Deadpool & Wolverine have been a box office smash hit. The film has grossed $1.25 billion worldwide, becoming the seventh highest-grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the highest-grossing movie from the X-Men franchise, and the highest-grossing R-rated film ever. While the critical reaction was more mixed, it still leaned rather positive, and audiences have certainly been enjoying the multiverse buddy comedy with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.
Interestingly, a good portion of audiences have embraced Deadpool & Wolverine even though it features some glaring plot holes that would get another movie roundly criticized.
A plot hole is typically defined as a moment where a narrative or a character breaks an already established rule within its story that is inconsistent with what was established before. In recent years, the idea of a plot hole has become a nebulous term, and the word has begun to lose some meaning and elements of a film that are not plot holes, like something happening off-screen or a person doing something the viewer wouldn’t, is labeled a plot hole despite that not fitting the definition.
Yet Deadpool & Wolverine, being both part of the 20th Century Fox X-Men Universe and MCU, now breaks many established rules both franchises had set up. Here are the biggest plot holes in Deadpool & Wolverine.
9 How Did Deadpool Get to Earth 616?
Almost immediately from the start, Deadpool & Wolverine shows that Wade Wilson traveled to the MCU, designated Earth 616/The Sacred Timeline, following the post-credit scene of Deadpool 2 where he used Cable’s time machine to go back and alter the past so his girlfriend Vanessa died.
Deadpool’s goal in traveling to Earth 616 is to join The Avengers and feel like he matters; one of the film’s many meta jokes is about how fandom saw the non-MCU Marvel films as “not counting” because they could play along with The Avengers.
Now, Deadpool obviously knows about Earth 616 or The Avengers, but that’s not a plot hole since the very nature of the character is that he can break the fourth wall. The plot hole is how he traveled to another dimension since that isn’t how Cable’s time machine works.
Universal Differences in Time Travel
Deadpool 2 establishes that Cable’s time travel device follows the same time travel rules that X-Men: Days of Future Past did, that a person travels back to the past and their actions in the past change the future. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with Avengers: Endgame, established that time travel does not change the future of the person traveling back but instead creates a branching timeline in the multiverse as those altered events create a new reality.
Cable’s time travel device should allow Deadpool to travel back in time in the 20th Century Fox X-Men timeline, but it should not allow him to jump between multiverses.
8 Logan Takes Place After Deadpool & Wolverine, So Logan Should Still Be Alive
Deadpool & Wolverine begins with Deadpool digging up Wolverine’s grave following his heroic death in the 2017 film Logan. Deadpool discovers that Wolverine truly is dead. Deadpool needs Wolverine because Logan’s death sent ripples across his universe, and his death as the Anchor being (more on that in a moment) means that the 20th Century Fox X-Men universe is dying.
When Deadpool finds out that Wolverine is truly dead, he decides to go bouncing around the multiverse to find a replacement Wolverine. Yet Deadpool gets into a lot of trouble when he can find Wolverine in his timeline since the events of Logan haven’t happened yet in Deadpool’s timeline.
Timeline Doesn’t Add Up
Logan’s death takes place in the year 2029, while Deadpool & Wolverine takes place in 2024, about six years after the events of Deadpool 2. Now, ignoring the fact that Deadpool’s timeline doesn’t match up with the semi-post apocalypse that Logan established as mutants had begun dying off, the film does establish the Deadpool movies taking place within the same timeline as Logan. This means that Logan in the 20th Century Fox timeline, Earth 10005 as they call it, isn’t dead yet and won’t be for another five years.
Deadpool could have just found the Wolverine in his timeline and recruited him. He also could have gone back in time to prevent Wolverine from dying in the place in the events of Logan because the film only established that his death caused the timeline to fade away, not that it was an absolute point in time that had to occur. Deadpool’s multiverse adventure could have been solved if he asked his friend Colossus to take him to the X-Mansion to meet Wolverine or travel back to the final moments of Logan and save him.
7 How Exactly Do Anchor Beings Work?
Deadpool & Wolverine‘s most significant piece of lore to the MCU might also be its most controversial. The movie establishes the concept of Anchor Beings, beings who are so important to their universe that once they die, they begin to fade away. As the case in Deadpool’s reality, it was Wolverine who was their Anchor Being.
Now, this is a meta-joke about the fact that Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine became the star of the X-Men film franchise and seemed to struggle without him aside from Deadpool, but removed from the meta-nature as a story element within the MCU makes for a few problems.
Anchor Beings Don’t Make Sense as an In-Universe Concept or a Meta Joke
Suppose an Anchor Being’s death causes a universe to be destroyed. How are universes functioning before their anchor being is born, since the implication is they can happen at any point in a timeline? Is it a heroic act of self-sacrifice that makes somebody an anchor being, or is the person predetermined? Does that mean a person who is the anchor being is destined to be born in that timeline, and is it chosen beforehand, or does a particular act make one an anchor being? Does the MCU have one, and if so, who is it?
