What If One Recurring Deadpool & Wolverine Joke Isn't Just A Joke?

Early in Shawn Levy's new superhero flick "Deadpool & Wolverine," Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is kidnapped and taken to the retro-futuristic offices of the Time Variance Authority. The TVA is tasked with keeping parallel universes tidy, making sure people aren't meddling and creating branches for more alternate universes. Multiple films and TV shows in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have already dallied with parallel universes, and some characters have come face-to-face with alternate versions of themselves, such as Captain America in "Avengers: Endgame" and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in his Disney+ TV series back in 2021. The TVA is a shadowy organization that has the ability to monitor parallel universes, look into the future, and track when new timelines are created, but they're currently in a state of restructuring.

Deadpool is told by a TVA wonk named Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen) that his home dimension is in peril, but he's being plucked from the universe to become part of the Sacred Timeline, if he's willing to help speed up the process of disintegrating his own universe. Though Deadpool has been in a blue funk since his girlfriend left him, he's not about to let his universe (mainly Vanessa and his friends), get destroyed, but he's more than willing to become Marvel Jesus. But before he sets out on his own rogue plan to save his universe, he sees something rather curious. 

The Merc with a Mouth was accidentally shown a TV screen that may have shown a brief clip from his future. On the TV screen, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) was kneeling over an injured Deadpool, weeping over his battlefield comrade. It's repurposed footage from "Thor: The Dark World" with Wade in place of Loki, but Deadpool was stoked to learn that not only would he eventually meet Thor but that the God of Thunder would grow so fond of him that he would cry over Deadpool's war wounds. The scene, however, is quickly dismissed, and it's used as fuel for Deadpool to keep waking up after dreaming about his future Thor rendezvous. 

But this kind of throw-off jape is exactly what gets the brains of MCU fans fired up. What if ... it WASN'T a joke?

As of this writing, many unproduced MCU projects are on various back burners, and no one knows which, if any, will actually be made. But it seems that the current plan for the MCU is to wrap up Phase 5 with the release of "Captain America: Brave New World" (watch the trailer) in February 2025, and "Thunderbolts*" the following May. There will then be a Phase 6, which may include "Blade" and/or "Fantastic Four," as well as a climactic pair of "Avengers" team-up movies directed by the Russo brothers. The as-yet unnamed fifth "Avengers" movie (previously called "The Kang Dynasty") will be released in May 2026, while "Avengers: Secret Wars" is scheduled for May 2027. 

Even though superhero films are largely on the wane, Marvel is still making big plans, hoping to return to the MCU's glory days of the mid-to-late-'10s. The MCU was able to keep viewers hooked for years with constant promises of increasingly outlandish crossovers; every time a character was introduced, fans immediately began to ask when they might meet, say, Iron Man or the Guardians of the Galaxy. 

The Deadpool-meets-Thor moment was a goof, but it's also possible that executive producer Kevin Feige was deliberately leaving an MCU clue for attentive fans. There is now every reason to believe that Deadpool will persist into the Marvel universe at large, and that Thor will return to fight by his side. As seen, there are no solo Thor movies currently on the docket, so a Thor/Deadpool meeting would necessarily have to occur in "Avengers 5" or in "Secret Wars." No doubt the pair would make a good comedic couple, as Deadpool is snarky and self-aware, while Thor is clueless and very often self-unaware.

It's worth remembering that Taika Waititi's "Thor: Love and Thunder" was a huge disappointment when it was released in 2022. The character was transformed into a bumbling boob, the story was generic, and the wild visuals managed to look plain and predictable. Also, the film was beset by visual effects problems, and many noticed how cheap the film looked, despite costing $250 million to make. It was held up as an example of the MCU's constant downward slide after 2019, and it seemed that the character of Thor had used up all his goodwill. 

Deadpool, as dialogue from "Deadpool & Wolverine" indicates, is intended to save Marvel from itself, bringing a note of crassness and self-awareness to a flagging series. If Deadpool can lampshade the fact that the MCU is "at a low point" — something he says out loud — then perhaps his humor will draw people back. If Deadpool can reach into the future and rescue Thor from his disappointing past, then perhaps a recognizable "Avengers" film may still be possible. And if Thor is present, then surely other recognizable Avengers characters will appear. Hulk may show up (he has a cameo in "Deadpool & Wolverine"), Black Widow will be resurrected, and the new versions of Iron Man and Captain American will swing by. 

The multiverse is a handy catch-all for anything the filmmakers may want to try, and Deadpool's flippant attitude may be an excuse to finally get creative with it. It's already been proven that Marvel will hire actors from long-defunct film franchises to reprise their roles. Now they can rebuild an Avengers team to their liking. And that team may include Deadpool and Thor.