The introduction of the multiverse has been a mixed bag for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On one hand, it gives Marvel Studios a limitless collection of variant characters to play with, opening the door to fresh origin stories, shocking casting decisions, and high-stakes drama. On the other hand, it’s hard to explain, even harder to express visually, and virtually impossible to keep track of across multiple movies and shows. Thankfully, we probably won’t have to worry about it too much longer, because Deadpool & Wolverine gives Marvel the tools to blow it up.
Spoiler warning: The rest of the article features major spoilers for the first act of Deadpool & Wolverine, so turn back now if you want to go in unblemished.
(This is your last chance! Don’t spoil the movie for yourself if you don’t want to!)
On Friday, IGN published a spoiler-filled recap of the first 35 minutes of Deadpool 3, which was recently screened to members of the press. The article provides a detailed account of basically everything that happens in the first act of the movie, so unless you actively seek out spoilers, it might be worth skipping the exhaustive breakdown.
With that said, there was one bullet point that stood out to me while reading the list:
- The Fox Universe, officially designated as Earth-10005 in the film, is fading away because its anchor has died. An anchor is a person of vital importance to a timeline, and when Wolverine died in 2017’s Logan it triggered the beginning of the end for the timeline.
This information was previously revealed by Marvel tipster Daniel Richtman, but now we know the leak was legit. Every timeline has an anchor, and once that anchor dies, the timeline begins to fade. This will undoubtedly be a key plot point going forward.
What would happen if a supervillain started killing anchors en masse? That’s not exactly how it went down in the 2015 Secret Wars comic event, but the end result would be the same—every timeline would eventually collapse, and the entire multiverse would end.
The importance of Deadpool & Wolverine cannot be overstated. Marvel’s most recent movie, The Marvels, was both a critical disappointment and a financial disaster. There’s no doubt that Deadpool 3 will be a box office hit, but Marvel also needs indifferent fans to get invested again before the climax of the Multiverse Saga. Otherwise, there’s no telling who will stick around for Phase 7 and beyond. And one way to make fans care again? Plant the seeds for a multiversal catastrophe that would eclipse even Avengers: Endgame.
