UPDATE 8/16: Deadline came away from D23 reading Jackman’s beam-in as a sign he isn’t coming back as Wolverine for Marvel’s 2028 X-Men reboot, and the recast talk goes back to the week Disney bought Fox.
UPDATE 8/15: Jackman and Reynolds have now posted the video to their own accounts, and the captions are the story: Jackman says he recorded it “against my will,” Reynolds calls it “a hostage video,” and fans are treating it as confirmation. Full story on the “hostage video” and the reaction. Original article follows.
The Avengers: Doomsday portion of Marvel’s D23 showcase in Anaheim opened with a surprise video message from Hugh Jackman, pitching himself for a spot in the movie.
“I’d love to join, and I might be able to convince Ryan to appear,” Jackman offered, while Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool heckled from off screen that Marvel already has twenty-some people in this thing, so why would they need the two of them.
Reports out of the room also have Deadpool barking at Jackman to “follow the f***ing script.”
The clip ended without Marvel confirming a thing, and per Brandon Davis, Kevin Feige simply continued the panel without extending an invite, bringing Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, and Robert Downey Jr. to the stage to introduce the new Doomsday footage.
Deadpool Jokes About “Deadpool & Spider-Man”
Davis also notes Deadpool cracked a joke about “Deadpool & Spider-Man” during the bit, though Reynolds wasn’t onscreen.
That one lands a little differently with Spider-Man: Brand New Day sitting north of $1.6 billion and Reynolds already confirming another Deadpool movie is happening. File that away.
Watch the full D23 Marvel panel here.
Ryan Reynolds also surprised Avengers: Doomsday
Three weeks ago Reynolds crashed Marvel’s Hall H panel in person, debuting the gray X-Force suit as “Ricky” and begging for a Doomsday role while Robert Downey Jr. insisted the movie was in the can.
Now Jackman does the video version at D23 with Deadpool riding shotgun. Running the same gag at Marvel’s two biggest events in under a month isn’t a coincidence, it’s a rollout.
Some outlets are already running the video as official confirmation that Wolverine and Deadpool are in Doomsday. Technically, Marvel still hasn’t said the words on stage, and that’s exactly the sweet spot they’ve been engineering since Hall H.
Deadpool & Wolverine did $1.3 billion as Marvel’s only R-rated entry, and Jackman’s old X-Men castmates, from Patrick Stewart to Ian McKellen, are already on the Doomsday roster ahead of the newly announced X-Men reboot. These two are in the movie. Marvel is just deciding when to stop pretending otherwise.
Avengers: Doomsday opens December 18. For everything we know, head on over to our Avengers: Doomsday hub.
