Deadpool 3 Rumor Teases Return Of 'Shocking' X-Men Villain (Who Should Be Dead)

After bringing action, laughs, and even some heart to Fox's "X-Men" franchise, Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool is on his way to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "Deadpool 3" will bring the Merc with a Mouth into the sprawling Marvel Comics-based franchise for the first time, and it stands to reason it'll be a must-see big-screen event. After all, in a surprising turn of events, it turns out that Reynolds' Deadpool will team up with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and rumors have swirled that three other X-Men team members will join them for their exciting team-up.

Additionally, another rumor has begun to make the rounds on the Internet regarding another character from Fox's "X-Men" universe. According to entertainment insider @DanielRPK on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the villainous Toad will also reportedly make an appearance in "Deadpool 3." The character appears in Fox's "X-Men" franchise twice, first being portrayed by Ray Park in "X-Men" before later appearing in "X-Men: Days of Future Past." For that appearance, which is set decades before the events of "X-Men," he gets a pretty drastic redesign and is played by Evan Jonigkeit.

Canonically, Toad seems to meet his demise in the first "X-Men" at the hands of Storm (Halle Berry), so how could he possibly factor into the plot of "Deadpool 3"?

Toad's apparent death in "X-Men" is one of the film's most memorable scenes. During the battle at the Statue of Liberty, Storm uses her lightning abilities to shock Toad and send him flying through the air, with him crashing in the distance far, far away from the fight. The implication is that he's dead, seeing as he doesn't reappear beyond that point in the "X-Men" canon. Thus, it's reasonable to wonder how the character could factor into "Deadpool 3." In the event he does pop up in the film, there's a good chance he'll just be a variant from another timeline.

Assuming Marvel Studios stays within the "X-Men" movie timeline, though, his presence can still work. It's worth remembering that in "X-Men: Days of Future Past," Wolverine goes back to 1973 and successfully changes the course of time, preventing the Sentinel-driven apocalypse shown to have occurred in 2023. This results in the likes of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Cyclops (James Marsden) avoiding their previously seen deaths. Perhaps in this new timeline, the Lady Liberty fight either doesn't go down at all or unfolds differently, resulting in Toad's survival.

Of all of Fox's "X-Men" characters to bring in for "Deadpool 3," Toad is certainly a peculiar choice. We'll get to see if rumors of his return are indeed true when the film arrives in theaters on July 26, 2024.