What to watch before ‘Wolverine & Deadpool,’ plus where the new Marvel movie falls in the MCU and more

It’s time for the superhero crossover event of the decade (or at least since the last great Avengers movie came out): Wolverine & Deadpool. The MCU’s first-ever R-rated movie hits theaters this Friday, bringing more mutants of the X-Men series into the MCU — we first got to see mutants in the MCU in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and the series Ms. Marvel. Ryan Reynolds is back as NSFW Deadpool and Hugh Jackman has put on a new, more comic-book accurate variant of his Wolverine suit after we all feared Logan would be the end for him playing the beloved, curmudgeon character.

It’s certainly been awhile since we last saw either one of these men (and even longer since we first saw them together), so in case you need a refresher on the muddled chronological timeline of the MCU, the X-Men Universe and which movies you need to have seen prior to Wolverine & Deadpool, we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about Wolverine & Deadpool, including which characters make cameos in the new movie, if you need to stay for the post-credits scene and more.

Wolverine & Deadpool release date:

The official release date of Wolverine & Deadpool is Friday, July 26, 2024. But you should be able to catch an early showing as of today.

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What to watch before Deadpool & Wolverine:

Now, according to the film’s director, Shawn Levy, you don’t need to do any homework before going to watch Deadpool & Wolverine.

“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,” Levy told AP. “This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research.”

That being said, if you do want a refresh on these two characters before jumping into the chaos of them teaming up, we’ve got you covered. Here’s what you should watch before Deadpool & Wolverine to refamiliarize yourself with the dynamic duo.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

If you want Wolverine’s origin story, you’ll most likely want to watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The name pretty much says it all, plus you’ll get an absolutely cursed first Deadpool sighting. You can catch Wolverine on Disney+ OR HBO’s Max.

Stream on Disney+ Stream on Max

Deadpool (2016)

Deadpool is back, this time with his very own movie. The first Deadpool film tells Wade Wilson’s original story, from mercenary to mutant. Ryan Reynolds is in full Deadpool form for this one. You can also catch Deadpool on both Disney+ and Max.

Stream on Disney+ Stream on Max

Deadpool 2 (2018)

More relevant Deadpool lore, lots of fun, probably some familiar faces returning for the new film. This one also stars Josh Brolin (not as Thanos though). You can stream Deadpool 2 on Disney+.

Stream on Disney+

Loki Season 1 (2021)

It sounds like Deadpool & Wolverine will be dealing with the Time Variance Authority (TVA), which is introduced to the MCU in the first season of Loki. Plus, the series was also the first to tackle the multiverse, particularly the episode “Journey Into Mystery.” Tom Hiddleston stars as Loki in Loki, which is currently streaming on Disney+.

Stream on Disney+

Optional: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

For more of a multiverse crash course, consider revisiting Spider-Man: No Way Home. Thanks to a spell from Doctor Strange, things get a bit messy with the multiverse in the most-recent Spider-Man movie. No Way Home stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch and some familiar faces from long ago in the franchise…

Thanks to licensing issues, unfortunately the Spider-Man movies are not on Disney+ like the rest of the MCU. You can rent No Way Home on Amazon Prime Video, though.

Rent on Amazon

How does Deadpool & Wolverine fit in the MCU?

In short, we don’t exactly know. It seems like while the MCU is finally bringing some X-Men characters into the canon, many of them will be dealing with The Void and a large part of the film’s plot takes place at the TVA, which is located outside of space and time — how convenient for new fans that aren’t up to speed with the MCU timeline!

We do know that these variants of Deadpool and Wolverine will be entered into MCU canon with this film, meaning the characters could appear in future Marvel movies — taking place in the present, future or even the past (probably).

