We had heard that Dafne Keen was in talks to reprise the role of Laura, aka X23, in Deadpool 3 prior to the strikes, and the Logan star is now rumored to have closed her deal to return…
Earlier this year, a rumor did the rounds that Logan star Dafne Keen was in talks to play an older take on X-23 in Deadpool 3 before the strikes for underway, and we’re now hearing that she has signed on to reprise the role in the upcoming MCU-set threequel.
Negotiations reportedly resumed shortly after the strikes were resolved, and insider Daniel Richtman (via Patreon) is now claiming that the His Dark Materials star will appear as Laura in the Merc With a Mouth’s next big-screen outing.
After Keen’s acclaimed performance in James Mangold’s film, it was generally assumed that she would get the chance to reprise the role down the line. Of course, that was before Disney acquired 20th Century Fox’s assets in a highly publicized takeover that same year.
Keen has previously confirmed that there were tentative talks for her to return as Laura in a future project prior to the Disney deal, and she has been hoping for an opportunity to unleash the claws again in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high in case it doesn’t happen, but I really do hope it does because I loved playing Laura,” Keen told ComicBook.com in a 2020 interview. “She holds a very special place in my heart and she’s an incredible character. And to be fair, the whole Deadpool 3 situation really, really made me happy because, obviously when Disney bought Fox, I suspected they weren’t going to do any more R-rated films, but then greenlighting Deadpool is a great sign for other R-rated movies.”
We’d be very surprised if Laura had anything close to a substantial part, but if things do pan out, we could potentially see Keen suit-up as X-23 in the eventual X-Men reboot.
It sounds like a lot of other cameos have been lined up, including several X-Men characters (Storm, Cyclops, and Jean Grey among them), and possibly even Channing Tatum and Taylor Kitsch as different Variants of Gambit.
A recent rumor claimed that Liev Schreiber is set to reprise his X-Men Origins: Wolverine role as Victor Creed/Sabertooth. Variants of the Merc With a Mouth are also rumored to appear, including Dogpool (since confirmed), Kidpool, Lady Deadpool, and more.
The one major return that had been confirmed by the trades is Jennifer Garner as Elektra, but the Alias alum declined to confirm anything in a recent interview.
Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Karan Soni (Dopinder), Leslie Uggams (Blind Al), Rob Delaney (Peter), Brianna Hildebrand (Negasonic Teenage Warhead) And Shioli Kutsuna (Yukio) will all return as their respective characters, and they’ll be joined by franchise newcomers Emma Corrin (The Crown) and Matthew Macfadyen (Succession), whose roles are still under wraps.
Plot details also remain a mystery for now, but Wade and Wolvie are expected to find themselves (trapped?) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A recent report claimed that Loki’s TVA, including Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) and Miss Minutes, will be involved. We have also been led to believe that Wade’s MCU debut will be far more integral to Phase 5 and beyond than we first realized.
Shawn Levy is directing Deadpool 3, which is set to hit theaters on July 26, 2024.
Source: ComicBookMovie.Com