Deadpool & Wolverine Finally Confirms Exactly Where In The Multiverse Fox's X-Men Characters Exist

Are your spoiler senses tingling? They should be, because this article contains major spoilers for "Deadpool & Wolverine."

Where in the world(s) is Wade Wilson? His impeccable and very red-colored fashion sense isn't the only thing Deadpool has in common with Carmen Sandiego (look her up, kids), as the superhero has developed quite a penchant for popping up where you least expect him to throughout his latest big-screen outings. In fact, ever since the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced the concept of the multiverse, there has been debate regarding where every major character actually resides these days. "Spider-Man: Far From Home" famously confirmed that the mainline MCU movies and shows take place on Earth-616 — even if "Ms. Marvel" star Iman Vellani disagrees. Nerdy nitpicking aside, that has left an open-ended question regarding how various other properties now factor in. With "Deadpool & Wolverine" officially bringing the 20th Century Fox "X-Men" franchise into the mix with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, well, that's a heck of a lot of superheroes to keep track of these days.

Thankfully, the threequel takes it upon itself to confirm exactly how the once-defunct "X-Men" franchise fits into the wider MCU. Early on in the film, viewers couldn't have missed the various title cards establishing which years the film is set in and which universe Deadpool happens to call home at any given time. We see Wade in Earth-616 to pay a visit to Stark Tower and essentially beg for a job, but later on we return to the same timeline as the previous "Deadpool" movies known as Earth-10005.

But here's the kicker. Once it's revealed that the Wolverine who died at the end of "Logan" is the reason why Wade's reality is falling to pieces, it confirms that the "Deadpool" movies and "Logan" inhabit the same universe.

Just when you thought the "X-Men" timeline couldn't possibly get more confusing. The Fox universe infamously twisted every hardcore fan into a pretzel throughout the franchise's lengthy run, courtesy of a somewhat lax approach — putting it generously — to maintaining continuity between films, which was further exacerbated beyond all reason by the prequel films (beginning with "X-Men: First Class") and the time-travel element introduced in "Days of Future Past." MCU fans have waited to see how Marvel President Kevin Feige might handle combining this unwieldy timeline shenanigans into the MCU proper and "Deadpool & Wolverine" may have just taken the first step towards addressing that potential pitfall. And in true Deadpool fashion, the solution apparently involves a fair bit of retconning.

For those who may not know (and I sincerely hope that's most of you, because this is ridiculously nerdy), the original "X-Men" movies, the prequel films starring the younger cast, and the woefully misguided "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" all took place within the same reality of Earth-10005. All of the changes made through time travel meant that both "Deadpool" films, portions of "Days of Future Past," and both "Apocalypse" and "Dark Phoenix" are set within their own branched timeline. "Logan," meanwhile, was shuttered away in its own unique universe separate from the rest in order to tell its story to completion without making any major continuity errors. (The Marvel wiki, for whatever it's worth, categorizes this as Earth-17315.) Simple enough, right?

Not so fast! By establishing the Wolverine from "Logan" as the "anchor being" of Wade's reality, whose death has caused his universe to fall apart, "Deadpool & Wolverine" essentially rewrites Marvel history. Now, both films take place within the same universe ... regardless of what we previously thought.

So clearly this must have massive ramifications on the rest of the franchise, right? Following this bombshell revelation, the hierarchy of power in the MCU must forever be changed. Thankfully, that's not quite the case.

While "Deadpool & Wolverine" tends to play fast and loose with the many universes that end up factoring into the story, it's accompanied by a sense of winking self-awareness that was largely absent from the Fox "X-Men" installments. It's difficult to imagine anyone coming away from this movie on opening night with their main takeaway revolving around matters of continuity and the technical details of which universe belongs to which franchise. What's vastly more important here is enjoying the ride we're taken on alongside Wade and Logan (and, yes, a boatload of cameos and unexpected appearances), not necessarily the nerdy signposts along the way. That's not going to stop weirdos like us from writing up entire articles meant to help straighten out this sorts of timeline messiness anyway, sure, but rest assured we're taking this all in good fun.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" is currently playing in theaters.