‘Deadpool 3’: Jennifer Garner Returning as Elektra
Deadpool 3 is shaking things up by adding cast members not tied to the X-Men movies produced by Twentieth Century Fox, instead bringing in Jennifer Garner from 2003’s Daredevil and the 2005 spin-off Elektra (both of which Fox also produced). The film is set to be directed by Shawn Levy with a script written by Levy, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, and Ryan Reynolds
The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that Deadpool 3 will be expanding beyond the X-Men film franchise to truly go for multiversal ambitions for the third film in the series, with Jennifer Garner playing the heroic/anti-heroic assassin Elektra Natchios. The version of the character featured in two movies had no connection to the X-Men film franchise that Fox produced over the course of about 20 years, but the Daredevil, Elektra, Fantastic Four, and Silver Surfer character rights, alongside the rights with almost all associated characters, were tied up with the company when Marvel sold those licenses to avoid bankruptcy. The Daredevil and Elektra rights eventually reverted to Marvel Studios after the company did not produce new movies with those characters for a little over a decade, but Marvel would not regain the Fantastic Four and X-Men rights (and, thanks to the latter IP, the Deadpool rights by association) until Disney’s acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox and all of its creative assets. Marvel are in the process of casting for a Fantastic Four reboot to written by Josh Friedman and directed by Matt Shakman, while a formal X-Men reboot unaffiliated with the Fox-produced film series seems to be on hold until after Avengers: Secret Wars is released. In the meantime, Daredevil and Elektra were used in the Netflix (and now Disney Plus) series Daredevil and The Defenders, with a revival series Daredevil: Born Again being developed exclusively for Disney Plus.
Garner will be joining an ensemble of Deadpool mainstays, including Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, who was last seen messing around with Cable’s time machine and making “corrections” that are likely bound to garner the attention of the Time Variance Authority (first introduced in 2021’s Loki), Morena Baccarin as Deadpool’s fiancée Vanessa Carlysle, Leslie Uggams as Deadpool’s neighbor Blind Al, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, and Stefan Kapičić as the X-Men Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Yukio, and Colossus respectively, and Karan Soni and Rob Delaney as Deadpool’s other allies Dopinder and Peter. The biggest draw for the film is the return of Hugh Jackman as James “Logan” Howlett/Wolverine, who previously retired from the role with 2017’s Logan and whose involvement in the time-travel/multiversal story will be a major narrative catalyst for what’s to come. Succession actor Matthew Macfadyen is said to be playing a new character who will serve as a “third wheel” to the adventure that both Deadpool and Wolverine find themselves on, while Emma Corrin will portray the film’s villain.
Ben Affleck has been rumored to make an appearance as the version of Matt Murdock/Daredevil that appeared in the 2003 movie, which is where Garner’s Elektra also made her debut, so there might be truth to those rumors. On the subject of other rumored actors that might be returning, it is believed that an assortment of X-Men movie talent will be reappearing, including James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops, Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe/Storm, Famke Janssen as Phoenix/Jean Grey, Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier/Professor X, and Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto. Channing Tatum is also rumored to make an appearance as Remy LeBeau/Gambit, appearing for the first time after multiple plans for him to play the character, either in the X-Men movie series or his own dedicated spin-off, never properly materialized. Also reportedly on the docket: Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver from the Fox side of things and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch on the MCU side of things. Whether or not these or any other characters tied to Fox’s non-X-Men Marvel movies will actually be in the movie remains unclear, but as it stands, it seems likely that Deadpool 3 will be something of a revival movie for the Fox-produced Marvel movies in the same vein as 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home was for Sony’s Spider-Man movies.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
