The tragic demise of the X-Men in Wolverine’s universe made people wonder how they died on this parallel Earth in Deadpool 3, aka Deadpool & Wolverine. The film made the loss of beloved characters particularly impactful, leaving audiences reeling and questioning the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
Fans are captivated by the mystery surrounding the X-Men’s deaths as Wolverine and Deadpool grapple with the emotional fallout of this tragedy. The movie gives us a brief answer for how the X-Men members died but doesn’t go deeper into it. However, here are some potential elaborations that could fit into the narrative.
Who killed the X-Men in Wolverine’s Universe in Deadpool 3?
Deadpool & Wolverine takes a page from Marvel’s Old Man Logan comic storyline. In its infamous Westchester Incident, Mysterio tricked Wolverine into killing all the X-Men members. Fox’s Logan changed it up and made Professor X accidentally kill the X-Men family. Now, Deadpool & Wolverine takes that plot point and alters it again.
Unlike the comic’s Westchester Incident, Deadpool 3 reveals that humans were responsible for the death of X-Men members, driven by fear and hatred towards mutants. They orchestrated a surprise attack on the X-Mansion, while Wolverine was away. But, how they managed to take down powerful mutants including Jean, Cyclops, and others was not revealed.
The film skillfully avoids providing a definitive answer for the perpetrators, leaving room for speculation and fan theories. Possibilities range from human extremists to shadowy organizations.
One could theorize that the humans in this universe were able to create Sentinels that could adapt to mutations, similar to how Bolivar Trask did it in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Another possibility could be the creation of weapons that disrupt the X-gene in mutants and kill them for good. But, all that is pure speculation, and fans need to wait for Wolverine’s return in future MCU installments to get a proper answer to this question.
Instead of revealing the real cause of the X-Men team’s demise, Deadpool & Wolverine focused on how the event turned this universe’s Logan into the “Worst Wolverine” variant. He was absent during the attack on the X-Men and that became a critical element of his motivations. He took the blame for their deaths upon himself. His guilt and self-loath over not being there to protect his team are palpable and drive his character arc.
Ultimately, he got a second chance and was able to redeem himself by teaming up with Deadpool. Together, they reversed the eventual destruction of Earth-10005 and saved the entire multiverse from Cassandra Nova‘s wrath. As Verity Willis (formerly Hunter B-15) mentioned, the attack on the X-Men in Wolverine’s universe allowed him to become a savior in the present day.
