Avengers: Doomsday already carries a concrete hint in its credits regarding one of the most debated questions surrounding the next major Marvel crossover. In fact, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman appear in the Writers Guild of America database among the eight professionals credited for “additional literary material”, alongside official screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Michael Waldron. It is not a cast announcement, and Marvel Studios has not released any new formal confirmations regarding the characters, but the presence of the two actors in a professional screenwriting registry makes the involvement of Deadpool and Wolverine far more plausible.
Reynolds is no stranger to writing in the Merc with a Mouth's universe: he had already contributed to the screenplay of Deadpool & Wolverine, released in 2024. For Jackman, however, this marks the first writing credit recorded in the WGA database. The distinction matters: the credit does not present them as the screenplay authors of Doomsday, but certifies a literary contribution to the project. In a Marvel production, where one-liners, additional scenes, and connective tissue between characters can be developed during pre-production and filming, this is a significant lead, even without revealing the actual extent of their roles in the film.
A screenplay built to bring together multiple MCU storylines
The WGA names paint a picture of a film developed as a crossroads for multiple franchises, rather than a simple sequel to a single saga. McFeely and Waldron receive the screenplay credit; the other eight names associated with additional literary material are Reynolds, Jackman, Eric Pearson, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jeff Loveness, Andrew Lanham, and Destin Daniel Cretton. In total, ten writers appear in the union's documentation.
The team’s composition reflects the scale of the operation. Pearson has worked on several Marvel titles and characters tied to Thunderbolts*; McKenna and Sommers are the screenwriters behind the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man trilogy; Loveness is associated with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania; Cretton directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; Lanham and Waldron have already orbited character- and universe-dense projects. This information does not make it possible to piece together who wrote a specific sequence or decided a single narrative arc, but it points to a creative phase shaped by numerous contributions.
Avengers: Doomsday will indeed have to bring together the heroes remaining in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Avengers: Endgame, the figures introduced or relaunched by Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, alongside the mutant properties Disney inherited with the acquisition of 20th Century Fox. At the center of the new cycle will be Doctor Doom, played by Robert Downey Jr., tasked with stepping into the role of the primary antagonist for the next phase of the MCU. Incorporating Deadpool and Wolverine into this framework would make the transition between the Fox franchise and the Avengers universe even more explicit.
A credit does not replace an announcement, but it changes the weight of the rumors
It is worth maintaining a distinction that online discourse tends to erase: a WGA credit alone does not equal contractual confirmation of an on-screen appearance. “Additional literary material” denotes a recognized writing contribution without detailing the content, extent, or form of that input. Reynolds and Jackman might have worked on the voice of their respective characters, scene revisions, dialogue, or material developed during a phase that was later modified.
However, in the case of two performers so closely identified with Deadpool and Wolverine, and with Reynolds already credited as a writer on their previous film together, the prospect of their narrative involvement appears far more solid than a rumor originating from set photos or promotional schedules. The decisive point is not the number of names, but the very nature of the recognition: the WGA records professional contributions to a production, not teasers aimed at the public.
For Marvel Studios, moreover, Deadpool and Wolverine are assets with a distinct industrial weight. Deadpool & Wolverine proved that audiences are willing to embrace a crossover of different continuities, nostalgia for the Fox era, and a metatextual tone, provided the project retains its own identity. Bringing them into an Avengers film would offer the studio two advantages: bolstering the event-movie appeal of Doomsday and making the introduction of the X-Men into MCU canon less abstract. It remains to be seen whether the film will adopt the irreverent language of the Deadpool saga or use it in a controlled manner within an ensemble story.
A production with a script in flux
The number of credited writers should also be viewed in light of the working method stated by brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, who have returned to direct for Marvel after Avengers: Endgame. Joe Russo explained to the Associated Press that the script is considered an evolving organism during production. Filming therefore began without a definitively locked version of the screenplay.
For a production with numerous characters, stars' schedules to coordinate, and a story designed to connect to multiple films, ongoing rewrites can serve as an operational tool: they help integrate production requirements, narrative beats, and sequences built around the cast. It is also a process that makes it harder to ascribe a clear authorial stamp to the final result beforehand. The extensive WGA list shows just how much the script was shaped by this need for coordination.
The model is not unprecedented for Marvel blockbusters, but it takes on particular significance after years in which the MCU has attempted to expand its scope across the multiverse, new teams, and characters inherited from previous franchises. Doomsday will not only have to introduce Doctor Doom: it will also have to prove that it can provide a coherent direction for an increasingly crowded universe. Involving writers tied to different strands can help preserve their specific identities, but it also increases the synthesis required of those in charge of the screenplay.
Disney has scheduled the US theatrical release for Friday, December 18, 2026. Until an announcement from Marvel Studios, the WGA credits define neither the full cast lineup nor the extent of Deadpool and Wolverine's presence. They do, however, establish a verifiable fact: Reynolds and Jackman contributed, in some form recognized by the guild, to the writing of Avengers: Doomsday. For a film aiming to reorganize the many legacies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is no minor detail.
