Deadpool 3 Finally Pays Off A 20 Year Old X-Men Easter Egg, Retconning A Major Villain Death

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Warning! This article contains set photos that spoil several cameos in Deadpool 3.
Summary

Deadpool 3 set photos reveal Sabretooth's return after two decades, hinting at his survival despite his apparent death in X2.
The movie will feature a menagerie of Fox Marvel characters, including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and other returning cast members from past Deadpool movies.
The set photos also tease connections to the Fantastic Four and the TVA, suggesting that the entire Fox Marvel movie universe may be affected by the TVA's actions.

Not much is yet known about plot specifics for the MCU's upcoming Deadpool 3, but new set photos confirm a returning character who pays off an X-Men Easter Egg two decades after its debut. The X-Men are on their way to the MCU, but they'll be preceded by Ryan Reynold's Wade Wilson. Deadpool's third solo movie seems set to feature an exciting menagerie of Fox Marvel movie characters, and the list keeps on growing.
Most recently, new Deadpool 3 set photos have revealed one version of a Marvel movie villain not seen since 2003's X2: X-Men United. In the original X-Men (2000), Tyler Mane plays a bestial version of Sabretooth, the physical muscle of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. However, despite seeming to die in the X-Men's titular battle, Sabretooths' return confirms a subtle tease after decades of wait.

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Deadpool 3 Set Photos Show Sabretooth Alive

Previous set photos from Deadpool 3 have revealed exciting elements of the movie, notably Jackman's yellow and blue comics-inspired Wolverine outfit. However, the latest batch of shots to find their way online feature Tyler Mane's intimidating take on Logan's classic rival, Sabretooth. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that the villain is long for this world. The Deadpool 3 set photos, posted by @XMenUpdate, show two photos. In one, Sabretooth is lunging at Wolverine; in the other, Deadpool is holding the villain's severed head.
How X2 Teased Sabretooth's Survival

Despite being a terrifying antagonist in X-Men, Tyler Mane's Sabretooth only appears in the first of the original X-Men movie trilogy. In the movie's climactic fight, Sabretooth is thrown off the top of the Statue of Liberty, never to be seen again. His fate seems to be clear; despite a limited healing factor, a fall from that height and the failure to appear in later franchise films strongly suggest Victor was killed by his fall. However, one bried tease in X2 seems to indicate that may not be the case.
Sabretooth appears in X-Men: The Official Game, which takes place after X-Men, though its canon status is up for debate.
In the film, Mystique accesses X2 antagonist William Stryker's computer and pulls up a list of known mutants. The scene is filled with characters who hadn't appeared yet in the franchise (or never would). Curiously, Victor Creed (Sabretooth's real name) is also listed. It may seem likely that he's simply been logged as a formerly active mutant, but given that the deceased Toad is left off, the inclusion teases Sabretooth may have lived on. Now, Sabretooth's inclusion in the cast of Deadpool 3 may reveal why he never shows up again in (chronologically) Fox X-Men movies.
Other Marvel Movie Characters Appearing In Deadpool 3 Close Though there hasn't yet been a trailer or many official images for Deadpool 3, set photos and casting confirmations paint an interesting picture of which heroes from movies past will appear. The most obvious inclusion is Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, who was announced as part of the project in Deadpool 3's original reveal video. Moreover, several returning cast members from past Deadpool movies are set to return, including Morena Baccarin's Vanessa Carlysle, Stefan Kapičić's Colossus, Brianna Hildebrand's Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Karan Soni'sDopinder, and more.
Beyond that, other reveals have come out thanks to Deadpool 3 set photos, though they're not all completely clear. The newest batch confirms a tangential connection to the Fantastic Four via the team's Fantasticar, though the actual heroes have not been spotted. Additionally, set photos have revealed an actor who may be a stand-in for X-Men actor Ray Park and another who seems to be wearing a TVA uniform. Owen Wilson's Mobius is rumored to cameo, as is Jennifer Garner's Elektra, though they haven't been seen or made official comment.
So far, the majority of Deadpool 3 set photos appear to take place in The Void - the desolate wasteland where people and things go after being ruined by the TVA. There, a giant replica of the 20th Century Fox logo can be seen (the studio that delivered all previous X-Men and Fantastic Four movies), indicating that the entire Fox Marvel movie universe may fall victim to the TVA's pruning. This sets up near-endless cameo possibilities and also opens the door to bringing any legacy characters they see fit into the proper MCU. The rest seem poised to get a definitive, if not depressing, close to their narrative arc.
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