Warning! This article contains spoilers for Deadpool & Wolverine.
Summary
Wolverine’s long-awaited mask secretly revolutionizesMCUmasks and helmets inDeadpool & Wolverine. BesidesDeadpool & Wolverine’s cameos and multiversal connections, Wolverine’s mask was one of theDeadpoolthreequel’s most anticipated reveals. After all, it took Hugh Jackman 24 years and ten movie appearances to wear Wolverine’s iconic mask. It seems like Wolverine’s mask reveal was well worth the wait, as the mask is incredibly comic-accurate — probably more than it would have been inFox’sX-Menmovie franchise.
Tony Stark’s Iron Man Mark 50 armor pioneered the MCU’s obsession with nanotech costumes and masks. Stark designed the Iron Spider for Peter Parker, who grew accustomed to the armored suit’s nanotechnology.Shuri also implemented nanotechnology in T’Challa’s Black Panther suitand later in her own. Hank Pym modernized the Ant-Man and Wasp suits to the point that they work similarly to nanotech. Meanwhile, Moon Knight, Thor, and Mighty Thor received magical costumes and masks that appear and disappear almost instantly, like nanotech. Wolverine’s mask, on the other hand, takes a different approach.
Deadpool & Wolverine Introduces A New Generation Of MCU Masks
Wolverine’s Mask Is Less Realistic Than Nanotech, But More Memorable
When Wolverine finally puts on his iconic mask inDeadpool & Wolverine’s third act, he does it by sliding it out of his costume’s neck area and slipping it on. However, Wolverine’s mask immediately turns into a hard, easily-detachable helmet. When Wolverine unmasks himself after defeating Cassandra Nova, Wolverine’s helmet can be held and passed around without it losing its shape.Wolverine’s mask being both a loose mask and a hard helmet doesn’t make logical sense, yet it doesn’t ruin the suspension of disbelief due to how visually striking and comic-accurate it looks.
Disregarding the masks' materials allows comic books to feature extravagant designs without interfering with the story. The MCU could leave nanotech behind and follow suit.
Superhero masks are just as malleable in the source material. Characters like Wolverine and Spider-Man can hide their masks inside their civilian clothes, but the same masks can shatter and break within the same issue. If their masks were realistic, it would be impractical for Spider-Man to carry a mask with sharp or fragile eye lenses, or for Wolverine to carry either a big, unwieldy helmet or a soft mask with long, floppy wing flaps. Disregarding the masks' materials allows comic books to feature extravagant designs without interfering with the story. The MCU could leave nanotech behind and follow suit.
Deadpool & Wolverine: 100 Marvel Easter Eggs & References Explained
Deadpool & Wolverine quite literally has over 100 different Easter eggs, references, and cameos galore. Here are all the ones we found.
What Is Wolverine’s Mask Made Of?
Wolverine’s Mask Might Introduce The MCU’s Next Fictional Material
Wolverine’s unrealistic mask doesn’t need a scientific explanation. But even if it did, it could easily be explained in-universe by the same kind of (fictional) technological advancements as nanotech.Wolverine might have gotten his mask from Beast, who might have invented a new material that can turn soft fabric into rigid polymer at will. This material could be the same the Fantastic Four will use to create their suits, which need to adapt to their abilities. It could also be the material Gambit’s headpiece is made of inDeadpool & Wolverine, and it could eventually replace nanotech in the MCU’s main timeline.
