It seems Deadpool 3 won’t be making its superhero landing anytime soon.
The highly anticipated film has been put on indefinite hold as studios fail to reach a deal with actors and writers' strike unions – leading to a mass walkout.
Despite the incredible cameos that are rumoured to be in the Marvel movie, the halt in production may mean fans have to wait years before seeing it on the big screen.
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Understandably, fans are incredibly frustrated by the news after they got their first tantalising glimpse of Deadpool 3.
The image, which was released last month, showed Ryan Reynolds as the titular merc with a mouth and Hugh Jackman finally returning as Wolverine – complete with his iconic yellow suit.
Despite this, production shut down indefinitely just days later on July 14 as the Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG Aftra) voted to join the ongoing industrial action in Hollywood.
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It led to a mass walkout by its 160,000 members with actors, presenters and stunt performers leaving their respective sets for the last time.
After 108 days of the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) strike, there seems no end in sight to the ongoing industrial action between entertainment unions and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
Most are balloting over pay, working conditions and the use of AI – with more work to poised to join them.
In fact, Marvel’s VFX artists are attempting to join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) union and have even filed a petition to the US labour board.
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If successful, the digital effects artists could be the next group to join Hollywood’s industrial action.
With the AMPTP and studios unable to find a resolution, it is unlikely that Deadpool 3 will restart production anytime or be released on May 3 2024.
Even with its stellar list of rumoured action heroes, it seems no one can save the picture from getting caught in the crossfire of the strike - which is set to go on until at least October.
According to Screen Geek, a huge cohort from the MCU are expected to make an appearance including: Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, Ben Affleck as Daredevil and Tara Strong as the villainous Miss Minutes.
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If that weren’t enough, Jackman won’t be the only X-Men making an appearance with Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Patrick Stewart, Fake Jensen, Julian Machaon and Ian McKellen all set to reprise their iconic roles.
There will even be new variants of X-Men from across the multiverse with, Channing Tatum as Gambit, Taylor Swift as Dazzler and Taron Egerton as an alternative Wolverine.
Other possible cameos may include Lewis Tan as Shatterstar, Dafne Keen as Laura Howlett (a.k.a X23) and Brian Cox as William Striker – which makes an insanely stacked cast.
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Sadly though, this has yet to be confirmed by Disney so we’ll have to wait and see if the studio can deliver such a stacked cast.
However, much of the Deadpool cast is returning for the third instalment, including Karan Soni, Leslie Uggams, Morena Baccarin, Stefan Kapicic and Rob Delaney.
Newcomers will also include Emma Corrin and Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen, as well as Jennifer Garner as returning as deadly assassin Elektra.
Here’s hoping the studios put in maximum effort in resolving the strikes, so we can see Deadpool 3 next year.
Topics: Deadpool, Disney, Film and TV, Hugh Jackman, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ryan Reynolds, SAG-AFTRA Writers Strike, US News