Hugh Jackman is back, and he's ready to carve himself a new legacy as Wolverine in Deadpool 3. In an announcement almost no one saw coming, the X-Men alumni is teaming up with Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson for the upcoming threequel, as the Merc With a Mouth is finally ready to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Following Tim Miller’s Deadpool in 2016 and David Leitch’s Deadpool 2 in 2018, it’s all change once again with Free Guy’s Shawn Levy taking the reins as director.

With Disney having bought the rights to the X-Men and the Fantastic Four in 2019, Deadpool 3 marks a milestone moment for mutants in the MCU — being the first movie to officially include those gifted youngsters.

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Here’s everything we know about the Deadpool 3 cast, story, release date, and more.

Deadpool 3 first look

On Monday, 10 July Reynolds decided to give the public what they were looking forward to the most: their first look at Jackman in character as Wolverine.

The actor was seen back in his iconic role wearing one of the classic bright yellow superhero suits that the X-Men are known for wearing in the comics.

Reynolds could be seen walking alongside Jackman in a new version of Deadpool's suit for the sequel, and the pair were seen strolling along whilst either in the midst of filming or during a break on set.

The Adam Project actor shared the image on his Instagram stories, and told fans "don't blink" so that they could enjoy the first look at them in character.

Deadpool 3 cast

The clue is in the name of Deadpool 3, but front and centre is Reynolds as the titular Deadpool. He’s sharing top billing with Hugh Jackman, who confirmed his surprise return in a viral announcement.

Telling Variety about how it came to be, Jackman explained Reynolds had been pushing “on the daily” for a Wolverine-Deadpool movie since the Disney deal. With the right timing and imagining Deadpool 3 as their version of 48 Hours with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, Jackman gave in and says it’s beyond his and Reynolds’ 'wildest dreams'.

Also joining the cast of Deadpool 3 is Jennifer Garner who will reprise the role of Elektra, the Marvel superhero she played in 2003's Daredevil, and her own 2005 spin-off.

Read more: Jennifer Garner Returning as Elektra for ‘Deadpool 3’ (The Hollywood Reporter, 2 min read)

The Crown star Emma Corrin joined the cast in February 2023, with Reynolds tweeting: “New addition to the family! The Deadpool family, for clarity. Which is just like a real family except with less swearing… Welcome, Emma Corrin!”

In March 2023, it was revealed that Succession's Matthew Macfadyen would be joining the film in an as-yet-unspecified role. While original Deadpool stars Karan Soni who played taxi driver Dopinder and Leslie Uggams who played Blind Al in parts one and two have both been confirmed to return.

Other familiar faces confirmed to return include Morena Baccarin as Wade's girlfriend Vanessa and Serbian actor Stefan Kapicic as the metal Colossus.

In late May 2023, it was confirmed that Brianna Hildebrand will return to the Deadpool-verse as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, with Deadpool 2's Yukio AKA Shioli Kutsuna also coming back for more.

Read more: Hugh Jackman teases 'angrier' Wolverine in Deadpool 3

Speaking of Deadpool 2, Rob Delaney's fan-favourite Peter AKA Sugar Bear is also set to see more action in Dthe third film. Despite meeting a grizzly end after his inaugural X-Force mission, he was later resurrected by Wade towards the end of the movie.

Someone we’re pretty sure will carry over is Leslie Uggams as Blind Al. In March 2022, Reynolds shared one of her tweets and wrote, “See you soon.”

Deadpool 3 story

The big question on everyone’s lips is what brings Deadpool and Wolverine together again? Deadpool 2 ended with “our” Wade Wilson using Cable’s repaired time travel device to kill the version of Deadpool he famously played in 2009's panned X-Men: Origins: Wolverine.

Then again, X-Men: The Last Stand erased most of the original timeline anyway, which gives the writers an easy get-out-of-jail-free card to place Deadpool 3 in whatever capacity they want.

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Deadpool 2 writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are returning to write the script — taking over from a previous treatment from Bob's Burgers writers Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin.

