First it was Captain Britain, then it was Doctor Doom – Now, the latest whispers on the digital streets suggest that when the former DCEU Superman actor Henry Cavill does finally make his long-rumored Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, he will be doing so in the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine as a multiversal variant of the film’s adamantium-laced deuteragonist.
Wolverine has an identity crisis on Javi Fernandez’s variant cover to X Lives of Wolverine Vol. 1 #5 “The Living End” (2022), Marvel Comics / Henry Cavill talks ‘Warhammer 40K’ during a February 5th appearance on Josh Horowitz’s ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast
Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) comes across an unexpected ally (Hugh Jackman) in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), Marvel Entertainment
Word that the fan-favorite actor will soon be portraying a version of Marvel’s most popular mutant was first broken on March 13th, courtesy of Giant Freakin Robot’s Henry Hards.
In an exclusive for the website, Hards asserted, “I’ve been able to confirm that Henry Cavill will indeed appear in Deadpool 3. More than that, I know who he’s playing. Henry Cavill will appear in Deadpool & Wolverine as a multiverse variant of Wolverine.”
Wolverine is the best he is at what he does on Russell Dauterman’s variant cover to X Lives of Wolverine Vol. 1 #5 “The Living End” (2022), Marvel Comics
This rumor was later lent credence by noted scooper CanWeGetSomeToast, who in the wake of Hards’ article took to Twitter to announce, “I can confirm that Henry Cavill will in fact play a Wolverine variant in Deadpool & Wolverine“.
“Fans will be very pleased with his appearance,” they concluded.
Archive Link CanWeGetSomeToast (@CanWeGetToast) via Twitter
Unfortunately, neither Hards nor CanWeGetSomeToast provided any specific details as to which version of the mutant berserker Cavill may be playing.
As such, his exact identity in the Marvel multiverse currently remains squarely in the realm of speculation.
To this end, taking into account both Cavill’s physical appearance and CanWeGetSomeToast’s suggestion that his version of Wolverine will be a fan-favorite, an educated guess suggests that some of the more likely candidates for his role include the Days of Future Past, Old Man Logan, Weapon X or – and this one is admittedly the longest of long shots – Age of Apocalypse versions of the hero.
A confused Weapon X breaks out into the Canadian wilderness on Lenil Francis Yu’s variant cover to Weapon X-Men Vol. 1 #2 (2024), Marvel Comics
There’s also the distinct possibility that, given the tuxedo’d variant’s appearance in the film’s trailer, Cavill could be playing Wolverine’s ‘criminal’ persona, Patch.
However, to take that wishful thinking just one step further: In light of the actor’s history as the DCEU’s resident Superman, Marvel Studios has the opportunity to do something extremely tongue-in-cheek and fan-pleasing by casting Cavill as none other than Dark Claw, the Amalgam Comics mash-up of Wolverine and Batman.
Dark Claw lunges into action in Legends of the Dark Claw Vol. 1 #1 “Through a Glass Darkly” (1996), Marvel Comics/DC. Words by Larry Hama, art by Jim Balent, Ray McCarthy, Pat Garrahy, and Bill Oakley.
At the very least – to the collective relief of pretty much every Marvel Comics fan – the two aforementioned parameters make it highly unlikely that he’ll be either of the poorly-thought out successors the Ultimate Universe’s version of Logan, his blonde-haired son James Hudson and his alternate-timeline-self, otherwise known as Ultimate Cable.
Ultimately, which form of the slash-happy hero Cavill will appear as – or if he even appears at all – will be definitively confirmed when Deadpool & Wolverine warps its way into theaters on July 26th.
Deadpool tries to join Krakoa in Wolverine Vol. 7 #20 “Trigger Warning” (2020), Marvel Comics. Words by Benjamin Percy, art by Adam Kuybert, Frank Martin, Dijjo Lima, and Cory Petit.