In case you need the refresher, here’s the entire MCU in chronological order, including movies, series and the One-Shots:

Agents of Shield season 7 (1931-2019)*

Captain America: The First Avenger (1943-45)

One Shot: Agent Carter (1944)

Agent Carter season 1 (1946)

Agent Carter season 2 (1947)

Captain Marvel (1995)

Iron Man (2008)

Iron Man 2 (2010)

The Incredible Hulk (2010)

One Shot: The Consultant (2010)

One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (2010)

Thor (2010)

Avengers (2012)

One Shot: Item 47 (2012)

Iron Man 3 (2013)

One Shot: All Hail the King (2013)

Agents of Shield season 1, episodes 1-7 (2013)

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Agents of Shield season 1, episodes 8-16 (2014)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Agents of Shield season 1, episodes 17-22 (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2014)

I Am Groot (2014)

Daredevil season 1 (2014)

Jessica Jones season 1 (2015)

Agents of Shield season 2, episodes 1-19 (2015)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Agents of Shield season 2, episodes 20-22 (2015)

Ant-Man (2015)

Daredevil season 2 (2015)

Luke Cage season 1 (2015)

Agents of Shield season 3 episodes 1-10 (2015)

Agents of Shield season 3, episodes 11-19 (2016)

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Agents of Shield season 3, episodes 20-22 (2016)

Agents of Shield season 4, episodes 1-8 (2016)

Agents of Shield: Slingshot (2016)

Agents of Shield season 4, episodes 9-22 (2016)

Iron Fist season 1 (2016)

The Defenders (2016)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)

The Punisher season 1 (2016)

Doctor Strange (2016-2017)

Agents of Shield season 5, episodes 1-19 (2017)

Black Widow (2017)

Black Panther (2017)

Jessica Jones season 2 (2017)

Inhumans season 1 (2017)

Luke Cage season 2 (2017)

Iron Fist season 2 (2017)

Daredevil season 3 (2017)

The Punisher season 2 (2017)

Jessica Jones season 3 (2017)

Runaways season 1 and 2 (2017)

Cloak and Dagger season 1 and 2 (2017-2018)

Runaways season 3 (2018)

Thor: Ragnarok (2017-2018)

Agents of Shield season 5, episodes 19-22 (2018)

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War (2017-2018)

Agents of Shield season 6 (2018*)

Avengers: Endgame (2018-2023)

Agents of Shield season 7 finale (2019*)

WandaVision (2023)

Loki (Sort of 2023, sort of 2012)

Loki season 2 (sort of 2023)

Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings (2024)

Deadpool and Wolverine (2024*)

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2024)

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2024)

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)

Eternals (2024)

Hawkeye (2024)

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2024)

Moon Knight (2025)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)

Echo (2025)

She-Hulk (2025)

Ms. Marvel (2025)

The Marvels (2025)

Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)

Werewolf By Night (2025)

Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (Christmas 2025)

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2026)

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (2026)

Secret Invasion (2026)

Wolverine movies in chronological order:

And in case you want a crash course on Wolverine before seeing him team up with Deadpool, here’s all of the Wolverine X-Men movies in order.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

X-Men (2000)

X2 (2003)

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

The Wolverine (2013)

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

X-Men: First Class (2011)

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Stand alone from the timeline: Logan (2017)

Deadpool & Wolverine post-credits scene:

Is there a post-credits scene at the end of Deadpool & Wolverine? Well, of course. It wouldn’t be the MCU without one. In fact, there’s a post-credits scene and a credits scene that plays alongside the credits, making it much easier to stick around until the very end of the film.

Which Marvel characters appear in Deadpool & Wolverine?

(Spoiler warning here!) If you’re curious who we know for sure is going to make an appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine, here’s who is confirmed (so far):

Dafne Keen as X-23

Aaron Stanford as Pyro

Tyler Mane as Sabertooth

Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15

When will Deadpool & Wolverine be on Disney+?

While there’s no confirmed streaming date for Deadpool & Wolverine, based on Disney’s patterns with streaming releases following theatrical runs, the movie will probably hit Disney+ around mid-October.