Over the last decade, superhero movies have taken over the blockbuster side of cinema.

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From the biggest names in comics to obscure characters only fans know, there is at least one comic book character for everyone. And one fan-favorite character from comics that’s confusing viewers is none other than the Merc with a Mouth himself, Deadpool.

After two hit solo movies and a third on the way, it is increasingly evident that the character portrayed by Ryan Reynolds is also a fan-favorite on the big screen — even with an R rating, which considerably reduces the potential audience. Even the mercenary’s dark sense of humor and tendency to break the fourth wall are successfully maintained in adaptations. But the movies don’t have an obvious connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the DC Extended Universe, nor are they flagged as “Marvel movies” or “DC movies,” so where does Deadpool fit in?

Is Deadpool Marvel or DC?

Though the Deadpool movies do not have an obvious connection to either the MCU or the DCEU, they are more obviously connected to the X-Men franchise, which is a Marvel property. In fact, Deadpool is one of the Marvel characters that remains under the 20th Century Fox domain, like the X-Men themselves. His first appearance on the big screen was in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he was also played by Reynolds. That movie, however, has no connection to the current series, and it was heavily criticized at the time for giving the character such poor treatment.

While that is something most comic book and superhero movie fans already know — especially those who pay attention to production companies — it is still not directly stated. This happens because the rights to certain characters and subdivisions of the Marvel universe were sold to other companies, like Fox for the mutants and Sony for Spider-Man. So they can’t make any direct references that would confirm these characters are part of the same universe — and Marvel can’t use them in the MCU either.

This all may be confusing to newcomers and casual viewers who don’t care much about superhero movies. But yes, Deadpool is part of the Marvel universe. And, since Disney completed its acquisition of Fox Studios in 2019, fans are eager to know when the character will blend with larger Marvel properties on the big screen. From what the cast and crew of Deadpool 3 — including the writers and Ryan Reynolds himself — have been saying, it looks like it won’t take long.