and McNiven’s Old Man Logan. This includes the desert wasteland with various elements from the MCU scattered around throughout the Void at the End of Time. Similarly, Old Man Logan debuted an alternate universe where several supervillains team up and take over the country in the far future, the result being the Wasteland with only a few remnants are found of the Marvel Universe that was.

For example, the massive remains of Giant-Man become a grim landmark in Old Man Logan’s Wasteland. Likewise, the large skull and remains of Scott Lang’s Giant-Man have become the base of operations for Deadpool & Wolverine’s new villain Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin). Featuring multiple mutant villains from past films, it looks as though Wolverine and Deadpool will find a car and go on a road trip of sorts through the Void, much like how Logan and a blind Hawkeye get in a Spidey-Mobile and travel across the country in the comics’ Old Man Logan.

It’s also confirmed by the TVA’s Mister Paradox that the movie’s Wolverine somehow failed his world (again, just like Old Man Logan who was manipulated into killing his fellow X-Men). Keeping that in mind, it truly looks as though Deadpool & Wolverine will be adapting a lot more of Old Man Logan than 2017’s Logan did. That’s certainly saying something considering just how good Hugh Jackman’s last appearance as Wolverine truly was.

How 2017’s Logan Previously Adapted The Old Man Logan Storyline

The Future And The End Of The X-Men (With A Twist)

2017’s Logan by director James Mangold did use Old Man Logan as the primary comic inspiration. While set in a dark future like Old Man Logan, society was still functioning rather than there being a Wasteland. Likewise, Logan featured the heartbreaking twist that rather than Wolverine being tricked by a villain to kill all the X-Men, it was instead Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) who killed his own students due to a seizure and a subsequent lack of control over his telepathic abilities.

Using those connections from the comics as a narrative baseline, Old Man Logan was essentially used to subvert audience expectations. The film then went in its own direction with great success, providing what was believed to be a final farewell for Hugh Jackman’s take on the character he’s played since 2000. The narrative also includes Logan leaving behind a legacy through his clone daughter X-23 aka Laura (Dafne Keen).

How Deadpool & Wolverine’s Old Man Logan Adaptation Can Be Better

Taking Even More Inspiration From Old Man Logan’s World

Now, it looks as though Deadpool & Wolverine will be adapting Old Man Logan to an even higher degree, especially on a visual level. After all, Old Man Logan’s Wasteland has a lot in common with Loki’s Void at the End of Time. While it’s not yet been confirmed, this new Wolverine could indeed be responsible for killing the X-Men and failing his world, allowing him to grapple with his guilt just as Old Man Logan’s version did, rather than being the only survivor of the “Westchester Incident” seen in 2017’s Logan.

It’s hard to use the term “better” when talking about Logan. That said, it’s probably safe to say that Deadpool & Wolverine seems uniquely positioned to provide a more faithful adaptation of Old Man Logan, even while remixing certain elements to fit its exciting multiversal narrative. At any rate, the new trailer undoubtedly featured several nods to the popular Marvel Comics arc all the same.

Deadpool & Wolverine

A sequel to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first film in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Ryan Reynolds is returning to play the character, alongside Hugh Jackman, reprising his Wolverine role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time. 

Director

Shawn Levy

Release Date

July 26, 2024

Studio(s)

Marvel , Maximum Effort

Writers

Rhett Reese , Paul Wernick