Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy has shared when the new movie takes place in relation to its predecessor. While the MCU’s timeline has become increasingly complex to keep track of, it seems that there is a definite position the movie has compared to Deadpool 2 – which it turns out makes perfect sense for Deadpool’s MCU party-crashing return.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has mainly told its stories in “real-time.” What that means is that Avengers: Infinity War and the opening scenes of Avengers: Endgame happened in 2018, and the five-year “blip” caused by Thanos’ snap pushed the franchise timeline out to 2023. If all had gone to plan, and Marvel’s original slate of Phase 4 -6 projects had been released on their original dates, then everything since Endgame would have taken place between 2023 and 2025 in real-world time. Keeping up?

While there has been a little bit of a slide with these dates thanks to pandemics, strikes, and Marvel’s own slowdown of its output, the Phase 4 movies and shows all took place within months of each other in MCU timeline terms, and Phase 5 has been slowly advancing that further. Now, Levy has revealed that Deadpool & Wolverine will put down a new marker in the timeline. Speaking to Total Film, the director said:

“It takes place six years after the last film. [Deadpool is] proving to be useless at selling cars, hawking Blind Al’s blood-pressure meds to make rent, and his beloved Vanessa has a new boyfriend.”

Deadpool & Wolverine Can Revive the Fortunes of the MCU

Deadpool & Wolverine hits cinemas in just over a month, and it is set to be 2024’s Barbie. With record-challenging opening weekend projections, it is hard to see any movie being able to compete with the crossover event movie that fans have been waiting years to see.

Ryan Reynolds’ third outing as Deadpool, and Hugh Jackman’s return for what may or may not end up being his final outing as Wolverine, is already winning over audiences to the tune of a possible $220 million opening weekend haul – an unprecedented feat that would see the film claim the highest opening weekend total for an R-rated movie ever.

As the first R-rated film of the MCU, Deadpool & Wolverine is not going to go soft on audiences, and Levy had guaranteed that the film will be just as hard as it was before the franchise was claimed back by Disney. He previously said:

“We were clear from the get-go. We’re not softening the edges. It’s a different thing that’s the third Deadpool movie, but it’s not Deadpool 3.”

Deadpool & Wolverine is set to hit theaters on July 26, 2024, and many Marvel fans have already marked the date in their diary. Although there have been many cameos already revealed through set leaks and trailers, both the director and Reynolds have made it clear that you haven’t seen anything yet. The MCU, and indeed the world, is bracing itself for impact.

“It takes place six years after the last film. [Deadpool is] proving to be useless at selling cars, hawking Blind Al’s blood-pressure meds to make rent, and his beloved Vanessa has a new boyfriend.”

Deadpool & Wolverine Can Revive the Fortunes of the MCU