The Marvel Movies to See Before ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

While Marvel’s cinematic universe has gotten increasingly complicated in recent years, the director of Deadpool & Wolverine says you won‘t need to have seen any of it — or any of the prior Fox X-Men movies — before his film.

Shawn Levy told Associated Press that despite the 20+ prior Marvel films and 10+ Fox X-Men movies all predating this team-up between Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, none of it is essential to understanding or enjoying their upcoming film.

“I am definitely not looking to do homework when I go to the movies,” Levy explained. “I very much made this film with certainly a healthy respect and gratitude towards the rabid fan base that has peak fluency in the mythology and lore of these characters and this world ... but I didn’t want to presume that. This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research.”

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That decision to make the film accessible to anyone comes after a series of Marvel films that took a very different approach. The Marvels, for example, was a sequel to multiple Marvel movies and TV shows, including Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and WandaVision. I suppose you could watch it without previously watching all that other stuff, but it wouldn’t be the easiest thing to follow.

Given the fact that Deadpool has had two movies of his own, and Wolverine has had three movies of his own plus all his X-Men movie appearances, and the fact that Deadpool & Wolverine does somehow involve the Time Variance Authority from Loki, it could actually be kind of tricky to make this film in a way that is accessible to all.

But with Marvel only releasing this one feature in 2024, they’ve got a lot riding on Deadpool & Wolverine’s success. They need the widest possible audience to turn up for it. And if it looks like something you need to watch 30 hours of television and movies to understand, that could definitely limit its box office.

Deadpool & Wolverine is scheduled to open in theaters on July 26.