Over the weekendMarvel Studiosreclaimed its pate as the mogul of summertime blockbusters with the right away successful release ofDeadpool & Wolverineand a monolithic return to its realm of San Diego Comic - Con .
At the studio apartment ’s yearly Hall H panel , Marvel political boss Kevin Feige announce the Russo Brothers are officially coming back to helmAvengers : Doomsday(replacing the now - scrappedKang Dynastymovie ) andAvengers : Secret Warsin a one - two punch that leave fans stunned . As if that was n’t enough , Marvel also mic - drop the event with the announcement that Victor Von Doom would be this form ’s Modern enceinte bad and play by none other thanRobert Downey Jr. You know , the cat who , until very recently , was in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as sacrificial hero Tony Stark / Iron Man .
Which allow for us with the dubiousness on everyone ’s head : how the heck is this going to be pulled off ?
Joe Russo, Robert Downey Jr., and Anthony Russo speak onstage during the Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H at SDCC in San Diego, California on 9 March 2025© Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
Let ’s dive into a couple theory , based on some very interesting things we learned throughDeadpool & Wolverineregarding “ anchor beings ” and the “ Johnny Storm Effect . ” Big spoilers forward obviously .
What are anchor beings?
InDeadpool & Wolverine , when Wade Wilson ( Ryan Reynolds ) gets pulled out of his timeline by the Mr. Paradox ( Matthew MacFadyen ) and the TVA , it ’s explain to him that his universe is slowly decay due to the personnel casualty of its “ anchor being . ” In this case , it ’s the “ estimable ” of all the Wolverines , a.k.a . Hugh Jackman ’s version of Wolverine from the FoxX - Menmovies up toLogan . AsDeadpool & Wolverinereminds us , that hero is exceedingly utter — and that timeline radioactive decay is a meta allusion to the Fox X - Men universe ’s destruction since it was acquired by Disney .
In parliamentary procedure to save his timeline , Deadpool goes on a journey through time to find a replacement Logan to simply insert into his universe , hop-skip that will do enough to stop the decay . In that “ Power of Love ” multi - verse travel collage , we get the sense that these universe of discourse run to have a Logan as their anchor beings , and as such they do n’t leave without a fight — except for one : the “ worst ” Logan .
How doesDeadpool & Wolverinefirst connect to the sacred timeline?
Now here ’s where it gets interesting . This variant Wolverine has already hump up his timeline by not being there when his X - man were killed ; the logical implication is , potentially , it ’s only being held together by his existence as punishment for Logan to be out his super long mean solar day burdened by the guilt of his actions , which he ’s urgently sample to drink away . So Wade takes him on as his project , making his “ educated wish ” that if Wolverine helps Deadpool ’s timeline , they could also go back and fixate Wolverine ’s . That ’s the plot ofDeadpool & Wolverine — a fun , vehement shoo-in — but there ’s something in the sauce there with those “ anchor being . ”
There ’s a play prospect early on that establishes Deadpool visit the sacred timeline circa 2018 ( using Cable ’s watch ) , trust to join the Avengers through an audience with Happy Hogan ( Jon Favreau ) to be a hero in Vanessa ’s eye and live up to his potential drop . This is where he con and catch who is part of that roster , including Chris Evans ’ Captain America and Robert Downey Jr. ’s Iron Man . Deadpool want to talk to Stark but did n’t get an interview because as Happy put it , Wade was in it for himself – and Avengers became heroes to help others .
How does Tony Stark fit into this?
Okay , so … since Deadpool instinctively seeks out Tony Stark , maybe we can take an educated guess that the sanctified timeline ’s “ anchor being ” is , in fact , Tony Stark . After all , why gravitate tothisuniverse , this Tony , if he could go to any world where the Avengers existed ? It ’s only been since Tony made his forfeit inEndgamethat the multiverse ’s fracturing began . Right now , it ’s only being hold together by the will of Loki , while the TVA attempts to relieve as many timelines as possible , like a shot setting upDeadpool & Wolverine‘s arc with the turncoat Mr. Paradox .