If the MCU does have an anchor being, does that run against the franchise’s theme of heroes not being born but choosing their paths to heroism? Even in a meta-sense, Wolverine being the Anchor Being doesn’t make sense because the box office results of both Deadpool & Deadpool 2 showed that the X-Men movies could work without Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, and it was less Jackman leaving the role of Wolverine that caused that franchise to collapse, but Disney buying 20th Century Fox. The more one thinks about Anchor Beings, the more problems it makes.
6 If Paradox Is Going Behind the TVA’s Back, Why Does He Care About Deadpool?
Technically, the idea of Anchor Beings could have been explained as unreliable information given to Deadpool by the film’s villain, Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), but that concept is later confirmed by the new head of the Time Variance Authority, Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) so this must be true. While Mr. Paradox introduces himself to Deadpool as working for the TVA, Deadpool quickly realizes that he and his division are working off the books behind the leadership’s back because he doesn’t agree with the new status quo established in Loki season 2 that they are meant to preserve timelines.
He wants to destroy Earth 10005 because he acknowledges it is dying following the Anchor Being’s death, and instead of letting it die slowly over thousands of years, he wants to put it out of its mercy quickly. For someone so willing to follow his rule book, he is also clearly interested in bringing in Deadpool.
Mr. Paradox Is Himself a Paradox
To Deadpool & Wolverine‘s credit, it does try to offer an explanation, but one that comes with more questions. Mr. Paradox said the higher-ups (another meta joke about Marvel/Disney) want to save Deadpool from his universe extinction because they have greater plans for him, hammered home by the footage of Thor crying over a dying Deadpool with the implication that is set to happen in the future.
Yet if Mr. Paradox is so willing to go against the TVA higher-ups, why does he care if Deadpool survives? He seemingly has no problem not saving Deadpool as he sends him to the Void, so what would he do to explain to the higher-ups who wanted Deadpool alive? Also, how would he explain how Earth 10005 just died suddenly without revealing that he used a time ripper on it? It feels like Mr. Paradox should not care about Deadpool, except if he didn’t, the plot wouldn’t happen.
5 Where Are Russell, Domino, and Cable?
Speaking of Cable, he is notably absent from Deadpool & Wolverine alongside Dominio and Russell Collins/Firefist. All of these characters are the main characters in Deadpool 2, and at the end of the film, they seemingly become part of Deadpool’s close friend group, with Russell becoming like a surrogate son for Deadpool. However, all three characters are notably absent from Deadpool & Wolverine, and while the film gives a slight handwave to Cable saying he “didn’t focus test well,” no mentions of Domino or Russell are given.
This is particularly glaring given how much of Deadpool & Wolverine is about Deadpool fighting so hard to save his universe and the people in it who are “his world.”
Half of Deadpool’s Family is Missing
Cable and Domino’s absence could have easily been explained by saying they were off on a mission, although it does rob the viewers of a great meta joke about how Cable looks like the MCU’s greatest villain, Thanos, as they were both played by Josh Brolin. Yet Russell’s absence feels confusing, given how much Deadpool 2 was about Wade Wilson connecting with him and giving him a new family by the film’s end. Russell not being at Deadpool’s birthday party or even getting a mention feels like a glaring problem.
Shatterstar, a one-joke cameo in Deadpool 2, is part of Deadpool’s family photo but not his surrogate son? It becomes an even more glaring omission when one considers how similar Deadpool and Russell’s dynamic in Deadpool 2 was to Wolverine and Laura’s in Logan, and with Dafne Keene reprising her role in the film, the lack of Russell is one plot element they needed to explain.
4 When Did Pyro Start Working with Mr. Paradox?
While Mr. Paradox is one of Deadpool & Wolverine‘s villains, the movie features plenty of others from the 20th Century Fox era of Marvel movies. Variants of Juggernaut, Lady Deathstrike, and Toad are all seen in the Void working for the main villain, Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin).
One of Cassandra Nova’s main henchmen is Pyro, with Aaron Stanford reprising his role from X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand. While Pyro seems loyal to Cassandra Nova, midway through the movie, he calls Mr. Paradox from the Void on a cell phone, one that can call across time, space, and dimensions.
Ryan Reynolds Mint Mobile Gets Great Reception in the Void
Pyro calling Mr. Paradox from a cell phone is certainly ridiculous, but that isn’t even the most confusing part. Who called whom, and how long has this phone been available to allow contact between the two parties? Did Mr. Paradox call Pyro, and had he always been working for Mr. Paradox as a double agent against Cassandra Nova, and if so, why him as opposed to another villain apart from the fact that Aaron Stanford is one of the few who reprised his role? Did Pyro find a phone that could call Paradox outside of time and space?