There are no current story details, but with a tease of Mister Sinister in Deadpool 2 thanks to the Essex House for Mutant Rehabilitation, we could get a pay-off for that Essex Corporation Easter egg in X-Men: Apocalypse. Let’s also remember, Jon Hamm was once in talks to play the villain in The New Mutants.

Jackman has teased a different Wolverine who will be “angrier” than before, but just exactly which Wolverine is this? Even though fans are questioning how Deadpool will join the main canon of the MCU’s Earth-616, movies including Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have already proved this possible. Added to this, Jonathan Majors is playing a Kang the Conqueror version of Loki's He Who Remains for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

A lip-reading expert deciphered Jackman’s announcement and uncovered an interesting line where he says, “You really have to see this because we’re in our prime. It’s true, the prime.” This makes it pretty clear Deadpool 3 won’t be set after the events of James Mangold’s Logan.

Given that this ended with the death of the character’s grizzled future, as well as Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier (again), and being set in a reality where Professor X accidentally killed an unknown number of the X-Men, that might be for the best.

Despite all this rumour, we now know for sure that Wolverine's reappearance in Deadpool 3 won't mess with any of his previous lore, with Jackman recently pointing to Marvel's multiverse as a handy tool. "It’s all because of this device they have in the Marvel world of moving around timelines," he told SiriusXM in February.

“Now we can go back because, you know, it’s science. So, I don’t have to screw with the ‘Logan’ timeline, which was important to me. And I think probably to the fans too.”

Reynolds recently hit home the importance of timing — both onscreen and off — in a chat with ET Canada, saying: “We’ve wanted to do this for decades… it’s weirdly the perfect time."

Admitting that it's something he's been wanting to do for ages, he added: "What we pitched him was enough of a divergence from the character that he knows and the character that he’s left behind, that it gives him something completely new to play and something that he’s really excited to do.”

Splice this with Reynolds' previous comments about separating Deadpool 3 from the events of Logan and we could be set to see a stand-alone Wolverine encounter in this trilogy closer.

“Logan takes place in 2029," the star said earlier this year. "Totally separate thing. Logan died in Logan. Not touching that.”

At least we know it will be a suitably bloody affair. Reese and Wernick explained to Den of Geek how Deadpool will “live in the R-rated universe that we’ve created," while also saying, "hopefully we’ll be allowed to play a little bit in the MCU sandbox as well.”

Things have gone quiet since then, but Kevin Feige reiterated to Collider that it will be R-rated and championed Deadpool as “a very different type of character in the MCU."

The MCU overlord added that “Ryan [Reynolds] is a force of nature, which is just awesome to see him bring that character to life.”

Deadpool 3 release date

Deadpool 3 will arrive in cinemas on Friday, 3 May, 2024.

If you thought Phase 4 was jam-packed with new outings, that’s nothing compared to what’s already being sketched out for Phase 6. We’ve not even kicked off Phase 5 yet, but already, Phase 6 is boasting juggernauts like Avengers: Secret Wars, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool 3.

We know there are more mystery projects out there, and while we’re hopeful for an X-Men reboot, it’s more likely Deadpool 3 will pave the way for them in 2024. It’s also likely that Deadpool 3 will get a full-blown theatrical release before arriving on Disney+ at an unspecified later date for those who don’t want to see it in cinemas.

Read more: Fans divided over Hugh Jackman's return as Wolverine

Despite all the hype surrounding Deadpool 3, it’s joined the Blade and Fantastic Four films in being delayed. Deadpool 3 shifted from 6 September, 2024, to 8 November, 2024 and then changed again after Disney unveiled a release slate shuffle in mid June 2023, this time bumping up and claiming a new release date of Friday, 3 May 2024.

Filming began in May 2023 in Vancouver Canada — despite the writer's strike — so expect to know more about Deadpool 3 soon.

Deadpool 3 will arrive in cinemas on Friday, 3 May 2024.