Deadpool & Wolverine ending and post-credits scenes explained

Deadpool & Wolverine arrives in theaters at a curious and maybe even crucial point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Under the leadership of Kevin Feige, the so-called Multiverse Saga has struggled to build excitement and consistency, and there is a lot of conjecture and criticism, some justified and some in bad faith, around the health of the MCU.

The only MCU film of 2024, Deadpool & Wolverine brings two popular mutants and their respective franchises to the growing world of interconnected stories across time and space. There are high hopes alike for fans and the studio for the movie to succeed. Here’s what happened at the end and what it means for the future.

What happens at the end of Deadpool and Wolverine?

Who’s alive, and who didn’t make it?

After a lengthy battle against a horde of Deadpools from the Void, on what looks to be the same set Marvel uses for every street battle scene, Deadpool and Wolverine use their collective powers to destroy the MacGuffin, er, Time Ripper.

Paradox gives some hasty exposition to try and set up the stakes beforehand, and Deadpool and Wolverine do a silly and familiar song-and-dance about who should sacrifice themselves. Of course, they both end up willing to die for the cause, and of course, neither do because their regenerative powers in tandem are too strong. How convenient.

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Earth-10005 is saved as a result. Paradox is taken into questioning by the TVA, and Casandra has exploded into dust as a result of the blast. Both Deadpool and Wolverine are allowed to carry out their lives, with the latter sticking around in this different timeline that notably lacks a Wolverine. Most importantly, Deadpool reunites with his new adoptee, Dogpool.

What are the post-credits scenes?

How long should you stay after the film ends?

20th Century Studios / MARVEL.

Deadpool & Wolverine features two credit scenes. The first is yet another paradox in the film: it’s essentially an elegy to the Fox collection of superhero movies, with behind-the-scenes footage from not just the X-Men franchise, but also Fantastic Four, Blade, and Daredevil. And of course, because this movie is geared towards Millennials, Green Day’s Time of Your Life plays across the footage.

It’s both sweet and saccharine, a tribute that is totally unnecessary and also kind of cute.

After the credits, one final scene sees Deadpool wanting to set the record straight on a prior death in the movie. He is blamed for The Human Torch’s gruesome demise, but Deadpool wants us to check the tape. It’s a sequence that is funny for its content but also context, with the film allowing an actor who has long portrayed wholesomeness and valor on screen to be completely vulgar and disgusting. Well done!

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Will we see these characters again?

The fate of Deadpool, Wolverine, and others

20th Century Studios / MARVEL.

Deapool and Wolverine set up in Earth-10005; X-23 is there alongside them as well. The TVA knows about them and they know the TVA, so there is an opportunity for really anything to happen in the future. There are plenty of jokes about Hugh Jackman being forced to keep playing Wolverine now that he is in the Disney family, but it’s kinda hard to see that actually come to fruition. Logan was a terrific sendoff, a tense, dramatic film that served as a near-perfect goodbye. Deadpool & Wolverine doesn’t really undo much of that, but it feels more like a victory lap for that character, doing all these things that weren’t done before, which possibly means saying goodbye. Again.

The movie starts off with Deadpool getting rejected by the Avengers, and no one comes knocking at the end. It’s hard to imagine Deadpool won’t be coming back again in some form, but his style and attitude is unique in a way that may make it hard to easily slide him into other franchises alongside other characters. It’s really the success of the film that will determine if and how they come back.

As for the friends from the void, that looks to be the final goodbye for them. But Dogpool is alive and well.

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What does this mean for the MCU?

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20th Century Studios / MARVEL.

Honestly, I don’t think anything that happens in the movie means much for future stories of the MCU. It allows Deadpool, and others, to return to their own story, join others, or simply to never come back. IIt doesn’t really push forward the Multiverse Saga, but it also doesn’t stop it or subvert it. It surely will make a lot of money, and at least energize the MCU, serving, if nothing else, as a bit of a palette cleanser.

It’s weird though, because the story is overall quite weak, and it’s surprisingly similar to The Marvels. In that team-up movie, heroes that didn’t like each other were forced to work together to stop an under-developed villain that was super powerful until it was convenient that they could be stopped. One hero is cold and wants to be alone, and another is so excited and can’t stop talking. There are also X-Men in both movies and a sacrifice at the end that doesn’t turn out to be a sacrifice, leaving one hero in another timeline.

It’s unclear what Marvel Studios will take away from this film, but the bright side is that they’ve time to take a pause and rethink their next steps. It’s somewhat refreshing that Deadpool & Wolverine didn’t open up a bunch of new storylines and threads and tease a bunch of new characters. It’s about time the MCU stops branching out and starts pruning.

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