Deadpool & Wolverine Reveal Clarifies This Fantastic Four Detail

Deadpool & Wolverine continues its impressive run at the box office, having crossed the $1 billion mark after three weekends. Recently, we’ve delved into various aspects of the Deadpool 3 plot, including the brilliant Avengers connection, the Spider-Man confusion, and the plot holes Marvel needs to address.

However, a significant Fantastic Four detail in the movie lacked a clear explanation when I first watched it. It’s not a plot hole but rather an Easter egg that Marvel likely included to integrate Deadpool & Wolverine and The Fantastic Four in the Multiverse Saga.

Since the premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine, Disney hosted its D23 2024 event, revealing several MCU announcements. Among other things, Marvel showcased trailers for upcoming attractions, including The Fantastic Four: First Steps. A leaked trailer provided more context about a significant Fantastic Four Easter egg in Deadpool & Wolverine. Big spoilers lie ahead, so it’s best to watch Deadpool 3 first.

One of the best-executed cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine is Chris Evans as Johnny Storm. Initially, the audience thinks it’s a Captain America variant that ends up in the Void. Storm’s appearance even fools Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds). We soon learn this is the Human Torch variant from Fox’s first attempt at a Fantastic Four movie.

After a few short fight scenes, Deadpool, Johnny, and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) are all captured. En route to Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), Johnny reveals that they’re in the Void, a place first introduced in Loki season 1. It’s where pruned individuals and universes meet their end. The remnants of these universes must avoid Alioth and Cassandra to survive.

This Johnny Storm’s Fantastic Four is no longer in the picture. But Johnny stuns the audience by revealing that Reed Richards knew about the multiverse and the Void. “Reed called it a metaphysical junkyard where anything useless goes before it gets annihilated forever,” Storm explains. “And where the TVA sends people that don’t play nice with the rest of the multiverse.”

How did Fox’s Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) become aware of the multiverse? Initially, I thought it linked to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Remember, Earth-838’s Mr. Fantastic (John Krasinski) not only knew about the multiverse but also understood that worlds could collide and potentially destroy each other.

It makes sense that Reed variants from alternate realities would discover the multiverse. Characters like Kang, as seen in Loki, initiated wars after they discovered the multiverse, hoping to dominate other realities. In What If…?, an Ultron variant independently discovered the multiverse. Other characters like Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) were also aware of the multiverse.

The Avengers in the main MCU reality discovered the multiverse during Infinity War and Endgame. Initially, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) believed he invented time travel. In reality, the Avengers had been visiting alternate realities to obtain copies of the Infinity Stones.

After seeing the leaked Fantastic Four trailer, it became clear that Marvel added more multiverse exposition to Deadpool & Wolverine, necessitating its integration into the multiverse plot. This integration is crucial for bringing Deadpool (and possibly Wolverine) into Secret Wars.

The leaked trailer also introduced another Reed Richards from a different reality, portrayed by Pedro Pascal. This Reed has just begun theorizing about the multiverse. The MCU’s Fantastic Four might explore the multiverse in their voyages rather than space.

Johnny’s mention of Reed’s Multiverse Saga theories in Deadpool & Wolverine hits differently now. It suggests that most Reed variants are intelligent enough to figure out the multiverse and take action across different points on the timeline.

Pascal’s Reed is just starting to understand the multiverse while Krasinski’s Reed had a much better grasp on it. The leaked Fantastic Four trailer confirms that the reboot is set in the ’60s in a different reality but will eventually tell the story of the MCU’s Fantastic Four team.

These heroes will eventually meet Earth-616’s Avengers and be part of the team that fights Doctor Doom or another significant villain in Secret Wars. Their understanding of the multiverse might be crucial for the Avengers’ success.

Source: BGR, Marvel Studios