Deadpool 3's Release Date Is A Mystery - But T-Swift Rumors Tease Her Dazzling Role
Fans of Deadpool are a bit alarmed after noticing that the upcoming third movie in the franchise is conspicuously missing from Disney's release schedule.
ComicBook.com was one of the first outlets to catch that Disney's calendar of upcoming releases doesn't appear to include "Deadpool 3," which was originally scheduled for release in May of 2024. The calendar that ComicBook.com reported includes movies through June 14, 2024, including the sequel to Pixar's hit "Inside Out," but "Deadpool 3" is nowhere to be found. The highly anticipated sequel, which is bringing back (a specific version) of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine — plus Jennifer Garner's Elektra, reportedly — alongside Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool, also marks Deadpool's first official entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so it's pretty understandable that its omission from the official calendar is gently freaking people out.
This doesn't come as a huge shock, considering that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are still ongoing and have put a halt to most major Hollywood productions, including, as was previously reported, "Deadpool 3." So what's going on with "Deadpool 3" right now, what's the skinny on the guild strikes, and what can audiences expect during this unprecedented time in the entertainment industry as more and more productions experience delays with no end in sight?
Deadpool 3 is delayed, unfortunately for fans
In July of 2023, shortly after SAG-AFTRA joined the WGA on the picket lines against studios — and more on that in a bit — it was announced that "Deadpool 3" was halting production, disappointing fans everywhere. Not only are Jackman and Garner set to reprise their roles from the "X-Men" franchise and "Daredevil," respectively, but on-set photos that were taken before the strikes went into effect showed a potential throwdown between Jackman's Wolverine and Reynolds' masked vigilante. Based on the success of the two previous "Deadpool" films and the return of two beloved characters to boot, this is all pretty thrilling. It will also apparently have to wait a while.
At the time, Variety reported that "Deadpool 3" was the first major studio to shut down production due to the strikes, and since then, other highly anticipated projects like "Gladiator 2" and "Wicked" have also stopped production while writers and actors fight for fair pay and against the advent of artificial intelligence technology.
Could one of the world's biggest pop stars also show up in Deadpool 3?
"Deadpool 3" being delayed comes with yet another piece of terrible news, but for an entirely different fandom. After Harry Styles made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in "The Eternals," Swifties have been waiting for their queen to join in the fun as well — and now, rumors are swirling that Taylor Swift herself might play Dazzler, a favorite of Kevin Feige and a mutant who can turn sound into bursts of light and energy.
This rumor is, as of now, unconfirmed. Let's look at the facts here for a moment: Swift is, as of this writing, still not even halfway through her world-spanning, record-smashing Eras Tour, which wrapped up its first North American leg on August 9, 2023 and will resume in Mexico on August 24, 2023. During that last concert in Los Angeles, Swift announced that the fourth of her sixth re-recorded albums — made to reclaim the masters she lost in a sale involving Swiftie enemy Scooter Braun — "1989 (Taylor's Version)," will release on October 27, 2023, just before she brings the tour to Argentina. Based on her output since 2020, it's not out of the realm of possibility that she could announce yet another new original album on top of that. Plus, The Eras Tour will continue until the end of 2024 — heading to Asia, Europe, and then back to North America — so whether or not Swift would even have the time to appear in "Deadpool 3" is an enormous question. The woman is a known workaholic, though, so anything's possible.
Taylor Swift could possibly show up in Deadpool 3 for this big reason
There is another piece of the Taylor Swift-"Deadpool 3" puzzle, though, and that's the fact that she's close personal friends with Reynolds and his wife, Blake Lively. Reynolds is no stranger to adding super-famous cameos into the "Deadpool" movies — Brad Pitt played a character who's invisible right up until he dies a quick death in "Deadpool 2," for crying out loud — and based on his history with Swift, it would make sense for her to show up.
Lively marked her directorial debut by helming the music video for "I Bet You Think About Me," a previously unreleased vault track from "Red (Taylor's Version)" that dropped with the re-record in 2021, and she was spotted at an Eras Tour stop, children in tow. Speaking of Reynolds and Lively's children, they've become a part of musical history thanks to Swift. At the beginning of "Gorgeous," a song from Swift's 2017 album "reputation," the couple's oldest daughter Inez (who was much younger at the time) says the title word before the song kicks in, and Inez, Betty, and James, the first three Reynolds girls, all get namesakes in songs about a love triangle on Swift's Grammy-winning 2020 album "folklore." (Lively gave birth to the couple's fourth child in early 2023.) Reynolds, for his part, once said that liking Swift's music is "like a religion in [their] house," so perhaps he can make an offering to Swift by having her appear in "Deadpool 3."
What's going on with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes?
The Writers Guild of America began its strike on May 1, 2023, and in mid-July, the Screen Actors Guild officially joined them, marking a historic double strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (referred to as the AMPTP). Some of the issues at hand include the use of A.I. technology in both writers' rooms and on-screen — a troubling suggestion by the AMPTP at one point was that they would be allowed to scan background actors' likenesses and use them in perpetuity while only paying said actors for a single day of work — and both writers and actors are fighting for fair residual pay in a streaming age. Writers from popular shows like "Abbott Elementary," actors from shows like "Orange is the New Black," and even big stars like Mandy Moore from "This is Us" have released their frankly pathetic residual checks from streaming; Sean Gunn from "Gilmore Girls" notably addressed the fact that despite appearing in over 100 episodes of "Gilmore Girls," Netflix has barely compensated him with any residuals.
Television and film have been changed permanently since the advent of streaming services, and the artists behind the work we love fully deserve to be compensated and protected while they do so. To that end, the strikes definitely don't seem to be losing any steam. Despite repeated attempts at negotiations between the AMPTP and the guilds, no decisions have been reached, putting the fate of movies like "Deadpool 3" in flux for now.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. To learn more about why writers and actors are currently on strike, click here for an up-to-date explainer from our Looper team.