The “Deadpool & Wolverine” Trailer Hints At a Different Logan & the Most Powerful Villain Since Thanos

The reveal of the first Deadpool & Wolverine trailer yesterday unleashed a new kind of mayhem on Marvel. The Merc with the Mouth (Ryan Reynold)’s entrance into the MCU—alongside Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), the beloved, be-clawed mutant mauler, no less—was the raunchiest, most foul-mouthed and deliriously unhinged trailer to ever fall under the MCU banner, and that’s by a wide margin. Of the main clues and Easter Eggs dropped in the trailer’s two minutes and change (including revealing some X-Men and a sadly deceased Giant Man), the F-bombs and the grungy vibe of it all might have been the first thing you noticed.

But there were two things going on in the trailer in particular worth paying close attention to, so to that end, we’ve taken a closer look.

The Return of Wolverine Might Be A Different Wolverine Altogether

As it’s been noted many, many times before, Jackman’s Wolverine definitely died in James Mangold’s excellent 2017 film Logan, which made the news of Jackman’s return extra surprising and, to some, a little concerning. Is nothing sacred anymore, not even death? (In the superhero world, the short and obvious answer is no.) The simplest solution would have been to set Deadpool & Wolverine before the events in Logan, which take place in 2029. This would have kept Deadpool & Wolverine on the same timeline and in the same universe as Logan and given the film a bittersweet quality, considering we all know Logan’s fate is heroic but grim.

Or, considering all the timeline meddling that the X-Men franchise has done—so much so they devoted a (very good) movie, Days of Future Past, to try and sort it all out—to say nothing of the multiverse traversing going on in the MCU, Deadpool & Wolverine could have plucked any number of Wolverine iterations from the vast web of realities already explored or mentioned in a previous film. But it looks like director Shawn Levy and screenwriters Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, and Reynolds might have gone a different route.

The opening sequence in the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer suggests that this might actually be an altogether different Logan. As Logan drinks alone at a bar and is once again badgered by the bartender (a callback of sorts to Jackman’s first appearance as the mutant in 2000’s X-Men), Deadpool appears and tries to lure him out of the bar with a call to action. We eventually hear Logan say he’s “let down his entire world,” which is paired with a flashback of an apocalyptic scene.  This doesn’t appear to be connected to any previous X-Men film, and the fact that Deadpool & Wolverine includes the Time Variance Authority, with Matthew Macfayden’s TVA employee Mr. Paradox also saying, “This Wolverine let down his entire world,” this version of Wolverine might be one we’ve never seen before.

And not for nothing, we get Wolverine back in his classic blue and gold suit—the first time Jackman has worn this in a live-action film—but one we know from the classic 1990s animated series and the comics. Which brings us to the villain…

Enter Cassandra Nova

One theory for what happened to this Wolverine’s world is that Emma Corrin’s Cassandra Nova, finally glimpsed in the trailer, is the destroyer herself. Created by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely in the comics, Nova is Charles Xavier’s evil twin sister, and we get a glimpse of her skill set when she easily forces Wolverine to heel with her telekinetic powers and seems almost bored by how easy it is. This is because Cassandra Nova’s powers are immense, and she could make a claim for having the most fearsome skills since Thanos.

In the comics, Cassandra’s backstory is beyond gothic and haunted by her dark connection to Charles—Wolverine’s former mentor, no less. While the two were gestating in the womb, Charles recognized her evil presence, and before Cassandra could kill him, he killed her. But Cassandra’s mind lived on, and years later, she formed a new body and swore revenge on her twin brother. Cassandra boasts vast mutant powers, many of them shared by her twin brother and many, according to the comics, he didn’t possess. A brief glimpse at the list of things Cassandra can do includes mind control, insane healing abilities, psionic blasts, telepathy, and astral projection.

There are a lot of things Cassandra Nova has done in the comics that the Deadpool & Wolverine team might have used to connect her to the action. What’s worth noting is that the trailer seems to place her in the Void, the space at the end of time introduced in Loki, where baddies are sent into exile.

The most salient Cassandra Nova comics storyline that might connect her directly to this Wolverine is when she helped facilitate the genocide of 16 million mutants on Genosha. This horror could be what Logan is talking about at the top of the trailer when he beats himself up for not being able to save his world. Now, it seems, he’ll have a shot at revenge, and there are few things that any one of the Wolverines we’ve met over the years love more.

Check out the other new images below. Deadpool & Wolverine slashes its way into theaters on July 26.

For more on Deadpool & Wolverine, check out these stories:

“Deadpool & Wolverine” Official Trailer Unleashes Mutant Mayhem on Marvel

“Deadpool & Wolverine” Director Shawn Levy Teases Raunchy, Riotous Super Team-Up

Kevin Feige Unleashes 9 Minutes of “Deadpool & Wolverine” at CinemaCon

First “Deadpool & Wolverine” Images Tease the Start of a Beautiful Relationship

Featured image: (L-R): Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson in 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios’ DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2024 MARVEL.