Deadpool & Wolverine Trailer Breakdown: Cassandra Nova, Lady Deathstrike, Alioth, LFG

Wolverine is the best at what he does. And what he does is self-loathing and swear words. At least, that’s what we see in the latest trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine, courtesy of a returning Hugh Jackman seemingly as the only surviving X-Man from his universe.

The third Deadpool movie has long promised to be an R-rated reunion for 20th Century Fox mutants and a way to bring the X-Men into the MCU, so far the teasers are delivering just that. The first trailer was a cameo-fest full of Deadpool‘s supporting cast and other Fox characters, as well as a few Fox X-Men villains. The second trailer continues this trend, but focuses more on Wolverine. Along the way, we get some deep Marvel winks, many of which fly by so quickly that it takes enhanced senses to catch them.

If you haven’t watched the trailer yet, check it out below:

Now, in the words of the Merc with a Mouth, “Let’s Fucking Go” and break down just what the heck is going on in this latest trailer full of cameos and easter eggs.

Old Man Logan-er

As much as we all love Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, there has been some concern that his playing the Ol’ Canucklehead again undercuts the catharsis of Logan. Written and directed by James Mangold, Logan adapts part of Old Man Logan, the 2009 comic book storyline by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. However, outside of the idea of an older Logan living in seclusion, Logan has little in common with the comic book story.

The trailer hints that Deadpool & Wolverine may bring more of Old Man Logan to live action. When Deadpool finds Logan drinking away his sorrows, Wolvie insists that he destroyed his old world. Why? How? We don’t know much about that yet. However, the trailer does feature a powerful telepath who could make Wolverine go berserker against his mutant allies — all of which we see buried in a giant graveyard…

O Canada

The start of the trailer recalls one of the first times that we met Jackman’s Wolverine in the comics. After winning a bareknuckle boxing match, Logan sidles up to a bar where he is soon hassled by a bigot. The scene in Deadpool & Wolverine is exactly the same as the one in the 2000s X-Men movie, and the one at the start of 2013’s The Wolverine. In other words, this set up is consistent with a lot of Wolverine stories. From the 1982 miniseries by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller to countless other stories, Wolverine likes to throw ’em down in Canadian watering holes.

But the bar isn’t the only Great White North representation in Deadpool & Wolverine. After all, not only is Ryan Reynolds a proud Vancouverite, but Wade Wilson himself is canonically Canadian, too. During the party sequence, we can see over Wade’s shoulder the CN Tower, setting that party in Toronto. Furthermore, there’s a hockey game on the TV screen at Logan’s bar, in which the Maple Leafs are probably getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs, just like in our universe!

Cassandra Nova

We’ve known for some time that Emma Corrin would be playing Cassandra Nova in Deadpool & Wolverine. But the second trailer offers our first look at her in action. For those unfamiliar her comic book backstory, Cassandra Nova is the twin sister of Professor X, a telepath so powerful and evil that fetal Xavier actually tried to kill her in the womb. A central figure in Grant Morrison‘s New X-Men run from the early 2000s, Nova destroyed the mutant nation Genosha, a storyline recently replicated on the X-Men ’97 animated series (which isn’t tied to MCU canon).

The first of the two shots of Nova offers little in the way of information. She simply says, “Boys are so silly,” which isn’t quite as intimidating in the trailer as it surely will be in the film. But the second shows Nova controlling Wolverine, forcing his clawed arms to his side. If she can control Logan there, Nova is certainly capable of forcing Logan to commit unspeakable, universe destroying acts…

Wolverine in Costume… Almost

One of the most exciting parts of Jackman’s return has been the prospect of him finally donning the yellow spandex he mocked way back in 2000. The first set photos of Jackman in blue and gold sent the internet ablaze, but more than a few pointed out that the costume wasn’t quite accurate. The Wolverine of the comics almost always cut the sleeves off his costumes, letting those hairy biceps breathe.

No, they’re not at all hairy, and yes, they’re much longer than those of the 5’4″ runt of the comics, but Jackman’s arms are on full display in the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer. This sartorial choice signals an MCU-style embrace of comics-accurate looks, but we’re still missing that key aspect: the winged mask that completes the ensemble.

Liefeld’s Feet

So awesome are Jackman’s arms that many might miss the signs on the buildings behind them. One sign refers to an establishment called Copperhead’s, which might refer to the Serpent Society member who has plagued Captain America, Daredevil, and Wolverine. Copperhead and the Serpent Society are slated to appear in Captain America: Brave New World, so it’s not that much of a stretch to see them here.

But the best sign belongs to Liefeld’s Just Feet. The name refers to Rob Liefeld, the artist/writer who created Deadpool for 1990’s New Mutants #98. Liefeld’s take had none of the fourth-wall-breaking humor that people have come to love (those qualities came from later writers Joe Casey, Christopher Priest, and Gail Simone). But Liefeld’s original version did include one of artist’s most famous qualities, an aversion to drawing feet.

