Deadpool teams up with (and antagonizes) the X-Men, but could Ryan Reynold’s Merc With a Mouth also exist in the same universe as Spider-Man? Licensing rights say no, but a popular fan theory posits that Deadpool had an unfortunate run-in with Spidey’s dearly departed Uncle Ben. And, the sequel’s director, David Leitch, isn’t saying that theory is wrong outright.
In the Deadpool 2 teaser that ran ahead of Logan, Deadpool spends an agonizingly long time changing into his superhero costume in a phone booth in order to prevent a mugging. He’s too late, though, as the old man he’s trying to save gets shot and killed in an alleyway before he’s able to rescue him. Some fans speculate that the deceased old man is an Uncle Ben stand-in, and they point out that he was carrying Ben & Jerry’s ice cream as evidence. Deadpool has great power, yes, but not necessarily great responsibility.
It’d be a cute, though almost certainly unimportant Easter egg if it’s true, and Leitch seemed to agree when the Huffington Post asked him about it.
“That’s a really interesting question,” Leitch told HuffPo, who described his tone as “coy.”
“I think that people should continue to theorize who that old man was,” he added, fueling further speculation.
It’s unclear how much bearing, if any, the Logan short No Good Deed, will have on the actual plot of Deadpool 2. Maybe there’s a deep, dark secret behind the dead man. Maybe he’s secretly Uncle Ben as a winking nod to a fellow Marvel hero. Or, maybe, he’s just a random dude who died because Deadpool took too long to change.
Perhaps we’ll find out when Deadpool 2 hits theaters sometime in 2018.
