Did Deadpool 3 Just Tease Another MCU X-Men Debut (And A Possible Plot Reveal)?
Fans of Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) are waiting for the duo to finally unite in the upcoming third "Deadpool" movie. What's more, the live-action Logan will finally ditch street clothes and black leather in favor of his comics-accurate color scheme. Wolverine's "Deadpool 3" costume broke Twitter when Reynolds and Jackman both shared a first-look image on their Instagram Stories. The long-awaited yellow costume naturally captured fan attention, but the posts also contained a cryptic message: "Don't blink."
Did the actors throw in a stealthy reference to "Doctor Who's" scariest episode, or were they simply referring to the fact that it would be unwise to divert your attention when two of Marvel's most dangerous and unpredictable heroes are marching toward you? Could there be something else at play? Superhero movie marketing thrives on little details like these, so let's assume for a second that the words are meaningful. There are rumors that "Deadpool 3" features the timeline maintenance agency known as Time Variance Authority, of "Loki" fame. This would mean that Wade Wilson (and possibly Logan) end up breaking a whole bunch of multiversal rules. Now, it just so happens that a mutant called Blink has been known to fix timelines in the comics, which ... almost seems like it's not a coincidence, doesn't it?
Obviously, there are no guarantees that Blink appears in "Deadpool 3," but it's worth noting that she's already a live-action veteran. She appears in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" as one of the doomed Sentinel-plagued timeline's Free Mutants, played by Fan Bingbing. She's also a major character in Fox's short-lived superhero show "The Gifted," this time with Jamie Chung in the role. Here's why it would make perfect sense for a version of her to appear in "Deadpool 3," as well.
Blink's checkered comics history involves multiverse antics
Apart from live-action adaptations, there's more than one Blink running around in the comics. The very first Blink comic book fans were introduced to barely lasted a month when she debuted in 1994's "Phalanx Covenant" storyline. Regardless, she's proved to be a durable character and has been an important figure in various mutant storylines, both in the Earth-616 main continuity and the "Age of Apocalypse" timeline.
As a powerful teleporter who can create portals and peculiar javelin-like energy weapons, she's a vital member of any storyline she's a part of. From "Deadpool 3's" standpoint, The Earth-295 Blink's time with the Exiles is particularly important. During this era of her history, Blink serves on a timeline-fixing superteam under threat of ceasing to exist herself. Her connection to timelines would already be enough, but being forced to choose between fixing them or getting erased from existence seems an awful lot like something the TVA might pull on someone to secure cooperation, doesn't it? After all, a very similar power move on Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is the driving force of "Loki" Season 1.
Blink would be the perfect antagonist for Deadpool and Wolverine
The problem with Deadpool and Wolverine is that after the two eventually stop fighting each other and team up, there are precious few characters who can stand up against them. The healing factor bros can bounce back from just about any injury, and their arsenal of swords, guns, adamantium claws, and what-have-you is enough to take down all but the mightiest powerhouses.
Speaking of powerhouses, "Deadpool 2" already throws the Juggernaut (Reynolds) at Deadpool and his allies, so the "super-strong enemy" route is a pretty well-trodden path for the movie series. As for other major Marvel mutants with adequate powers to challenge Wade and Logan, the MCU will probably want to save the majority of them for when the X-Men inevitably hoist the mega-franchise on their shoulders and carry it for the next 10 phases.
Enter Blink, then. She's a minor enough character in the grand scheme of X-things, which would allow plenty of room for Wade and Logan's larger-than-life chemistry. Between "Days of Future Past" and "The Gifted," there's already evidence that the character works well in live-action, and the timeline-altering part of her comic book history would give her plenty of reason to antagonize the pair in whatever multiverse shenanigans they're up to in "Deadpool 3." Most importantly, however, her powers would provide a worthy challenge to Deadpool and Wolverine.
Blink's powers are made for fighting Wolverine and Deadpool
Blink's particular take on teleportation powers would be a perfect way to give Deadpool and Wolverine a truly dangerous challenge. While she's obviously a worse fighter than the protagonists, her ability to spam portals here and there could work like The Spot's (Jason Schwartzman) powers in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," effectively turning every single attack Wolverine and Deadpool throw at her right back at them — or, even more hilariously, at each other. Her "Days of Future Past" incarnation uses these portals to great effect in a fight against Sentinels, constantly shifting the battlefield dynamic by creating new openings for her allies and disorienting her opponents by opening portals in front of them mid-attack.
That's just the beginning, too. A crafty writer could easily have Blink open up two-way portals into volcanoes or oceans, blasting the enemy with pressurized water or magma. Given that her portal range in the comics extends all the way to the Moon, she could also effectively teleport people into space. Those adamantium claws don't seem so handy now, do they?
Of course, all of this is before Blink even has to bother using the other aspect of her powers: creating energy weapons that cause their target — or parts of it — to teleport. With one throw of a teleport spear, she could teleport a huge hole in a person's head, which is a tall order no matter how good your regeneration powers are.
Put all this together, and Blink is more than powerful enough to act as an antagonist in "Deadpool 3." As a bonus, she's also one of those deceptively strong characters whose mutant power could turn out to be an absolute story-breaker in more traditional superhero movies. As such, putting her in this one would not only give Blink fans a chance to see the character once more, but it'd rather conveniently take her off the board when the rest of the mutants start dominating the MCU.