Ryan Reynolds may have admitted that he doesn’t know when he’ll get the chance to suit up again for Deadpool 3 under new ownership at Marvel Studios, but that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill going into overdrive about the possibility of when and how the Merc with a Mouth will eventually make his debut in the world’s most lucrative franchise.
It looks like it could be 2023 at the earliest by the time we see Deadpool again, and by then we should also have a much clearer idea of how the X-Men will fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The studio’s rebooted version of the mutant superhero team aren’t expected to arrive until as late as Phase Six, but with both the history between Deadpool and the X-Men in the comic books and the MCU’s virtually unlimited crossover potential, it seems more than likely that the former Fox properties will cross paths once again.
We’ve already learned that the MCU’s Deadpool could mirror his counterpart from the printed page and develop an unhealthy obsession with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, but now we’ve heard that Wade Wilson himself will be the subject of somebody else’s affections. According to our intel – which comes from the same sources that told us Now You See Me 3 is in development and Disney is making an Aladdin sequel, both of which have since been confirmed – the X-Men’s Iceman is set to develop a one-sided crush on the foul-mouthed assassin when they first meet.
Of course, Iceman is one of the most prominent gay comic book characters having officially come out in 2015, and with the MCU reportedly pushing for more diversity and inclusion, it makes sense that he would play a featured role in the rebooted X-Men. However, given that Karens are already threatening to boycott The Eternals for having a same sex relationship and the world we live in is now more sensitive than ever, any potential romantic interactions between Iceman and Deadpool will no doubt have to be handled very carefully in order to avoid any sort of backlash.