Commentary: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ And The Arrowverse Take A Similar Approach
by Frank Martin
Large cinematic universes or all the rage these days. But in order to make a shared universe work, there has to be rules as to what is included. Shared universe storytelling is all about building on what came before it. This is not so hard in a regular franchise as sequels create a very linear path for a narrative. But with multiple entries all contributing to the same shared story, audiences can be very confused as to what “counts” in that universe and what doesn’t. This is effectively what audiences refer to as canon. For huge universes like the Arrowverse and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they’ve had two very interesting crossovers that took a unique approach that everything is canon.
Granted that Deadpool & Wolverine was to feature Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) somehow transitioning into the MCU, it made sense that the movie was going to have to navigate some murky waters in terms of canon. Fan speculated long and hard about how this would happen. Ultimately, the movie took a page from the Loki series and had the titular characters enter the Void, a place where things are lost before they are destroyed. The film smartly used this as justification to insert all sorts of previous Marvel characters from adaptations outside of the MCU, including Jennifer Garner as Elektra, Dafne Keen as Laura Kinney/X-23, and a few others.
Because this is an official MCU entry, those versions of the characters — as well as many others — are now official MCU canon. They exist in the universe even if their original appearances were in something completely different. The Arrowverse did a similar thing with their massive crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths. Episodes included quick snapshots of DC adaptations from across all sorts of media like the original Batman TV show, Max’s Titans, and even the short-lived DC Universe Swamp Thing series. Because of this, the crossover took an approach that seemed as if everything is canon, much the same way that Deadpool & Wolverine demonstrates everything can be canon as well. It’s a very interesting approach taken from two completely separate properties.
Deadpool & Wolverine is now in theaters.
