A teaser trailer for Deadpool 3 – now officially called Deadpool & Wolverine – was released during Super Bowl LVIII. It confirmed what most people already knew (unless they’d been living under a rock for a couple of years) – that Deadpool will be “infiltrating” the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the movie.
The trailer didn’t reveal much – the TVA’s involvement, Wolverine’s inclusion, and the new title being the main things fans took away from it. However, the most intriguing reveal was the return of a character last seen in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand.
Aaron Stanford’s John Allerdyce, AKA Pyro, first appeared in 2003’s X2, in which he was swayed by Magneto’s views and joined his Brotherhood of Mutants, becoming a fully-fledged enemy of the X-Men in The Last Stand.
But what could his appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine mean for the Marvel Cinematic Universe? There are a few possibilities – some minor, some major – but all have the potential to be entertaining.
What Could Pyro’s Return in Deadpool 3 Mean?
First of all, the idea that Pyro’s return could turn out to be entirely meaningless has to be considered. There’s every chance he gets hyped in a big way, only for Deadpool or Wolverine to kill him off within seconds of his arrival.
Think about it – was there a more irritating character in the original X-Men trilogy? Pyro could be on screen for a matter of seconds before uttering a line of dialogue that annoys one of the two eponymous characters before receiving a bullet to the forehead courtesy of Deadpool or being decapitated by Wolverine’s claws. Using the unlikable character as a humorous tool for a cheap laugh would probably go down well with fans.
A more exciting theory is that his return is a teaser for the introduction of Magneto to the MCU. Pictures of Ian McKellen as the leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants, apparently on the set of Deadpool & Wolverine, have circulated online, but most people assumed they were fake. However, it’s hard to imagine the Fox version of Pyro existing without him.
Assuming Pyro is still part of the Brotherhood, Magneto’s return alongside him makes more than a little sense, and a role in the MCU for the iconic character would be massively exciting for superhero movie fans.
But there’s something about the character’s clothing, the other characters around him, and the environment he appears to be in that leads to another theory concerning the wider MCU.
Where Is Pyro and What Does It Mean?
Pyro’s attire and the clothing of the characters in his immediate vicinity are reminiscent of characters in movies like Mad Max: Fury Road. It suggests they’re in a wasteland, which could be the Void – an amalgam of alternate realities pruned by the TVA and sent to the end of time.
Given that Alioth – the entity that serves as the guardian of the Void – is shown in the trailer just a few seconds before Pyro appears, there’s every chance the Void could be the MCU’s version of Battleworld.
Battleworld is the Secret Wars event venue in Marvel’s comic books. The story arc saw characters from various realities fighting each other. Given the Void is where the TVA sends pruned characters from every reality in the MCU’s multiverse, it could be the setting for 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars, with Pyro being one of the live-action multiversal characters participating.
The fact that a Secret Wars comic appears as an Easter egg in the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer supports this theory more.
Anyone familiar with the Secret Wars comic knows Battleworld is separated into several zones, each frequented by different groups of characters. A zone with Magneto, Pyro, and the Brotherhood of Mutants would be a terrific addition to the MCU.
