Ryan Reynolds says that Deadpool is now part of the MCU

His official statement on Instagram goes, "DP is officially in the MCU! He's starting with reaction videos, then some social influencer work, onto Parks appearances all leading up to some after-credit work by 2030."

Mouse House has been sitting on the film rights to other X-Men characters, including Deadpool, following its acquisition of the movie and TV assets of Fox back in 2019. There's no word about when the other mutants will join the MCU. However, according to Marvels Studios President and Marvel Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige, Deadpool 3 has moved forward since early 2021.

If Deadpool 3 will indeed be part of the MCU, it would mark the first time that an MCU movie will be R-rated.

At the moment, it remains unclear what direction Deadpool 3 will take. The original plan was for Fox to release an X-Force spinoff after 2018's Deadpool 2, before releasing another Deadpool sequel. The third Deadpool film would have seen Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz reprise their roles as Cable and Domino, respectively. Because of the acquisition, plans have since changed.

It will also be interesting where Marvel Studios slot in Deadpool 3 within the next couple of years. The next two years will be full of MCU movies as part of Phase Four. On top of the movie sequels featuring Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Thor, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy, the MCU is also set to welcome newcomers such as Shang-Chi and the star-studded film, the Eternals.

According to Marvel Studios, Deadpool 3 will release sometime after the aforementioned movies have premiered. This suggests that we shouldn't expect Ryan Reynolds' next outing as Wade Wilson until 2023 if not 2024.

If it's any consolation, we do know a bit about Deadpool 3. The script will be written by Bob's Burgers' writers Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin.