Essential Movies to Watch Before ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

These days, being a Marvel fan can get pretty exhausting. It feels like you need to do a lot of homework before watching any of the latest releases within The Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then you’ll need to do even more after, trying to connect the dots and get the full picture! That’s exactly why the MCU needed Deadpool & Wolverine! It’s refreshing to get two characters that are new to the scene and don’t carry any old MCU baggage. These vigilante super soldiers are reintroducing themselves and kinda-sorta-ish starting off with clean slates. And while Deadpool films like to include flashbacks of clips from previous films as a refresher, it helps to know their pre-MCU history.

Here’s everything you need to watch before Deadpool & Wolverine.

There is absolutely no need to watch all the shows and movies from Marvel phases one to five. But it is important to remember that this film is a sequel. It’s kind of a two-in-one deal, picking up where Deadpool and Wolverine left off back in their own separate universes. So to optimize your viewing experience and to totally avoid feeling lost, you might want to brush up on some movies. Plus, if you’re someone who doesn’t want to miss any of the inside jokes, references, and Easter eggs—which this movie is full of—you’ve got a decent amount of ground to cover.

Again, this is a sequel. So it only makes sense to watch the movies that came before this film. But if you don’t want to miss a single beat, you’re going to have to go further than that. Here are the films you’ll want to get familiar with:

This movie is essentially an origin story and gets to the core of who Deadpool really is. It also sets the tone for the rest of the films that follow it—including Deadpool & Wolverine. Here, Ryan Reynolds’ portrayal of Deadpool is cemented as this edgy, campy, fun, and sarcastic, fourth-wall-breaking character who says and does whatever he wants.

Watch ‘Deadpool’ on Disney+

Here’s where the universes actually begin to meet. In Deadpool 2, everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed mercenary works with the X-Men. Though one of them (Colossus) makes an appearance in the first film, this is where we really get an idea of how the superhero worlds might collide. Deadpool goes to the X-Mansion to ask for some backup to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from a time-traveling cyborg.

Watch ‘Deadpool 2’ on Disney+

There are going to be other X-Men films on this list but none more essential for this article’s purposes than this one: Deadpool & Wolverine heavily references Logan, as it provides a lot of important context for the film.

Watch ‘Logan’ on Disney+

One of the essential elements in the plot of Deadpool & Wolverine is the TVA or the Time Variance Authority, which is the organization that protects the main MCU timeline known as “the sacred timeline.” While the film does explain what the TVA is, it does so in more of a broad stroke and doesn’t go into its complexities. While you may not need to watch all of Loki and its two seasons, it’s good to get a better idea of what the TVA is to get all the nuances in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Watch ‘Loki’ on Disney+

It’s been literal decades since the first of these movies was released, but trust me when I say that it’s still pretty important to understanding the Wolverine we’re meeting in Deadpool & Wolverine. He is haunted by his past with the X-Men and what went on in that world. While these films might add another dizzying layer, I’d still suggest watching them if you want to dive deep.

Watch ‘X-Men’ on Disney+