Marvel has unveiled a new Deadpool 3 trailer and with it, a ton more Easter eggs for us comic book movie nerds to enjoy. When it comes to the film’s actual plot, the fresh clip still doesn’t give all that much away, but we do get a Rob Liefeld shoutout, a dark Ant-Man “cameo”, and a Doctor Strange reference which could have crazy implications going forward.
The sequel, which releases in July and is officially titled Deadpool and Wolverine, is set to usher the titular Merc with a Mouth into the MCU following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox way back in March 2019. So it’s hardly surprising that the latest promo features a blend of meta gags at the expense of some of the Avengers to blink-and-you’ll-miss-them X-Men appearances.
Below, we break down the ad’s most interesting winks and links. Keep scrolling to see what you might have missed in the Deadpool and Wolverine trailer…
Wolverine game
“You’re not welcome here, you’re not welcome anywhere. Now get the hell out of my bar,” a man tells Hugh Jackman’s Logan right at the start of the new trailer. The character being in a bar is hardly a shocker, he’s been known to frequent such establishments since his big screen introduction in 2000, but the framing and backdrop is undeniably similar to that seen in Marvel and Insomniac’s Wolverine game tease.
Deadpool’s gun
During the same scene, Deadpool confronts Logan and asks him to come with him immediately. “Look, lady, I’m not interested,” Logan replies gruffly, but Wade clearly isn’t taking no for an answer as he grabs the mutant from behind and snaps back: “Alright, well, I’m sort of on the tick-tick so upsy-daisy.”
Pointing his gun at Logan, Wade says, “Unless you want to take a deep breath through your fucking forehead, I suggest you reconsider.” While he’s saying that, we can quite clearly read ‘Smile, wait for the flash’ on his gun’s muzzle. Deadpool first used this gun back in Deadpool 2 (2018), and it’s clearly his firearm of choice nowadays.
Doctor Strange portals
Towards the end of the promo, Deadpool and Wolverine are seen leaping into an inter-dimensional portal – you know, the ones conjured by the likes of Masters of the Mystic Arts Wong (Benedict Wong) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)?
Created using Sling Rings, the wormholes essentially connect two different locations, and can even transport people from one universe to another. We already know that Thor is going to make an appearance in the movie… might Stephen Strange, too?
Giant dead Ant-Man (and X-Men’s Lady Deathstrike and Azazel)
When the above shot was first glimpsed in the new Deadpool and Wolverine teaser, we all assumed it was just a discarded suit of Ant-Man’s in its giant form. But things take a turn when the helmet opens up and reveals a huge human skull inside. Is it Scott Lang’s? It fits perfectly, so it’s not a stretch to assume that it is. Talk about bleak…
Eagle-eyed viewers can also see two X-Men at the forefront of the frame, too: Lady Deathstrike, who was played by Kelly Hu in X2, and Azazel, who appeared in X-Men: First Class. Fire-controlling mutant Pyro from Fox’s original X-Men trilogy appeared in the first trailer, so chances are, there’s even more cameos to look forward to as the franchise is folded into the MCU…
Cassandra Nova
While it’s still not been confirmed that Emma Corrin’s villain is, in fact, Professor X’s evil twin sister Cassandra Nova, it seems pretty undeniable now that she’ll be the one making Deadpool and Wolverine’s lives hell in the threequel.
In the first trailer, we only got a glimpse at the back of her head. This time, we see Cassandra – who debuted in 2001’s New X-Men #114 by writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely – mocking the heroes, as she refers to them as “boys”, and using her abilities to easier overpower an ill-equipped Wolverine. Something tells us she’s going to be quite the formidable foe.
Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld’s shoutout (and Copperhead)
Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld gets a toe-tally hilarious shoutout in the trailer, as Wade Wilson and Wolverine are seen walking in front of a bunch of dilapidated storefronts. One of the shops is called “Liefeld’s” and seems to be some sort of podiatry place, which we can only assume is a joke about how illustrator Liefeld would frequently botch his characters’ feet in his Marvel Comics.
This isn’t the first time the franchise has taken aim at Liefeld’s terrible tootsies, either. In Deadpool 2, Wade Wilson teases Domino’s luck-based superpower by asking aloud, “What coked-out, glass pipe-sucking freakshow comic book artist came up with that little chestnut?! Probably a guy who can’t draw feet!”
“Ryan calls me and says, ‘Rob, we have this joke, I wanna run it by you. Please share me your thoughts,'” Liefeld told Inverse back in May 2018 . “I said ‘Ryan, I absolutely love it.'”
Elsewhere in the shot, you can see another store called ‘Copperhead’s’, which could be a reference to the Daredevil character of the same name.
Loki’s Alioth
We’ve seen a lot of Loki-related stuff in Deadpool and Wolverine’s two publicly-released trailers so far, from Minute Men to the TVA, but it wasn’t until the newest promo that we got our first official look at Alioth in the movie.
The trans-temporal entity – or smoke monster, if you’re so inclined – that guarded the Citadel at the End of Time was first seen in Loki season 1, when Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) set out to confront He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors).
Given that Deadpool is tasked with saving the Sacred Timeline in the trailer shown behind closed doors at CinemaCon 2024, it stands to reason that the Regenerating Degenerate has a run-in with Alioth.
Wolverine’s world
Given that the version of Wolverine we’ve been watching on screen for the last two decades died in James Mangold’s Logan, it seems fair to assume that the version we meet in Deadpool and Wolverine is one from an alternate universe.
In the movie’s CinemaCon trailer, Deadpool is asked by Matthew Macfadyen’s Paradox to help “save the Sacred Timeline” (and Loki’s Minute Men have shown up in both teasers that have been shared online, too), so the film will likely have variants in it, much like the God of Mischief’s Disney Plus TV show.
In the latest clip, Wolverine seems to be even more self-critical when it comes to the hero thing and at one point, Deadpool berates him by saying, “Is that what you said when your world went to shit?” Not only does that suggest that this Wolverine isn’t from around these parts, it hints at him having done something to cause the end of his universe. Or, not having done anything to save it, at least. Very angsty…
Mad Max: Fury Road
X-Men, wider MCU references, and F-bombs are things we expected to see from the Deadpool and Wolverine trailer. We didn’t expect to see a shot that looks like it could’ve been lifted from Mad Max: Fury Road or its upcoming prequel Furiosa, but we’ll take it!
Deadpool and Wolverine releases in the UK on July 25, and in the US a day later. For more, check out all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way, as well as our guide to how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