And like Deadpool ’s universe of discourse , which now has a new Wolverine “ keystone being ” in topographic point to keep it together , you’re able to posit that there ’s a mighty big hole in the sacred timeline ’s “ anchor being ” role that ’s mature for the taking — perchance by the “ worst ” version of a Tony Stark type .
At Marvel ’s big Hall H panel this weekend , it was specifically stated that Robert Downey Jr. will flirt Victor Von Doom , which muddies whether or not Victor can be a Tony chance variable – even thoughthere arecomics that cut into intoidentity - usurping between the two .
Image: Walt Disney Pictures
But get ’s recallLoki‘s first - time of year finale , and Kang ’s word of advice that kill him would only bring about the freedom for another , worse Kang to arrive . That theory , of course , was acquaint for a scoundrel we ’re likely not seeing again . We ’re guessing the spaghetti - ing ofLokiseason two ’s Victor Timely — a Kang variant — will have something to do with erasing all Kangs from existence for now . Victor Timely also second up the idea that multiple characters can share the same actor ’s face , even if they ’re variants or other masses all together .
To avoid make too disordered , because we truly do n’t recognize how the inhabitants of the sacred timeline will react to the case of their grinder on the face of an vicious invader , let ’s go back toDeadpool & Wolverine‘s Chris Evans cameo . When Deadpool recognise him in the Void , he take over it ’s Captain America — until he , like a lot of hearing members , is shook by the reveal that this is Johnny Storm from the 2005Fantastic Fourmovie .
This Johnny Storm just so happens to look exactly like Steve Rogers ’ Captain America . And like Peter Parker ( a right campaigner for Sony Marvel Universe ’s “ anchor being ” ) , he has three variate we ’ve seen over the eld with unlike faces ; we ’re presuming that admit Michael B. Jordan ( 2015 ’s Johnny Storm , who also share a face withBlack Panther‘s Killmonger ! ) and his up-to-the-minute variant , Joseph Quinn , who ’ll be see in next year’sThe Fantastic Four : First Steps .
Image: Walt Disney Pictures
Thanks to Deadpool ’s Captain America / Johnny Storm confusion , while we may not knowwhysome variants will share the same face with other completely different role , we recognise they will be recognized . This imply that when the villainous Victor Von Doom arrives in the sacred timeline and takes his mask off ( something Doom is rarely willing to do in the comic strip , and something that will inevitably encounter in the MCU anyway , because you ’re give for Robert Downey Jr. ) reveal a countenance selfsame to Tony Stark ’s , it ’s pass away to be awfully fierce on Tom Holland ’s poor Peter Parker .
It feels like a fix that takes on component of how the Kang character was signify to be used ; due to the nature of the redirect between the box office net ball - downs that were presuppose to do upKang Dynastyand Jonathan Majors ’ MCU exit , Marvel had to hail up with a strong solution . get back the fan - darling Downey feels very safe . Setting him up to be a Victor Von Doom who ’s potentially theworstform of Tony Stark makes signified , specially if there ’s a team - up in the works between Marvel ’s first family and the Avengers . Who else could stop Doom , really ?
There ’s so many elements at sport . Sure , Marvel likely want to coif up RDJ versus Marvel ’s biggest submarine sandwich to get butts in seats . And there ’s plenty of ribbon connecting our anchor being Logan back to the hallowed timeline now : adamantium has been enclose into the consecrated timeline , something that will be explore inCaptain America : Brave New World . That could give our new Logan motivation to crusade against the Serpent Society — which we ’ve run into inThe Wolverinewith Viper , but now led by Giancarlo Esposito ’s Sidewinder — specially if or when Doom expresses pursuit in that precious resourcefulness .
Image: Walt Disney Pictures
And while we ’re worried about the benching of various newfangled heroes these form were design to invest in , we see the sight , overall , of where this is snuff it to go . This re - direction isone way to critic - proofread your films ; play back a familiar submarine sandwich to be the villain and face off with Hugh Jackman ’s Wolverine until they ’re 90 . absolutely balanced as all things should be , as Cable — er , Thanos — state .
need more io9 news ? look into out when to have a bun in the oven the latestMarvel , Star Wars , andStar Trekreleases , what ’s next for theDC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to bang about the future ofDoctor Who .
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