Marvel has made a couple of allusions to the Fox X-Men universe within the Marvel Cinematic Universe — the old X-Men animated theme in Ms. Marvel, a Patrick Stewart cameo as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — but the first full on MCU movie for a Fox alum will be next year’s Deadpool 3, which is quickly shaping up to be a full-on return for a big chunk of the company’s old Marvel cast.
Besides the title character, played by Ryan Reynolds, and Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman, the film will also apparently feature the return of Jennifer Garner as Elektra, Marvel’s tortured assassin anti-hero. Garner previously played the role in 2003’s Daredevil and her own spinoff film, which was released in 2005.
That’s according to The Hollywood Reporter, who hint in their report that there may be more returning Fox Marvel heroes in the film…
Shawn Levy is in the director’s chair with the project to be the first movie that will feature a character, or in this case, two or three or more, from the stable that once belonged to 20th Century Fox. Fox owned several silos of Marvel’s characters before its acquisition by Disney in 2019 brought the movie rights to the characters back into Marvel proper.
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The MCU already has its own Elektra, Élodie Yung, who played the role in Season 2 of Marvel’s Daredevil series on Netflix. The existence of a multiverse makes it easy enough to explain multiple Elektras — although if Garner’s character is going to have more than a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it-cameo, that would seemingly imply that Deadpool 3 will be set within the Fox X-Men universe (or some other previously unseen alternate dimension) and not the main MCU. (Wow, that’s the nerdiest thing I ever wrote. Go me.)
Garner’s Elektra is routinely ranked among the worst Marvel movies ever made, and the Daredevil movie she was in wasn’t too much better. But that wasn’t her fault, and it could be really fun to see her back as the character — especially if Deadpool 3 is going to have a whole bunch of (farewell?) appearances by the big names of the Fox Marvel Universe. Can you imagine if Chris Evans’ Human Torch had a cameo? Or Nic Cage’s Ghost Rider showed up? Could be wild.
Deadpool 3 is scheduled to open in theaters on May 3, 2024.
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