Spoiler Alert! This article contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.
Summary
A Marvel fan theory posits that theMCU’s version ofAvengers vs X-Menhas already happened in a parallel universe, as suggested by a couple ofDeadpool & Wolverinedetails. Apart fromDeadpool & Wolverine’s myriad cameos, Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds' titular characters helped expand the MCU multiverse and the franchise’s multiversal lore. Their first MCU adventure together introduced the concept of anchor beings, confirmed thatLoganis part of the widerX-Menmovie timeline, and revealed the existence of multiple Wolverine variants spread across the multiverse.Deadpool & Wolverine’s ending, along the way, brought the new Wolverine variant to Deadpool’s Earth-10005.
Bringing Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine back after his death inLoganwas a big challenge for the MCU, butDeadpool & Wolverinesuccessfully sent off Jackman’s original Wolverine with a comedic confirmation of his death before introducing a brand-new Wolverine variant. This new Wolverine is more animalistic, more jaded, and more comic-accurate than the original, and he has an even more painful past than the Wolverine audiences followed for seventeen years. While not officially part ofDeadpool & Wolverine’s 100+ easter eggs and references, a couple of details hint at the Avengers' involvement in Wolverine’s tragic backstory.
Humans Attacked Mutants In Wolverine’s Universe
Wolverine Failed His Universe Because He Couldn’t Stop Humans From Exterminating Mutants
InDeadpool & Wolverine, TVA agent Paradox scolds Deadpool for choosing the worst Wolverine variant to serve asa replacement for Earth-10005’s anchor being, as this variant allegedly"failed his whole world". Later on,Wolverine confesses to Deadpool that the reason why he considers himself a failure is that he was too drunk to fight back when his universe’s X-Men were attacked by humans. Wolverine’s backstory suggests that humans launched an attack on mutantkind and successfully exterminated all mutants, leaving Wolverine to wander aimlessly and regret his life decisions before Deadpool came to recruit him.
WhileDeadpool & Wolverinedoesn’t show these events on screen, the X-Men’s deaths are a recorded part of Wolverine’s universe at the TVA, and Cassandra Nova is able to see Wolverine’s tragic backstory herself by tapping into Wolverine’s memories. Given that Wolverine is back in action by the end ofDeadpool & Wolverineand bothAvengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Warscan easily bring him back, the MCU’s next twoAvengersmovies could feature a short flashback to the X-Men’s downfall in Wolverine’s alternate universe, possibly revealing an essential detail that Wolverine didn’t mention to Deadpool.
Wolverine Seemingly Hates His Universe’s Avengers
Hugh Jackman’s New Wolverine Variant May Have A Complicated History With His Version Of The Avengers
Mutantkind’s persecution by humans is a constant in almost allX-Menstories across all formats and eras. However, the X-Men tend to fight back and prevent their own extinction, or at least delay it indefinitely. Wolverine’s classic costume also suggests that the X-Men were established heroes and a tight-knit team. Therefore, humans must have used a very effective weapon or system to kill mutants so effectively that heroes like Beast, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Professor X couldn’t do anything to stop them. Otherwise,humans may have been aided by a team of mutant-killing superhumans in Wolverine’s universe: the Avengers.
If the Avengers exist in this Wolverine’s universe, they might have helped the anti-mutant humans hunt down their mutant victims
When Deadpool mentions the Avengers in an abandoned restaurant inside the Void, Wolverine doesn’t miss a beat to respond"f*ck the Avengers". Although Wolverine doesn’t elaborate, his response is so quick and instinctive that it denotes a personal grudge against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. If the Avengers exist in this Wolverine’s universe, they might have helped the anti-mutant humans hunt down their mutant victims, provided humans with the necessary tools to accomplish their goals, or at the very least turned a blind eye to mutantkind’s extermination — all reasonable explanations for Wolverine’s hatred towards the Avengers.
Wolverine Regrets Killing Good People After The X-Men’s Deaths
As Cassandra Nova learnsWolverine’s tragic past inDeadpool & Wolverine, Wolverine drops his guard and confesses that the anger he felt over the X-Men’s deaths led him to kill people, both good and bad. Wolverine seems very regretful over this part of his backstory, but Cassandra’s examination of Wolverine’s memories is cut short.While Wolverine’s admission of his murderous rampage may refer to the deaths of non-violent criminals or individuals tangentially connected to the X-Men’s deaths, it could also refer to Wolverine’s revenge on the Avengers or the X-Men’s last-minute battle against the Avengers before their death.
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Wolverine might have killed some or all of the Avengers in his universe, which would explain why he’s considered a failure by the TVA and by himself. Killing Avengers would also cement Wolverine’s infamy in his universe, as he would be seen as the person responsible for the X-Men’s deaths out of negligence and the Avengers' deaths out of sheer revenge. Of course, the X-Men wouldn’t have gone down without a fight, and some of them could have taken down some of the Avengers them, motivating the Avengers to retaliate with lethal force in a deadlier, alternate-universe version ofAvengers vs X-Men.
Wolverine’s regret would also suggest that the Avengers’ motivations would have been more complex than money, influence, or anti-mutant hatred.
How The Avengers’ Role In Mutant Extinction Would Compare To The Original AvX Comics
A Brutal Version Of Marvel’s Avengers Vs X-Men Storyline Could Fit Wolverine’s Tragic Backstory
If the Avengers played a role in the X-Men’s deaths in Wolverine’s home universe, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes would have attacked the X-Men for various possible reasons. The Avengers might have considered mutants a threat to the world, or gotten manipulated by anti-mutant groups to attack mutants to supposedly defend humans. Alternatively, the Avengers could have attacked the X-Men for very similar reasons to why they came into conflict with mutants in Marvel Comics' originalAvengers vs X-Menstoryline, where Earth’s Mightiest Heroes try to stop the Phoenix Force from coming back and potentially destroying the Earth.
The only official information about the X-Men’s downfall in Wolverine’s home universe is that humans attacked mutants. Still,aDeadpool & Wolverinesequelor another multiverse-themed MCU movie could reveal that humans instigated the Avengers' attack against mutants with the excuse that the Phoenix Force’s arrival would lead to human extinction. After all,the Avengers came off as paranoid, self-proclaimed saviors by the end of the originalAvengers vs X-Men, and the version of the Avengers that exists in Wolverine’s universe may not be as genuinely heroic as Earth-616’s Avengers.
