Never say never, I guess. Despite Kevin Feige’s comments last year where he said Marvel would never undo the events of “Avengers: Endgame” and the sacrifice play Tony Stark made in the film for the entire world, the Marvel Studios chief is now suggesting that the triumphant return of Hugh Jackman in “Deadpool & Wolverine” (read our review) could set the stage for the return of Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans return in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In an interview with Discussing Film, Feige said actors/characters like that could come back if “great care” was taken with the way they return.
“That’s the key, right? How do you do it in a way that maintains what has come before and in a great way? And we’ve been spending, you know, the last two-plus years figuring that out for Wolverine,” Feige said when asked about the possibility of Downey and Evans returning to the MCU. “So, what’s to come? We’ll see. We’re just proud that we, I think, have figured it out for Wolverine. I think Hugh’s appearance and starring role in [‘Deadpool & Wolverine’] is a great sign that it can be done — if great care is taken.”
One supposes there’s a loophole to his earlier comments, just like “Deadpool & Wolverine” is a loophole for the events of “Logan.” While James Mangold’s Wolverine film remains untouched by the events of ‘DP&W’ (sort of anyhow), the circumvention of not desecrating that film’s legacy was bringing back Jackman as Wolverine in a variant form from another part of the multiverse. And honestly, Feige’s comments feel like they are setting expectations for audiences that they will return (everyone already assumes they could for “Avengers: Secret Wars.”
Last December, Feige told Vanity Fair they would not undo the events of ‘Endgame’ or Stark’s death. “We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again,” Feige said about Iron Man’s demise. “We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.”
Even Downey Jr., who seemed reluctant to return, has recently suggested he’s “open” to returning, which may make it an inevitability.
And there’s the rub, right, and arguably the problem with multiverse narratives, which suggest nothing is ever at stake and no one truly dies. While they can stay “true” to Stark’s death or Steve Rodger’s timeline evolution into an old man, in the 616 MCU timeline, they could easily bring either actor back as variants that could stick around a long time, as has been suggested for Jackman who could still appear in an MCU film like “Avengers: Secret Wars.”
Personally, this feels like playing with fire. It could easily be abused and make some more casual fans care less if nothing really matters especially emotional deaths. Time will tell, but given many of the nostalgia and multiverse complaints from critics about “Deadpool & Wolverine” (and something the movie actively pokes meta fun at), Marvel Studios should definitely take serious care and put serious thought into these decisions before they make the jump.