That seems to imply that he is going to Paradox with the information and seemingly blackmailing him into letting him out, but how would he know how to contact him, or was Paradox the TVA Agent he wanted to speak with? Is this their first time speaking, or had they spoken beforehand? The audience doesn’t get to find out because Pyro says he will tell Cassandra Nova, but the audience doesn’t get to see that.
3 How Did Cassandra Nova Go From the Void to the Fox Universe With Just a Sling Ring?
Cassandra Nova says she has been trapped in the Void since birth and has been ruling it ever since. At the film’s climax, she uses a sling ring she got from a sorcerer, implied to be a variant of Doctor Strange she killed, to travel to the Deadpool universe from the Void.
Now, the question isn’t why she didn’t do that from the beginning because the movie establishes that Cassandra Nova had no intention of leaving the Void, as she thought it was paradise. She only leaves because Paradox tried to double-cross her and now wants to bring the entire multiverse into the Void for her to rule. The biggest question is how she gets from the Void to another universe with just a sling ring.
Sling Rings Allow People to Travel Across Their Own Dimensions, Not Others
Doctor Strange introduced the concept of the sling ring, a magical item that can allow users to create portals to travel across their reality. The keyword is their reality, not other realities. While fans might associate Doctor Strange with traveling to other dimensions, he never does so with a sling ring. He travels to the Dark Dimension to confront Dormammu in his first film because the boundaries between dimensions are bleeding into one another. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness establishes America Chavez’s ability to freely travel between different realities in the multiverse as a rare power.
Without a TVA pad or America Chavez, Cassandra Nova should not be able to travel between realities. Now, her sling ring does seem to contain two Infinity Stones, the Time and Reality stone, with the implication being that this combo allows her to travel between dimensions, but that would undoubtedly be a new power added to the MCU Infinity Stones as so far the Reality Stone manipulates one’s own dimension, as seen when Thanos created a fake perception in Avengers: Infinity War.
2 Why Is Deadpool Important if All Other Deadpools Are Sent to the Void?
Towards the film’s climax, Deadpool and Wolverine are forced to confront the Deadpool Corp, a collection of Deadpool variants that have become a team in the Void, seemingly led by Lady Deadpool. The movie makes multiple references throughout that the Void is filled with Deadpool, the implication being that, like the character Loki, he is a trouble to the TVA, and many have been pruned and sent to the Void. The idea is that Deadpools are such a nuisance that they are sent to the Void, but then the question becomes, what makes the main Deadpool so special compared to his variants?
Only One Ryan Reynolds
Now, the obvious answer is that this is Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, the star of two box-office smash hit films, and that is why he is the important Deadpool that has a more significant part to play. But it does make the audience wonder why none of the other Deadpools are worthy of being saved outside of that fun meta answer.
Also, why do all these Deadpools agree to work with Cassandra Nova to go after the main Deadpool? Did they all fight one another when they first met like they did with this Deadpool? Also, shouldn’t the Deadpool from X-Men Origins: Wolverine be among the pruned variants, or was that one meta joke too far for the movie?
1 Why Does the TVA Still Keep People in the Void?
Deadpool & Wolverine‘s biggest crowd-pleasing moment was the reveal of past actors returning to play pre-MCU versions of Marvel characters like Jennifer Garner as Elektra, Wesley Snipes as Blade, Chris Evans as the Human Torch, and even Channing Tatum as Gambit. These characters have been stuck in the Void, and Deadpool & Wolverine ends with the implication that they were all sent back to their respective realities.
Given the new status of the TVA following Loki , Season 2 is rejecting their original orders from The Kang variant He Who Remains to prune the timeline. Instead, they are working to preserve and save them. Even if they were sent before the organization reformed, why did the TVA leave those heroes stuck in the Void in the first place?
The TVA is Still Pretty Bad
It is unclear exactly why characters like Blade, Elektra, and The Human Torch are even in the Void in the first place. Their home universes were not destroyed as they had realities to go home to, so the implication is they were pruned, but it is unknown if it was by Paradox or before the TVA reformed. Once the TVA got into the business of preserving timelines, why didn’t they send the heroes who were pruned trapped to their own reality? Or even the villains, as it is unlikely a low-level threat like, say, Toad deserves to spend eternity in a prison dimension. With Mr. Paradox easily contacting Pyro, the TVA agents could have contacted the heroes stuck down there and returned them home.
Even if their universes were destroyed, they could have been placed in a similar universe as What If…?, which showed The Watcher putting a Black Widow from a future where she was the sole survivor into a reality where their Black Widow died. The MCU features variants of Gamora and Loki running around, so the same could have been done here.