Lest that feel like too mean of a joke, rest assured that Liefeld is in on it, as shown by a tweet he sent out this morning.

Alioth, Dogpool, Variants, and the TVA

As shown by both trailers, Deadpool & Wolverine finds the Time Variance Authority (TVA) recruiting Wade Wilson into a multiversal adventure. And where the TVA are, Variants can’t be far behind.

Set photos already gave us a look at a heroic and handsome version of Deadpool, but the latest trailer gives us the good boy variant known as Dogpool. This doggy variant will certainly gain lots of fans, but hopefully he won’t follow the fate of the comic book version, who — along with most of the Deadpool Corps — dies at the hands and blades of an insane Wade Wilson.

Much of the trailer seems to take place in the Void, complete with a quick shot of Alioth. For those who don’t recall, the Void was introduced in the first season of Loki as a wasteland where Alioth devours anyone sent there by the TVA. But as Loki showed, people can survive in the Void, something we’ll talk about more in a moment.

Ant-Man’s Head

Perhaps the most shocking part of the trailer involves the character played by the seemingly immortal Paul Rudd. In this movie, the huge dead head of Scott Lang aka Ant-Man aka Giant-Man serves as a base of sorts for the bad guys. That’s not entirely out of character for Marvel movies, as the Guardians also set up shot in Knowhere, which exists inside the head of a dead Celestial. And the Giant-Man skull base does come directly from the aforementioned Old Man Logan comics, so it kinda had to be there. Still, it’s a bit of a bummer to see Scott’s final fate. Don’t worry, this probably isn’t the MCU version of the character, though. Right?

Are These Marvel Portals Teasing the Return of Doctor Strange?

Don’t let the many f-bombs fool you, this is definitely a Marvel Studios production, down to the many direct references to Marvel head Kevin Feige’s dislike of cocaine jokes. Deadpool & Wolverine will indeed bring at least Deadpool into the MCU proper.

We’ve also long known that the X-Men will come to the MCU, but thus far, Marvel’s Merry Mutants have been relegated to name drops on Ms. Marvel, a Professor X variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and post-credit sequences in The Marvels. As a result, fans have wondered how, exactly, the X-Men will enter the MCU.

The answer might be: “they jump through a portal.” At the end of the trailer, Deadpool and Wolverine leap from Ant-Man’s skull into a portal, which looks exactly like those conjured by Doctor Strange and Wong in the movies. And as we saw in Spider-Man: No Way Home, those portals can bring people across all the different Marvel universes. So, is the MCU waiting at the other end of that portal?

Pyro and the Red Skull Road Warriors

Ant-Man isn’t the only mainline MCU figure to show up in the trailer. We also see the Red Skull’s elongated car from Captain America: The First Avenger drive across the wasteland. Comparing that shot to those of the first Deadpool & Wolverine trailer, the driver is probably Pyro, once again played by Aaron Stanford.

Lady Deathstrike, Azazel, Callisto, Sabretooth, and the Russian?!

Pyro’s hardly the only former X-Man villain stuck in the Void. If you look closely outside of Ant-Man’s head, you can see other villains from previous X-Men movies. Kelly Hu’s Lady Deathstrike has her claws extended, ready for a second fight against Wolverine after X2: X-Men United. The demonic Azazel (Jason Flemyng) returns from X-Men: First Class. And original evil mutant Toad (Ray Park) is on hand, alongside Callisto (Dania Ramirez) from X-Men: The Last Stand. The aforementioned Pyro is hanging out in the background, and that may also be Tyler Mane’s Sabertooth on the left side of the screen.

But the real shock is the inclusion of Kevin Nash as the Russian, the hulking villain who battled Thomas Jane’s Frank Castle in 2004’s The Punisher. That’s significant not just because the Punisher is obviously not an X-Men character, but also because The Punisher was produced by Lionsgate Films. Rumors have long suggested that non-X-Men characters such as Jennifer Garner’s Elektra would appear in the movie, but this is the first we’ve seen of non-20th Century Fox Marvel characters in the trailers at all. Could the Man-Thing be far behind? What about Ben Affleck’s Daredevil and Colin Farrell’s Bullseye? Man, we hope not.

LFG

The producers of Deadpool & Wolverine would really like viewers to know that this is an R-rated movie. Yes, it’s in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Wade directly tells us that Feige only rules out cocaine use in his movies. All sorts of violence and crude humor is allowed, as demonstrated by Wolvie stabbing Wade in the crotch. And so are F-words. So, so many F-words.

In fact, Marvel is using ithis naughty language as a key part of its marketing. The hashtag #LFG is already all over social media, and even displayed prominently in the trailer. Is there anything more to LFG than the phrase “Let’s fucking go?” Maybe, but it might just be naughty words for the sake of naughty words.

Deadpool & Wolverine comes to theaters on July 26.