Fan Theories About 'Deadpool 3' And 'X-Force'

In Deadpool 2, Deadpool manages to save the lives of Cable's wife and daughter by preventing Russell, aka Firefist, from taking his first step on the path to becoming a murderous pyromaniac. Towards the film's end, Cable reveals that his daughter's name is Hope, a name with huge significance in the X-Men canon.

In the comics, Hope Summers was spared from death by Cable, who believed her to be the "Mutant Messiah," as she was the first mutant baby born after the catastrophic events of M-Day. The teddy bear hanging from Cable's hips in promotional images released before Deadpool 2 led fans to theorize his mission would be tied to baby Hope, and after she was name-dropped in the film (and saved), it's not hard to imagine that an older version of her might make an appearance in the next installment.

The first hint of this classic X-Men baddie came during a post-credits scene of X-Men: Apocalypse, where, after Nightcrawler, Cyclops, and Jean Grey free Wolverine from imprisonment in a Weapon X facility, mysterious men in hazmat suits sweep through collecting mutant blood samples into a briefcase emblazoned with an "Essex Corp" nametag. This can only be a nod to Nathaniel Essex, also known as Mister Sinister, an extremist obsessed with the idea of breeding the perfect mutant.

Deadpool 2 built on this reference in a much bigger way. The orphanage that abused Russell and Domino as children also bore the Essex name, possibly used as a cover for the villain's gene experimentation. This lays the groundwork for Mister Sinister becoming a main villain at some point, be that in an X-Men movie or a Deadpool/X-Force one.

News of the Disney/Fox deal sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry in late 2017. If you're a comic book movie fan, there would have been just one question on your mind: when and how will the Marvel Cinematic Universe be crossing over with the X-Men and Fantastic Four? While this question is, as of May 2018, still up in the air, we can hazard an educated guess as to what this might mean for X-Men and Deadpool universes.

The current slate of X-movies includes New Mutants, Dark Phoenix, an X-Force film, and a solo Gambit project that seems to be stuck in development purgatory. Disney is unlikely to stop any cogs already in motion (especially given how lucrative the X-verse is) but a universe-wide reboot from the House of Mouse could well be in the cards, just like Marvel Studios did once Spider-Man swung back home.

The use of the classic black and yellow X-Men uniform on Negasonic Teenage Warhead in Deadpool and Deadpool 2 fueled speculation that she will provide the link between the upcoming New Mutants film and the rest of the X-Men and Deadpool worlds. Not only is the clothing a clue, but her age is as well. New Mutants is focuses on a new generation of young mutants, and Negasonic's age would allow her to slot in comfortably.

While the credits for the film don't include Brianna Hildebrand, Negasonic's actress, it's common for surprise cameos to be kept out of cast listings. (Brad Pitt as Vanisher in Deadpool 2, anyone?)

If Back To The Future - and just about every other story involving time travel - has taught us anything, it's that meddling with things in the past inevitably comes back to bite you, or the entire world, in the future butt. Cable was very careful in his use of this conceit in Deadpool 2, sliding to one place to undo one wrong, before planning to slide back again. Deadpool had other plans. In the post-credits scenes, he jumps into past chapters of his own life to right some wrongs.

Once you have Chekhov's time travel gun though, what's to stop you from firing it again and again? And, even though it was a gag, what damage to the future could Wade have done from offing that past version of himself from X-Men Origins: Wolverine? In the comics, the X-Men timeline is even messier than the movies. Perhaps Deadpool has just started the process to even things up? 

Comedian Rob Delaney's Peter has been a hit with fans since he was introduced in one of Deadpool 2's trailers, which showed him plummeting from a plane, mustache flapping in the breeze. His shtick is that he's just an Average Joe with no superpowers to speak of but winds up on the X-Force team anyway - yet another Deadpool-ian jab at superhero movie conventions. But, is Peter really a nobody?

A popular fan theory is that Peter is actually Peter Wisdom, a mutant with the ability to generate "hot knives" from his fingertips, who has served on both X-Force and Excalibur teams in the comics. This theory is supported by the character's Twitter handle: @PeterW_1974, as well the suspiciously slick photo of himself Wade looks at while considering him for the team. Peter is one of three surviving X-Force members, and while we love the joke of him being useless, it would be a great twist if this turned out to be a lie.