Everything you need to know to understand Deadpool & Wolverine if you haven’t seen any MCU or X-Men movies

Super brief synopsis: Logan’s powers are fading and he’s growing old. He discovers that a secret company used his DNA to make mutant children to be used as weapons. Logan finds X-23/Laura, one of the children who escaped from the lab where they were created. Laure was made with his DNA and has his powers. He tries to get her to a place called Eden where she can join the other children who escaped the lab.

The secret company also created a clone of Logan. This clone has all of Logan’s powers and strength at his prime. In an ultimate showdown X-24 kills Logan, then Laura kills X-24.

Laura berries Logan in a grave in the woods, with only a pair of sticks marking an “X” as a grave marker.

The Human Torch

Undoubtedly, you’ve at least seen photos of Chris Evans as Captain America in the Avengers. Before any of the MCU movies, there was a movie called The Fantastic Four. In that movie Chris Evans plays the character Johnny Storm/The Human Torch.

Blade

Blade/Eric Brooks had a 1998 movie starring Wesly Snipes. Blade is a half-human, half-vampire hybrid with vampire hunting abilities, known as a “Daywalker” due to his immunity to sunlight. Blade possesses superhuman strength, agility, and a healing factor, along with the ability to sense supernatural creatures. He is trained in martial arts and armed with an array of weaponry, including a signature sword. Blade dedicates his life to eradicating vampires and protecting humanity.

Elektra

Elektra Natchios, portrayed by Jennifer Garner in the 2005 film Elektra, is a highly skilled assassin with a tragic past. She was trained by a mystical group known as the Chaste. She has exceptional martial arts skills, agility, and proficiency with her signature weapons: twin sai.

Elektra is haunted by her violent upbringing and the murder of her parents. In the 2005 movie, she is hired for an assassination but chooses to protect her targets, a man and his daughter, instead of killing them for the Hand organization.

Gambit

Gambit, a.k.a. Remy LeBeau, is a character that fans have been longing to see on the big-screen for ages, and almost unanimously, fans want to see Channing Tatum play the charming, Cajun mutant from Marvel Comics. He can kinetically charge objects, typically playing cards, making them explosive. A skilled thief and expert fighter, Gambit is a member of the X-Men, known for his roguish charisma. Tatum spent years trying to develop a movie for Gambit and almost saw it come to fruition, only to see the project flushed due to Disney purchasing 20th Century Fox. There are no photos of Tatum as Gambit yet because it was a huge surprise that he’s in the movie. So please don’t mention it to any of your friends who might be spoiled.

X-23/Laura

In the beginning of this article I mentioned X-23/Laura from Hugh Jackman’s last dance as Wolverine in the movie Logan. She makes another appearance in this movie, albeit 7 years older now.

Blake Lively as Ladypool

Reynolds’ real-life wife Blake Lively plays the role of the ponytailed Lady Deadpool. In the comics, Wanda Wilson takes on the Lady Deadpool title in Earth-3010. Lively seemingly leaned into the rumors at the film’s N.Y. premiere, donning a skin-tight red catsuit. However, we do not see Ladypool without her mask on, so it’s an assumption that is Blake under the mask until she confirms it.

Matthew McConaughey as Cowboy Deadpool

I’m only telling you this so that you can listen closely to the voice of Cowboy Deadpool. He only has a few lines, but that’s McConaughey.

Nathan Fillion as Headpool

Same as McConaughey, this is primarily a voice acting role. If you’re a Fillion fan you’ll know that he gets a huge number of cameo roles in movies. He’s also been a CGI character in a few of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

The Many Varients of Wolverine

There’s a short montage of Deadpool traveling between timelines looking for the Wolverine. It’s not crucial to know which varients are shown because they each only get short 10-second scenes. Just know that the comics include many varients of Wolverine, same as many other characters.

Hunter B-15

Hunter B-15 is from the Marvel series Loki. She is a Time Variance Authority (TVA) agent.

Sabretooth

Sabretooth is Wolverine’s arch-nemesis, a powerful mutant with similar powers as Wolverine.

Alioth

Alioth, from the series Loki, is a colossal, cloud-like entity that devours everything in the Void, a dimension where pruned timelines are sent. Alioth is powerful and terrifying, representing a significant obstacle.

Pyro

Pyro, from the X-Men movies, is a mutant who can manipulate fire, though he cannot create it. He was initially one of the good guys as a student at Xavier’s school. He later joins Magneto’s Brotherhood. He is driven by his rebellious nature and fascination with power.

Juggernaut

Juggernaut is empowered by the mystical Gem of Cyttorak, he gains immense strength, invulnerability, and unstoppable momentum. He is a mutant that usually fights against the X-Men.

Others

There are many other cameos by X-Men characters, but I think it would be more confusing to mention them because they have little or no bearing on the plot other than to be in a few action scenes.

The Cavillverine

After the movie Logan High Jackman retired from the role as Wolverine. Hugh said that was his swan-song. He was getting too old to play the role and it took too much effort to get into “Wolverine Shape” at this stage in his life. As soon as Hugh made the announcement, fans around the world began to hypothesize: who will be the next Wolverine? Many names were suggested, but one that got a lot of attention was Henry Cavill. For the past decade or so Cavill has been in the DC-Universe as Superman. The internet would have gone nuclear if Cavill had agreed to be the next Wolverine. And who knows, he still might. Time will tell.