Deadpool & Wolverine went through many different iterations before settling on a concept. At one point, it was actually going to be a road trip movie between Wade and Logan. Once the Multiverse was decided as a big part of the story, Marvel Studios concept artist Andy Park pitched a scene where Deadpool travels through various Earths in the Multiverse, and lands on the comic book version of the Marvel Universe, a.k.a. Earth-616. He even drew up a scene where Deadpool lands in the iconic shot from Avengers, only with the heroes’ comic book counterparts instead. You can check out Andy Parks’ concept art, which he shared on Instagram, below:
So who were the artists inspiring this piece of concept art from Andy Park? We spot a Rob Liefeld version of Deadpool in there (of course), and a Jack Kirby-inspired Captain America. The Hulk looks to be in the style of longtime Incredible Hulk penciler Sal Buscema, with Thor giving Walter Simonson vibes. Hawkeye looks like Al Milgrom’s rendition of Clint Barton from West Coast Avengers, and Black Widow looks a bit like her portrayal by Jim Lee in an issue of Uncanny X-Men. And Iron Man, in his white and red “Silver Centurion” armor, appears to draw inspiration from the art of Mark Bright.
Sadly, this scene never made it past the concept stage. It would have been a blast to see on screen. We have a feeling that Kevin Feige might have stepped in here. After all, he’s adamant that “the Sacred Timeline” of the MCU is Earth-616. Longtime comic book fans know that’s actually the designation of the main universe of monthly Marvel Comics. That is where the term “Earth-616” originally came from. (Something that Ms. Marvel star and superfan Iman Vellani is hilariously adamant about reminding Kevin Feige of constantly). Feige was probably wary of starting a fan discourse of which universe is really Earth-616. They’ll just have to put a pin in that debate until Avengers: Secret Wars stirs it all back up again.